


The Last Time Lord and The Impossible Girl

by Smaug25



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Romance, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2019-05-24 01:05:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 49
Words: 509,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14944764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smaug25/pseuds/Smaug25
Summary: The Doctor and Clara Oswald. The Hybrid. They will laugh, cry, love but most of all, run. They shall run from the beginning to the end of time and beyond, and if anything tries to stand in their way, their worlds will burn.





	1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_One day, you meet the Doctor. No surprise, it's the best day of your life, because…he's brilliant, and he's funny and mad and best of all, he really needs you. When you first meet him, like everyone else before you, you ask those questions: "Who are you?", "Where are you from?", "What set you on your way and where are you going?", "Have you ever had a family and what were they like?", "Oh, and what is your name, your real name?" He doesn't answer all of them and the ones he does it takes him a while, for he needs to find out: Can you be trusted with the answer? So, for his and your sake, you stop asking. You get used to it. But I know now, the answers to all of them. No matter how long I travel with that brilliant man, no matter what face he wears, I would never give it up for anything. I say this now because I must remember it all, where I am and why. It feels like I'm breaking into a million pieces, but I must remember. I must save the Doctor. He always looks different, but I know it's him. The madness, the brilliance, the hilarity, the ego, the mismatched clothes, it's always him. Yet sometimes I think I'm everywhere at once, running every second of eternity just to find him. Just to save him. But he never hears me. Well…almost never. The first time he met me was the day he started running. And he never looked back._

**Citadel, Gallifrey  
** A Very Long Time Ago

Two men are working in a repair room, full of broken tools and electronics when an alarm goes off. One of the men stops working and goes to the computer monitor to check. "Something wrong?" The other man asked.

"It's the repair shop. What kind of idiot would steal a faulty TARDIS?" The first quipped dryly.

On the monitor was a black room full of undisguised TARDIS capsules. A white-haired old man, 5ft 8 with steel blue eyes and dressed in a black frock coat approached one capsule, accompanied by a young brunette girl, 5ft 1 with brown eyes and wearing a cream vest. The girl goes inside first whilst the man stops, checking around for any followers. When he is satisfied that no one else is there, he moves to enter but a girl in an orange Gallifreyan dress interrupts him as she moves into the room. "Doctor? Doctor?" The girl called.

"Yes, what is it? What do you want?" The Doctor asked impatiently.

"Sorry, but you're about to make a very big mistake." The girl said. His eyes flickered for a moment before he quickly composed himself and nodded for her to continue. "Don't steal that one, steal this one. The navigation system's knackered, but you'll have much more fun." The girl said while leaning on a TARDIS, a smirk wide across her face and her eyes twinkling.

"And why should I trust you, hmm?" He asked.

"Because you're running, but not just from fear or anxiety or for safety. You're running because you can't stand being still, so why would you run if not for a smile on your face and adrenaline running through your veins?" She asked like a mentor testing her student, her northern accent flourishing on her every word.

The Doctor gave an impressed smile at her cunning and truly turned his attention to her. The girl was 5ft 2, with dark brown hair and eyes, _A round face_ , he playfully noted and…such a lovely smile. "What's your name, my dear?"

"Clara Oswald."

"Clara. Beautiful name." He complimented with a kind glow in his eyes. "But I must ask you Clara, what reason would you give me that would make me accept your advice?"

"Like I said, Doctor, it's in your nature. A faulty type 40 TARDIS compared to a better model gives you more fun. And I know that you will be choosing the faulty TARDIS." She looked at the model she was leaning against and whispered, "No offence."

The Doctor, who was still contemplating her reasoning, didn't hear the TARDIS whisper back in electronic beeping, _"None taken,"_ before it unlocked its doors in anticipation.

Clara then wordlessly turned and walked back to the door. As she reached it, she looked back at the Doctor. "It's your turn to choose, Doctor, but I know what you will pick. Just promise me one thing."

"What?" He asked in surprise.

"Run. Run, you clever boy. And remember me." She said before disappearing, and the Doctor was left staring at the doorway in confusion at her words. He thought for a moment in silence, then he reached into the nearby model and pulled the young girl back out.

"What's going on grandfather? Who were you talking to?" The girl asked.

"Someone who's given me the best advice in a long time. We're not taking that one, Susan, we're taking this one." He said, pointing to the type 40 TARDIS.

"But why? This model's in better condition." Susan pointed out.

"Because we know exactly when and where we could be going with a better TARDIS. A faulty one, _*Chuckles*_ well, that makes it a mystery for us that we'll never solve, and it would be more fun that way." He said with a smile. "Now come along, my child. We should leave now. The other Time Lords that I may or may not have insulted will be on their way." The last sentence made Susan giggle as she entered the TARDIS, but it melted away as she looked at the interior in awe, a wide smile growing on her face. "Is something wrong, Susan?" He asked as he closed the door, before stopping and almost imitating Susan's look to a tee. The interior was white with round, hollow circles on the walls, and a giant rectangular shape on the opposite side by another door, which the Doctor assumed was the scanner screen. The room was almost completely empty except for the main console unit in the center, with a red and white time rotor.

"Oh grandfather, she's beautiful." She cried in joy.

"That she is, my child." He walked up to the console, placed his hand on it and said to himself, "She is the most beautiful thing I've ever known." The TARDIS beeped back an amused thanks as he and Susan moved around the console, flipping switches and controls to set their first journey. When they finish, the time rotor started up, and they promptly left Gallifrey.

_Sometimes I think I'm everywhere at once, running every second of eternity just to find him. Just to save him. But he never hears me. Well…almost never. The 2nd was the beginning of the final day. The final day of hell in the cosmos and on this day, he told himself and the universe he had made his decision: No more._

**AN: Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. BBC does. Just saying. ;) Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this bloody long story. XD**


	2. Asylum of the Daleks

**Asylum of the Daleks**

_From the beginning, she was impossible. Clara Oswald, my impossible girl. We have been running together for a long time now and she is perfect. She is always brave, makes light of every situation, a total genius and as bossy as she is gorgeous. And yet, I have met her before. Back on Gallifrey when I started running, she was there. She made me choose a different TARDIS, the one I have had for my whole life. I met her again in the Dalek Asylum. That time people remember but not the face I wore then. That face…my biggest shame and regret, yet Clara gave a light in that darkness, until it became extinguished. That time of darkness was the last day of hell. War had descended for hundreds of years and no matter how hard I fought, no matter how many people I saved, it was never enough. That was the day I decided to end it all. Too long it had gone on, the Time War had to end. No more fighting. No more death. No more suffering. No more._

**Plains, Gallifrey**  
The Last Day of the Time War

An old man, 5ft 8½, with brown eyes and dressed in war-torn clothing looked out upon Gallifrey's vast sand plains, the Citadel standing in the middle, far to the distance. What once was a beautiful stretch of red grass mixed with orange sand was now littered with the bodies of fallen Time Lords and destroyed Daleks. Dalek ships lay torn apart upon various parts of the plains, with tiny pockets of smoke appearing from their remains. The dead and leafless trees on the mountaintops creaked and swayed wearily in the hot, dry wind. Despite this, the old man looked upon the Citadel, with different emotions flickering across his face. The first was guilt: For all the families torn apart, homes burnt and children who died long before their time. The second was self-loathing: That he was foolish enough to think that the war would end any day, whether by his hand or others. Finally, was contemplation: All the forbidden weapons and plans of the Time Lords were exhausted over the course of the Time War to no avail, except for one: "The Moment", also known as "The Galaxy Eater". Now, in the old man's eyes, it was the only way to end the war and save the universe. He began planning to take the Moment from the Omega Arsenal to the barn. The same barn he ran to night after night when he was afraid and alone. There, he would activate the weapon and end the war, knowing full well he would not survive the aftermath, for with him, the Time Lords and the Daleks would pass into history. But before he could move forward with the new plan, he froze at once from a new presence to his right. He turned to see a figure dressed head to toe in red robes, the hood placed upon their head, yet their face remained unseen, shrouded in darkness. The old man recognized the figure at once as a member of the Headless Monks, a religious order allied with the Church of the Papal Mainframe. "The Doctor." The Monk said in a deep voice.

"Don't call me that. I'm not the Doctor, not anymore." The old man snapped.

"The Warrior." The Monk said, taking the comment as a request for a different name.

"What do you want?" He asked in a tired, world-weary voice.

"There is a woman who wants to meet you. Your help is required."

He stood there, deep in contemplation for a few, short and tense moments before he asked, "What is her name?"

"Darla von Karlsen."

"I've never heard of her." He muttered before turning around, then at once stopping his movements in shock. They were no longer on Gallifrey but instead in a dark room with a sickly green light and deeply familiar engravings and markings upon the walls. "A psychic projection?" The Warrior asked through a deduction. "Or a conference call through a soporific?"

"Do you recognize where you are?" The Monk asked, completely ignoring his questions.

The Warrior gave a small, dry snort. "Oh, I recognize it all right. But why would you or this "Darla" need my help?" He asked.

"You are the Warrior, the greatest and most respected fighter in the Time War, it can only be you. Her daughter is in danger." The Monk explained before he waved one of his hands in front of his face in a revealing motion. The movement left behind light blue symbols that arranged themselves before their eyes. "Space-time coordinates. You recognize the planet?" The Monk asked, echoing his earlier question.

"Yes." The Warrior answered, restrained anger bubbling up inside him when he did.

"Name the planet." The Monk demanded.

"No."

"Name the planet."

"No!" The Warrior exclaimed in rage.

"Name the planet." The Monk repeated, unaffected and uncaring about his outburst. The Warrior took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a few moments, as the Monk leaned in towards him. "Name the planet." The Monk whispered imploringly.

"Skaro." He opened his eyes to find himself sitting in his chair in the TARDIS, a soporific candle burned out on the table beside him. He glanced around the console room for a few moments before he gave out a sigh, rose up from his chair and started the TARDIS to follow the given co-ordinates.

**Ruined Dalek Temple, Skaro**

The TARDIS materialized inside a dark room, covered in filth, strewn wires and a hole in the wall that looked out upon the ruined city of Skaro below. The Warrior stood inside what might have been a Dalek temple, even though the Daleks had no concept of belief, worship or even blasphemy. "I received your message. Few people can do that, send a soporific aboard my ship mid-flight." The Warrior said without turning to the hooded figure in black to his left. The figure however turned to look at him, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see that it was a red headed woman with pale skin.  _Far too pale._ _He mused grimly to himself._

"I have a daughter, Hannah. She is in a Dalek prison camp. They say you can help." Darla pleaded.

"Darla, did you know that the universe is in the middle of the greatest and most terrible war it has ever known?" He asked sarcastically. "There are millions upon millions of cries for help across the universe, crying for safety, revenge…" He paused, and turned to look at her, "and for reunion with their lost family. So what story would tell you that your plea would be listened to?" He asked with a bitter sadness in his voice as he remembered all the people he tried and failed to help. "What makes you think that your request will be met with?"

"They said...I'd have to intrigue you." Darla said after an awkward moment, before she attempted to give a slight smile of humor.

The Warrior ignored her attempt to alleviate the tension, and he looked back out of the hole upon the ruined city. "Skaro, planet of the Daleks. Just like the Time Lords, look how far they've fallen from grace." He muttered, pushing away memories of the species in their earlier years aside before turning back to Darla. "Who told you about me?"

"Does it matter?" She asked with a blink of confusion.

"In other situations, no. In this war, yes. You see, if Hannah is in a prison camp, why aren't you?"

She shrugged. "I escaped." If it were anyone else but the Warrior, they would've missed the split second of uncertainty in both her eyes and her voice.

"No one escapes the Dalek camps without being liberated." He retorted before moving towards Darla and gently taking her hand. "You're a Thal, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"One of the last remaining," He paused before adding dryly, "survivors. But the Thal race is nearing extinction, driven off Skaro to find sanctuary with other civilizations. And you are cold. Far too cold to be alive." The Warrior sighed, before he let her hand go and started to pace back to the TARDIS. "This is a trap." He deducted.

"What is?"

"You are, and you don't even know it." Darla's head clicked twice before an eye-stalk appeared from her forehead, and the noise made the Warrior stop in his tracks. He turned around just in time to see her hold up her right hand, letting a Dalek gun emerge from her palm before she fired at the Warrior and knocked him down.  _No pain, just a blast to render me unconscious._

**"The Warrior is acquired."**  A loud Dalek voice roared through the room before the Warrior drifted off into deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

He awoke later to find himself in a round, white room with a window shaped oddly like prison bars in the wall. As he shook the drowsiness out of his mind, he stood up and moved to the window to see many Dalek ships flying outside in deep space. A door then suddenly opened at the other end of the room to show three Daleks moving inside, their eye-stalks fixed upon the old man.  **"Elevate."**  One of the Daleks said and upon its command, the floor began to move upwards as the ceiling opened to reveal a window dome far above and the view of a dull, golden room followed swiftly thereafter. The expanse of the room was monumental, with hundreds of Daleks lined up in rows, all of them staring at the Warrior.

To his left, he gave a brief sigh of relief as he saw the TARDIS, his oldest friend sitting there unharmed. In front of him was both a white console and a small, glass capsule, holding a large organic Dalek inside, its tentacles writhing about in anticipation. On its left was Darla, now dressed in a black leather battle outfit, while on the right was a blood red Dalek.  _The Dalek Minister and a Dalek Supreme._  The Warrior gave a sigh of defeat.  _It is the Parliament of the Daleks._  He waited for a moment but found to his surprise, none of the Daleks were doing anything. Not firing, not speaking, not even moving. So, in courage or foolish boldness, he marched forward. "Well, what are you waiting for?" He called almost tauntingly, his voice echoing through the expansive room. "After all these many years, you have me right where you want me, ready to die in your name. So, let me ask again: What are you waiting for?" The Warrior demanded, staring at the Minister.

**"Save us."**  The Minister said, and a small moment of tense silence followed where the Warrior could only blink at its simple words.  **"You will save us."**

He stared at the Minister, and surprise quickly spread across his face. "I beg your pardon?"

**"You will save the Daleks."**

Before the Warrior could get another word out, all the Daleks in the chamber began to chant "Save The Daleks" over and over again, making his expression turn from surprise to utter disbelief.  _After all this time, after all the defeats I made them suffer, they want my help. What for? Only the Time Lords know about the Moment and even then, only very few and they would know by now their failed attempts to beat the Daleks have given them the winning hand. So, what do they need?_

**"Save the Daleks! Save the Daleks! Save the Daleks!"** They continued to chant, and their loud, echoing voices started to create a throbbing and painful ringing in his ears that made him blink, and he was forced to impromptu plug them with his own fingers.

"Legions of Daleks needing my help?" He chuckled lightly at that. "That's new."

**Meanwhile, At the Same Time**

In a grey, yet neatly maintained room, a young brunette girl, dressed in a red dress that came to her mid-thigh, was continuing to nail planks over the round entrance, whilst she silently hummed a Carmen opera song to herself as the same song played on her music box. As she finished, she quickly equipped a cooking apron and oven gloves before she opened the microwave with a light beeping sound, and she stared at the contents within. Her wide, beaming smile quickly turned into a frown, as she pulled out a horribly burnt soufflé then at once dumped it into the bin, giving a couple, playful pats on said bin's lid. She then took off her cooking gear before going to lie down on a gently swaying hammock. Then, she picked up a tape and clicked the record button, contemplating for a second before speaking, her northern accent flourishing on every word. "Oswin Oswald's log, day 363. The terror continues. Also, made another soufflé…" She paused before adding with a smirk, "very nearly. Checked defenses…" She glanced over to the barred entrance before continuing on with a small sigh. "They came again last night. Still always at night. They could be vampires." She quipped dryly to herself, before blinking to herself for a silent moment, and then she suddenly carried on with a beaming smile again. "Oh, and it's my mum's birthday." She stared into the middle distance for a moment before she added somberly, "Happy birthday mum. I did make you a soufflé, but it was too beautiful to live." She finished with a giggle.

A loud bang was heard at the entrance, startling Oswin from her serene moment as she quickly switched off the recorder, and at least four Dalek voices started to flood through the door.  ** _"You will let us in! We will enter! You will let us in! We will enter! You will let us in! We will enter!"_**

Oswin flinched in fear before she grabbed a remote and switched to a different Carmen song and turned up the volume. For a moment it did nothing to blot out the sound of the Daleks, so she plugged her fingers in her ears in a vain effort to help. After a while however, the Daleks stopped banging and the faint sound of humming started as they moved away, which left Oswin feeling relieved and still utterly terrified.

**Parliament of the Daleks** **  
** One Hour Later

The Warrior stood still with an ever-growing temptation to pace burning in his nerves. He used to do this when he called himself "The Doctor" but has many a time ignored the feeling as it reminded him of who he no longer is. Yet the slow, bulky ship and the sluggish journey began to eat away at his patience. Right until-  **"We have arrived."**  The Dalek Supreme announced.

_Thank the heavens._  "Where?" He questioned.

"The Prime Minister will speak with you now." Darla said, ignoring his question, and she motioned her hand to the glass capsule.

The Warrior walked to stand beside Darla and without looking at her, he asked dryly, "Do you remember who you were before they emptied you out and turned you into their errand girl?"

"My memories are only activated if they are required to facilitate deep cover or disguise." She said, mirroring his tone before motioning again to the capsule.

"Do you not remember her?" He asked in a different angle. "Your daughter Hannah?"

"No. I just read my file." She said with a sly smirk on her face.

The Warrior just gave her a dull glare before he walked past her and the console and up to the Minister. "Well then, where have we arrived?"

**"Warrior, what do you know of the Dalek Asylum?"**  The Minister asked.

"In the early days of the Time War, one of the very first planets the Daleks conquered was, by order of Davros, to be turned into a dumping ground. This planet is where you lock up every single Dalek that is a failure. Whether they became battle-scarred, driven to insanity or were never pure-blooded Dalek to begin with, you lock them up there. Even after Davros disappeared, you still honor his order. Of course, it's never made any sense to me." The Warrior finished his diagnosis by turning around and walking back to the center of the room.

**"Why not?"**

"Because any Dalek failure is deemed shameful even though the Daleks should have no concept of it, so you would just kill them."

**"We do not lock up hybrid abominations, Warrior, we destroy them. The Daleks in the Asylum are pure-blooded, and it is offensive to us to extinguish such divine hatred."**

He stopped and turned to look back at the Minister with a look of surprise and disgust on his face. "Offensive?"

**"Does it surprise you to know that the Daleks have a concept of beauty?"**

"You think hatred is beautiful? After all these years fighting this war, I thought you ran out of ways to make me sick. Well here I am, proven wrong." The Warrior said, his surprise and disgust quickly turning into tamed rage.

**"Perhaps it is why we have never been able to kill you."**

The Warrior just stared blankly at the Minister before he turned around as he heard a circular hole open in the center of the room. He stood by it and peered down to see a singular planet, covered in grey clouds, and surrounded by a light that looked like gleaming grey ash, almost indistinguishable against the planet itself. Darla walked up to stand beside him, her heels clicking against the floor as she did. "The Asylum. It occupies the entire planet, right to the core."

"How many Daleks?"

"A count has not been made. Millions, certainly."

"Alive?"

"It has to be assumed."

"Armed?"

Darla gave him an extremely dull look. "Daleks are always armed. The Asylum is fully automated. Supervision is not necessary, but we did receive a signal from the planet. It originates right in the heart of the Asylum."

Upon her finishing, the Dalek Supreme moved to interact with the console. Then a Carmen song started to blare loudly into the room, making the Dalek Supreme move backwards in agitation.  **"What is that noise?! Explain! Explain!"**

The Warrior began to walk up to the console with a nostalgic twinkle in his eyes. "It's a song from Earth. A long time ago I played the triangle in this song, but the rest of the instruments drown it out. Nevertheless, it is a wonderful show. Now someone, be it genuine or trap is transmitting this from the planet. Have any of you considered tracking the signal back to talk to them?" Utter silence followed with Darla looking confused and surprisingly embarrassed at his reasoning. He rolled his eyes then pressed a couple of switches to turn on the audio input. "Hello? Anybody there?"

In the room, Oswin, now with a red rose in her hair, looked at her screen in both surprise and wonder.  _I have not talked to someone that is not a Dalek since I crashed here. Maybe I can get out!_ "Hello?" She asked timidly.

"Hello? Anybody there?" The Warrior repeated.

"Hello! Yes, yes, sorry." Oswin raced up to the large computer and flicked a couple of switches to turn the music off. "Do you read me?"

"Yes. Reading you loud and clear. Could you kindly identify yourself and your current situation?"

"Wait a moment, are you real?" She asked in relieved bewilderment. "Are you actually, properly real?"

"Yes, my dear. I am real." He said, trying to hold back the instinctive pity in his voice.  _How long has she been on her own, without contact from anybody excluding Daleks?_

Oswin quickly cleared her throat. "Oswin Oswald. Junior entertainment manager, star ship Alaska. Current status: Crashed and shipwrecked somewhere…"She glanced behind her to the boarded entrance for a moment before continuing, "not nice. Been here for a year, provisions are good but keen to move on."

"A year?" The Warrior muttered in bewilderment. "Are you okay? Are you under attack?"

"Some local life forms. Been keeping them out."

"You do know what those lifeforms are, my dear?"

"Anyone can hear a Dalek for miles, so yeah." She said amusingly.

The Warrior laughed before he stopped himself in surprise.  _I have not laughed properly for centuries. I really am getting old._  He then asked timidly, "What have you been doing on you own against the Daleks for a year?"

"Making soufflés?" Oswin responded hesitantly.

The Warrior could not help himself and he laughed at her words. "Soufflés? Against the Daleks? Wonderful." However, he paused for a moment as he realized that something might be wrong with her words. "Wait, where do you get the milk?"

Before he and Oswin could converse any further, the Dalek Supreme interrupted.  **"This conversation is irrelevant!"**

Back in the room, Oswin heard the connection cut off, replaced by static noise. "No, no, wait! Hello? Hello?" No answer came, and she growled in irritation before she started to flip the switches in an attempt to re-establish the connection.

"No, it isn't!" The Warrior responded in an irritated manner back on the Asylum. "Don't you realize what this is? A star liner has crashed into your Asylum and someone got in. If that happens then someone can get out. Even you don't want an avalanche of insane Daleks to break free."

**"The Asylum must be cleansed!"**

"Then why is it still here?" The Warrior retorted. "You have enough power to blow the planet to kingdom come yet you have done nothing. Why?"

"The force field is impenetrable." Darla interjected.

"Then turn it off!" The Warrior exclaimed impatiently.

"It can only be turned off from within the Asylum."

The Warrior put the pieces together before an amused twinkle started to shine in his eyes. "Oh, that's why. No matter your numbers or heavy firepower, you are too scared to go down there. That is where I come in. Now if my deduction is true, why on god's Earth would I help you?"

**"Because Doctor, you would have no other means of escape!"**  The Dalek Supreme roared. If he was Human, he would have had a sickening grin plastered across his face.

The Warrior sighed as Darla walked up to him holding a wrist band. "You'll need this. It will protect from the Nano cloud."

"I beg your pardon?"

"The gravity beam will convey you close to the source of the transmission. You must find a way to deactivate the force field from there." Darla said, ignoring his question as she put the wrist band on, then she pressed a small button on the side to activate it.

The Warrior groaned loudly. "Oh, that's the plan then. Fire me at the planet and wait till I fix it." No response came from within the room, and Darla just motioned wordlessly towards the hole. As he moved forward, a beam of white light shone from the ceiling and through the hole. Taking a deep breath before whispering an old Gallifreyan prayer, he stepped through the hole. For what felt like hours, all the Warrior could see was a blinding light, forcing him to shut his eyes. Then he felt himself surrounded by snow and what sounded like Dalek eye-stalks tuning and focusing. He opened his eyes to see a blue sky with clouds above his head and cold snow surrounding him in all directions.  _This must be the planet's illusion, that it is a peaceful planet protected by a powerful force field from the war._  He groaned deeply as he moved to get up, noticing a Dalek eye-stalk sticking out of the snow to his right. If it was not for his current predicament, he would have laughed at its silliness. Then the same Carmen song that played in the Asylum began to blare out before it was at once cut off.

"Sorry! Sorry, I pressed the wrong switch!" Oswin said.

"Soufflé girl?" The Warrior muttered, surprise in his voice at her manipulation of Dalek technology.

"You could always call me Oswin, seeing as that's my name." Oswin said, a degree of sass in her voice that made him smirk.

"Sorry, Oswin. But I must ask, how are you doing this? This is Dalek technology, not even Time Lords have figured out how to manipulate it so easily." The Warrior said, now with awe in his voice.

"Well...it's pretty easy for me. Maybe you're just a big idiot who hasn't figured it out." He did not need to see her to know that she had a cheeky grin on her face.

"Oh, quiet you." The Warrior retorted, yet he could not help the smile. "Where are you?"

"Ship broke up when it hit the planet, now I'm somewhere underground...I think. You coming to get me?" Oswin asked, her voice laced undeniably with hope. Yet just like the connection, it was cut off as static filled the screen. "Damn. Hello?" Oswin called, before sighing and returning to her work...again.

"Oswin, you there?" The Warrior asked. Before he would continue, he noticed coming down a mound of snow towards him from his right was a brown-skinned man in a white fur jacket, panting as he stopped his pace.

"Hello, who are you? Are you okay?" The man rambled. "I'm Harvey. I saw the transport beam on the other side of the hill. Are you the rescue team?"

The Warrior looked at him in puzzlement, and he answered timidly, "I think so. Well Harvey, I'm the Doctor."  _Wait a moment, since when did I refer to myself as the Doctor? Oh, never mind._  "How did you get on this planet?"

"I'm part of maintenance on Star ship Alaska. We crashed here two days ago, but the escape pods launched into the surface before the ship burrowed underground."

_Hold on, Oswin said the ship crashed here a year ago and Harvey says it was only a few days. What am I missing?_  "I'm trying to get to the ship, one of your crew members contacted me."  _Best not tell him about the Daleks blowing up the planet. Don't need him to panic._

"I can help you, me and the others, we all...somewhat camped in an escape pod." Harvey at once started to move back up the mound, the Doctor looking timidly at his hurried pace. He moved to follow Harvey and before long saw a grey latch in the snow which Harvey began to open. "There's at least twelve other escape pods, I don't know if they also have survivors, or where they are." Harvey said before moving inside the escape pod.

The Doctor followed him and watched as he gathered supplies, seeing three rows of chairs with bodies in them and a door behind him _-Wait…bodies?_  "Aren't you going to introduce me to your crew?" He asked, not taking his eyes off the backs of their heads.

"Oh, sorry. Guys, this is the Doctor." Harvey introduced, but he paused as he noticed the bodies did not even react to either of them. "Guys?"

The Doctor pulled one of the hoods off and saw a rotten skeleton underneath. He moved in front of the others and saw the same thing. "They're all dead." He said dryly.

"No, they can't be. I just spoke to them. Two hours ago, we were doing engine repairs." Harvey said in shock.

"You sure about that? I'd say they've all been dead for an awfully long time." The Doctor turned to look at Harvey who then dulled his eyes in almost mocking realization.

"Oh, of course, stupid me. I died outside, and the cold preserved my body. I forgot about dying." As he finished, a cracking sound came from his neck as a Dalek eye-stalk emerged. The Doctor quickly pressed a nearby button to open the door, then grabbed a fire extinguisher and fired it directly into Harvey's eyes, forcing him through the door then he slammed his hand down on the button.

_Now that explains the "Nano cloud". Microscopic machines that convert anything organic into Dalek puppets. It does not even need to be living to become a puppet. Wait, there's bodies in here too. Ok, time to go._  The Doctor at once moved to the door on the other side of the room, pressing the button to open it, then doing the same with the button on the other side, closing the door before the corpse puppets could even move. The Doctor then sighed in relief, before jumping slightly as a loud static noise filled the room for a brief second.

"Unauthorized personnel may not enter the cockpit." Oswin quipped.

"Oh, shush you." The Doctor said with a smile, before moving over to the computer in front of him.

Oswin huffed. "Mr. Grumpy today. That is a bad combo, no sense of humor and that mess of an outfit." She continued.

"It's not an outfit, it's just something I wear instead of a military suit." The Doctor retorted incredulously.

"Like I said, mess of an outfit. I'm scanning you, you're in one of the escape pods from the Alaska and it seems your power is on."

"How can you hack into everything? It should be impossible, especially in a crashed ship."  _More than that, I cannot see her, yet she can see me. Why is that? Is it one way visual or something else?_

"Long story. Is there a word for "Total Screaming Genius" that sounds modest and a tiny bit sexy?" Oswin flirted.

_Well, two can play at this game._  "The Doctor. Fits the bill, and that is also my name." The Doctor replied in the same tone. He had to hold his surprise when he heard Oswin giggle.  _Wait, that worked? Hmm, I've still got it. That is either really good or really bad._

"I see what you did there." Oswin replied but stopped to hear a loud beeping from her computer, making her return to her work. "Check the floor. I am picking up a breach at floor level, could be a way out. See ya later."

The Doctor smiled before turning to survey the room. Nothing much of note except for a used hatch in the floor.  _Hold on, used? Either nothing is adding up or I am missing something extremely obvious._  The Doctor moved to the hatch to open it.  _The lower part of the pod is buried so this must go straight down to the Asylum. And whoever previously used this hatch tried to block it off behind them. Cannot really blame them for doing that._ The Doctor then forced the hatch open to see a sheer drop inside with a ladder attached to the hatch.  _Someone else got in here, or did they get out?_  He then began the long climb down the ladder. After what again felt like an eternity, the Doctor reached the bottom of the ladder to see a corridor in front of him then quickly popped his back and suppressed a groan.  _Dear me, I am too old for this shit. Wait, was that from a film-oh never mind._  He then marched down the corridor before coming to a stop, seeing a Dalek eyestalk in the roof acting strangely like a camera.  _Please let her hear me._ "Oswin, are you there? Can you hear me?"

"Hello there, old fella. I have a visual on you."

_Again, that same question._  "Why don't I have a visual on you?"

"Limited power, bad hair, not enough makeup, horrific dress, take your pick."

"Well if the voice matches you, you would look good no matter what dress you are in."

Oswin paused in surprise for a moment. "Now I can't tell if that was smooth or really cheesy."

"Shush." That made Oswin giggle which in turn made the Doctor smirk.

"There's a door to your left, open it." The Doctor did as she said, seeing a small cupboard with a screen inside. "Going to send you a map to that screen. Can take you to a room containing teleports, those can get us out of here."

The Doctor waited as she stopped talking, noticing left out information. "And the problem is?"

"You have to go through a room of insane Daleks."

That made him nod slowly with a sigh. "Riiight. How many Daleks are ahead of me?"

"Ten? Twenty? It is hard to tell. Some of them are catatonic but they do have firepower, so be careful."

"I'll try to be." The Doctor said solemnly before opening the door and moving into the large room. The room was full of burnt wires, dripping water and Dalek waste along with many stationary Daleks.  _Asleep, dead, or dormant? Hard to recognize._  He started his slow trek to the other side of the large room, moving around columns and Daleks whilst being careful to avoid touching anything on the ground.  _At least ten more feet before I can get to the door._  Before he moved another inch, a loud metallic groaning sound came from right next to him. He turned to see a Dalek's head moving painfully slow towards him, the blue light in its eye-stalk being dim yet noticeable. The Doctor took a few slow steps back before stopping in shock as his foot clumsily bumped a steel rod on the ground, making a loud screeching sound in the process. This caused all the Daleks in the room to come alive. Some of the Daleks at the far side were doing silly gestures like moving close to each other in a form of hug or spinning around on the spot while staring straight upwards. However, the Dalek right beside him finished moving its head to stare straight into his eyes.

**"Eh-Eh-Eh-Eh-Eh-Eggs…"**

The Doctor blinked before sputtering, "I'm sorry?"

**"Egg-Egg-Egg-Egg-Egg-Eggs…"**

"Eggs? What do you mean?"

**"Ehhhggs…"**

"I... don't know what you want."

**"Eggs...ter-"**

"Okay, don't even bother finishing that." The Doctor spat out quickly before turning to run for the door.

**"Mi... nate. Ex-ter-mi-nate."**  The Doctor reached the door but found it would not open. Quickly fishing out his silver sonic screwdriver, he pointed it at a red sensor at the top of the door to force it open.  **"Exterminate!"**  The same Dalek exclaimed before firing yet missing him by at least five feet. This still made him flinch in fear before returning to work. The door then opened, allowing the Doctor to run inside then repeat the same motion with his sonic, right after dodging another shot from the Dalek. The door then shut just in time to block a well-aimed blast from the Dalek, thus saving his life. This made him lean against the wall and breath a deep sigh of relief before returning to walk down the corridor to another door, this one leading into a small circular room filled with electronic devices and strewn wires.

"You have some incredibly good stamina for an old fella. Other people might interpret that differently though."

"Ummm, thank you?" The Doctor asked dumbly.

"No problem. Just flirting to keep you cheerful."

"Well, I'll take flirting over Daleks any day. Actually, I'd take almost anything than facing Daleks."

"Yeah, I know the feeling." Oswin admitted.

"Now I have a question Oswin, why hasn't the Dalek Nano cloud converted you?"

That made Oswin snort. "I mentioned the genius thing yeah. Shielded in here."

_Again, even the most brilliant genius cannot integrate into Dalek technology so easily._  "Not bad." He decided to say, so to not alarm Oswin. "Now, the Daleks said this place was fully automated but look at it. It's a complete mess."

"Well, I've had nearly a year to mess with it and... not much else to do."

_Let us get this straight._  "A junior entertainment manager hiding out in a wrecked star ship, integrating themselves into the security system of THE most advanced battle race the universe has ever seen. Yet what I find most strange is the soufflés. Where do you get the milk from?" That started to make Oswin look both confused and uncertain at her situation. "How do you fight Daleks for over a year while making soufflés without running out of supplies?"

"So, Doctor, I've been looking you up. You're all over the database, yet why would the Daleks call you names like "Predator" or "Valeyard" or "Warrior"?"

_She did not simply ignore those questions, she avoided them in fear._ "Because I've been fighting a war for an exceedingly long time. You do not fight wars and simply call yourself "The Doctor" it never works like that. I am still surprised I am using that name right now and not "The Warrior". I have not been the Doctor for so long now, and sometimes I keep forgetting what even made me him in the first place. But the one thing I do remember is that the Doctor is a good man."

" _*Sigh*_ Have you got a plan then?"

"In no order I have to neutralize all the Daleks in this Asylum, rescue you from the wreckage and escape from both this planet and the Dalek Parliament that is in orbit."

"FYI, I picked up that ship on the sensors."

"Thank you Oswin. Now, this whole planet has a force field around it and the Daleks on said ship are waiting for me to turn it off then they will destroy the whole planet and everything on it. And if I think about common Dalek behaviour, I shall receive no mercy. My question is, how fast can you turn off the force field?"

"Pretty fast. But why would I? And why would you let me if you know you won't survive?"

"This room I'm in Oswin, it is a teleport room, an internal teleport at that. And thanks to a good ounce of Dalek stupidity, I have an escape ship on the Dalek Parliament that I can just teleport to and get us out of here. And I can boost the power along with the accuracy of said teleport when the force field drops. So, how fast can you drop the force field, Oswin?"

"I can do it from here, as soon as you come and get me."

"Can you send me a map to your location?"

"Hold on, aren't you supposed to say, "Why not just drop the force field and come to me?""

"Because I have been fighting this violent war for far too long. There have been so many times where I have promised someone that I would save them and yet they die, so I will not let that happen again. When we do get out of here I can take you back home but then I must return to my planet."

"Why? Why would you have to return to a war when you can just go somewhere peaceful?"

"Because I made myself a promise. A promise to end the war and I will see it through, even if I don't survive."

Oswin reluctantly accepted his words despite her sadness for him and his fate. "All right then, I'm sending you a map to my location."

The Doctor then began to hastily move around the room to prepare the teleport before moving back to the computer screen to see the map route then leaving the room and heading down a long corridor. He started to breathe unsteadily as he heard many distant Daleks chanting "We are the Daleks! Prepare to be annihilated!". After a full minute of walking, he let a small breath of relief pass as he saw a door at the end. "Oswin, are you there? I think I'm getting close." The Doctor whispered shakily.

"You are, less than twenty feet away. That's the good news."

He gulped. "And the bad?"

"You're going to pass through Intensive Care."

The door opened to reveal a room bathed in sickly green and brown light, which once again made the Doctor feel uneasy. It did not help that the badly arranged cells held dormant Daleks. "What's so special about this lot then?" The Doctor whispered.

"Don't know, survivors of particular wars: Spiridon, Kembel, Aridius, Vulcan, Exxilon, the Time War." That last one made Oswin pause.  _Is that the war he is referring to?_  "Any of them familiar?"

"The last one." He said simply.

"How?"

"These are the Daleks who survived me."

**"Doc-tor."** One of the Daleks said slowly. Before long all the Daleks in the room began to chant the same word, making him run towards the door at the end and pulling out his sonic to repeat the opening motion on the door. Yet nothing happened.

"Oh dear, it won't open. Oswin, can I have a hand please?"

"Hang on. I think there might be a release code, let me just…"

**"Doctor!"**

That made him turn around. All the Daleks were still in their cells, moving against the bars fruitlessly, yet one was not in a cell, just wrapped in chains. As it chanted, it moved violently against the chains which snapped away, setting it free to move forward. The Doctor saw that it had nothing attached to it, not even a gun, but the Daleks had other ways of killing their enemies.  _Just need to stall for Oswin._  "Wait! Access your standing orders concerning the Doctor!"

**"You must be exterminated!"**

"How will you do that?! You do not have a gun! How are you going to destroy me?!" As he finished he heard two sounds. One was the door behind him opening while the other was an alarm coming from the Dalek in front of him.

**"Self-destruct initiated!"**

_20 seconds._  The Doctor then pulled his sonic out and used it to remove part of the Dalek's head, so he could mess around with its own systems.

**"Self-destruct cannot be countermanded!"**

"I'm not looking for a countermand, child! I'm looking for reverse!" The Doctor taunted. He placed the Dalek's head back on then mocked it by moving backwards through the doorway as said Dalek flew away from him in haste.

**"Forwards! Forwards! Forwards! Forwards! Forwards!"**  The Dalek screamed before it exploded in a blast that destroyed the nearby cells and the Daleks contained within. The same blast knocked the Doctor off his feet leaving him with a dazed head and ringing ears.

"Ow." He grumbled.

"That was pretty clever." Oswin complimented.

"It was, but it could've killed me if it wasn't for you Oswin. Thank you, though I'm surprised you opened the door so quickly."

"Well then Doctor, come meet the genius who saved your life." Oswin said smugly before moving to pack her belongings. The Doctor then stood up and popped his back, letting out a groan as he did. He then focused his attention on his surroundings once his ears stopped ringing loudly. The room was small and circular, with bright white lights coming out of the walls, yet they were not so bright like the transport beam from far earlier. He then turned around and froze in utter horror. He had misheard Oswin's voice due to the aftermath of the explosion, hearing her recognizable northern accent. Yet he saw in one image that not only did he hear her voice wrong, but he found the answer to all his questions related to Oswin. In front of him stood a chained Dalek staring at him.

**"Hey, you're right outside. Come on in."**

"Oswin, we have a very serious problem." The Doctor said, the horror now turning into utter sadness and guilt.  _Yet again, no matter how hard I tried, I still did not save her. She will not leave knowing what she is._

**"No, we don't. Do not even say that. I joined Alaska to see the universe and ended up shipwrecked on my first adventure. Rescue me Doctor and show me the stars."**  Oswin said, fear and denial laced in her Dalek voice.

"Does it look real to you?"

**"Does what look real?"**

"Where you are, right now. Does it seem real?"

**"It is real."**

The Doctor gave out a sad sigh. "I'm so sorry Oswin, but it's only a dream. A dream you made to hide yourself from the truth because it was too horrific."

That made Oswin pause and her eyestalk began to dart around the room, almost as if she just realized where she was.  **"Where am I? Where am I? Where am I?"**

"Because you have become a Dalek."

**"I am not a Dalek!"** Oswin cried.  **"I am not a Dalek! I am Human!"**

"You were Human when you crashed. It was you who climbed out of the pod, which was your ladder."

**"I am Human!"**  Oswin continued to protest.

"I am sorry Oswin but you're not. Not anymore. You were right, you are a genius. And the Daleks need genius. They didn't just make you a puppet, they did a full conversion." The Doctor then gave into his age-old tradition and started to pace in front of Oswin. "I asked you before how you made soufflés against the Daleks for a year, but you didn't. You were never making soufflés; it was all part of the dream."

**"Eggs, I'm Human. I am Human, I am not a Dalek! I am Human!"**

"It wasn't real, it was never real. And I did not save you. I am so deeply sorry." After a moment of silence Oswin started to twitch in agitation, and it made the Doctor gulp in nervousness.

**"Eggs...term...i... nate."**

"Oswin?"

**"Ex-ter-minate. Exterminate. Exterminate!"**

"No, Oswin please!" The Doctor cried. "You do not have to do this, please stop Oswin! Please!"

**"Exterminaaaate!"**  On this, Oswin's speech started to become garbled before she stopped moving. Then the Doctor heard the sound that he recognized as…crying. **"Why do they hate you so much? They hate you so much, why?"** This time, Oswin unlike many other Daleks was not screaming her words but instead just speaking.

"I have fought them so many times over hundreds of years. I guess, like me...they just got tired of it all." The Doctor admitted sadly.

**"We have grown stronger in fear of you."**

"I know, and it made me a complete idiot. I have wished so many times over the war that someone, somehow would end it all, but nothing ever happened. It just kept going. That is why I made myself that promise to end it all. To stop all this suffering and endless fighting. Even if it kills me for good."

**"Then...run."**

That made the Doctor look at Oswin in bewilderment, despite the tears in his eyes over his admittance. "What did you say?"

**"End the war, but live. Show the universe a better life than what it has seen."** After a moment's pause, Oswin continued,  **"I have taken down the force field. The Daleks up above have begun their attack. Run!"**

"Oswin, you don't have to do this. Not for me." The Doctor protested, but Oswin ignored him.

**"I am Oswin Oswald. I fought the Daleks and I am Human. Now run. Run, you clever boy. And remember me."**

For a moment, he didn't know what to say, until he gave a soft smile of gratitude at her words. "I won't forget this Oswin and thank you."

**"Run!"**  At once, the Doctor ran in haste back to the teleport room, every so often stumbling from the shaking of the Dalek attack. He then picked up the teleport unit and slammed his hand down on the green button.

* * *

**"The Asylum is destroyed!"**  The Dalek Supreme roared triumphantly.

**"Send orders to all active Dalek units! Divert all forces to Gallifrey! Commence the final assault on the Time Lords! Destroy the entire planet!"**  The Dalek Minister ordered.

**"Incoming teleport from Asylum planet. We are under attack!"**  A Dalek soldier yelled, making everyone in the expansive room twitch in agitation.

**"Prepare to defend!"**  The Dalek Supreme ordered.

Inside the TARDIS, The Doctor started flicking switches to set his coordinates to Arcadia, before turning on another switch for audio output then setting his hand on the dematerialization lever. "You really should've seen this coming, children, because I happen to be marvelous at using teleports! So long everyone!" The Doctor yelled smugly before pulling the lever, making the TARDIS dematerialize.

**"The Doctor is escaping! Exterminate! Exterminate!"**  The Daleks yelled fruitlessly.

As the TARDIS left the Parliament, the Doctor then stopped and lowered his head for a few moments with a solemn and guilt-ridden expression on his face. "I'm so sorry Oswin, but you're right. This war must end." The TARDIS then materialized at his destination and the Doctor stepped out into a ruined building. He heard by the entrance a soldier in engraved Gallifreyan war armor yelling into his radio.

"Message for the High Council! Priority Omega! Arcadia has fallen! I repeat: Arcadia has fallen!" The soldier however stopped his rambling as he noticed the Doctor suddenly standing there.

"Soldier, I'm going to need your gun."

"Yes sir." The soldier said, recognizing him at once before handing him the rifle. The Doctor took hold and blasted into the wall "No More", knowing the High Council would receive the message. He then gave the gun back to the soldier before returning into the TARDIS. In the distance as he neared the TARDIS, he heard many Dalek voices chanting "Seek, locate, destroy!" As he entered his ship, he piloted the TARDIS to crash through the wall to destroy the Daleks, allowing everyone outside to see the message he left. Setting new coordinates, the TARDIS materialized in the Omega Arsenal, a long dark grey corridor filled with empty holding vaults, except for one. At the end of the corridor was a mechanical box covered in Gallifreyan markings, and the Doctor recognized it at once as the Moment.

"No more." The Doctor muttered before pulling out a large brown bag and inserting the Moment into it before moving into the TARDIS. "No more." He then piloted the TARDIS to land in a deserted sand plain on Gallifrey. Stepping out of the TARDIS he took one sadder look at the environment, knowing this will be the last time he will see it whether he dies or not. Not the burnt orange sand nor the clear blue skies mixed with grey clouds and bathed in the red twin suns. In the far distance he saw the same barn he ran to in his childhood. _This shall be my penance. If I shall burn everyone on this planet to end this war, this shall be my atonement._  Picking up the Moment, he began the long trek towards the barn. "Time Lords of Gallifrey, Daleks of Skaro, I serve notice on you all. Too long I have stayed my hand, no more. Today, you leave me no choice. Today, this war will end. No more. No more."

**AN: That took far longer than I expected, but it was fun to write regardless. Thank you for reading and do leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	3. The Snowmen

**The Snowmen**

_In London in the time of Queen Victoria, there were many tales of a remarkable personage known as "The Great Detective". Also known as Madame Vastra, the lizard woman of Paternoster Row. Aiding her is her beautiful accomplice, Jenny Flint, and their mysterious henchman, Strax, whose countenance was too abominable for photographers. There are also accounts of a fourth member of the Paternoster Gang, a shadowy figure whom they only seek help from for the direst emergencies._

**London  
** November 1892

A dark and snow-filled night had fallen over London. Streets were busy as men and women alike were pacing about, while horse driven carriages were moving hastily up and down the roads. In one alleyway, a small figure stood there, seeing the nearby street. It was Strax, known henchman to Madame Vastra. 5ft 2, and with a face like an overgrown potato, wearing a black cloak to hide his silver blue armour. He motions a hand wave down the alley before two extra figures appear from the darkness. The closest was Vastra's maid, Jenny Flint while the second figure was the detective herself as they joined Strax to see the street, yet in a more waiting manner. Jenny was 5ft 4, with brown hair and wearing a black frock dress with a matching hat. Vastra was 5ft 9, a humanoid reptile with skin and scales, all with varying shades of green, while wearing a large purple cloak to mask most of her features. A fourth figure appears from behind them, a man who like the three, dressed in a typical Victorian suit, yet unlike the three before him, his clothes were more rugged with no care put into them. 6ft with a top hat that hid his close cropped, deep brown hair and his face sported a 5 o'clock shadow that he did not seem to support. Jenny turns to look at him before nudging Vastra and Strax to do the same.

"I'm so glad you came. We have news, I think, of interest to you. There was a meteor shower in the southwest, unexpected timing and density. I've calculated there is a thirty-four percent chance it is the result of alien intervention." Vastra said in held agitation. The man stared at her with indifference, so she continued. "Twenty four percent." She corrects with a slight sheepish tone. "Well, they could just be meteors, but it is worth looking into. There is also a very pleasant tea room in that area." She added hopefully.

"Also, there's a Professor Arasmus Pink who's claiming he's going to split the world open with a giant drill through the thinnest part of the Earth's crust. I think we should investigate." Jenny said in the same tone. The man's expression did not change in the slightest. "Okay, he doesn't actually have a giant drill and he's not really a professor and he was a bit drunk at the time and singing a bit, but you know it's never too early to investigate a drill." Jenny added yet growing more sheepish as she talked.

"I have declared war on the moon!" Strax roared in excitement.

"Do be quiet, Strax." Vastra snapped.

"Sorry, ma'am. It is just that the moon has hung unmonitored and unsuspected in the sky for too long. It has gained an enormous tactical advantage."

"There's no one living there." Jenny pointed out.

"Then it is clearly time to act, they won't suspect a thing."

"Who won't suspect a thing?"

"Moonites." This made Vastra and Jenny roll their eyes before turning their attention back to the man, then they all fell into awkward, sheepish silence. They did not notice that his expression never changed, not even flickered during their banter.

"Why do you keep doing this? What is the point? I have told you. I keep telling you. I do not do this anymore. I've retired." The man said, his northern accent flourishing despite his indifference as he walked up to the trio.

"There's a man on Praed Street with an invisible wif-" Jenny stops as the man glares at her. "Okay, he doesn't have a wife." She muttered like a child in trouble.

"You're wasting your time." The man almost spat at them before walking away.

"Goodnight!" Jenny called yet the man did not respond. "I think he means it." She said now with a tone of sadness.

"Yes, my dear. I rather think he does." Vastra replies in the same tone before urging the two of them to leave.

"Damn moon." Strax grumbles, looking up at the sky before leaving in their direction.

One Month Later

Inside the cream coloured home of their latest culprit, Strax was putting handcuffs on the criminal, while seen by Vastra, Jenny and a police inspector.

"Prepare for obliteration, Earthling scum." Strax growled.

"Mister Strax, if you could just take him aside for a moment, I have some officers on the way." The Inspector said.

"As you wish. Human filth." Strax said begrudgingly causing Jenny to roll her eyes as Strax led the man out of the house.

"Sorry, he's new." Jenny said dryly.

"Funny looking fellow. Turkish, is he?"

"He is a genetically modified clone warrior from outer space." Vastra said indifferently.

"Ah, makes sense, heh. Well, what a case  _*Chuckles*_. Identical twins, poison undetectable to science, an ancient Egyptian curse. Once more Scotland Yard is in your debt, Madame Vastra. Where would we be without you?"

"Quite some distance from a clue, one imagines."

"You may be right." He then stared at Vastra for a few moments. "Ummm, does it ever...uh...hurt?" He asked hesitantly.

"Does what hurt?" Vastra asked in confusion.

"Your skin condition, I've always wondered."

"It's not a condition, Inspector. It's just skin." Jenny interrupted sternly.

"Are you sure?"

"I am, as I may have failed to mention, an intelligent reptile from an ancient civilization long preceding humankind. Many of us slumber under the Earth's crust." Vastra said with a touch of dry humour.

"Madame was accidentally awoken by an extension to the London Underground." Jenny added.

"I was not initially keen on the society of apes, but I made the most elementary of errors. I fell in love." Vastra said before looking kindly at Jenny who returned the look.

"What, with the, uh…Turkish fellow?" He asks dumbly.

"No, not with the Turkish fellow." Vastra states with a roll of her eyes before wrapping her arm around Jenny's waist, making Jenny reciprocate by leaning into Vastra gently.

The Inspector looks between them before realization sinks in. "Good lord. Oh, good lord." He mumbles.

"Come along, my dear." Vastra says.

"Yes, my darling." Jenny says. They both walk away to their carriage laughing at the Inspector's expression as he repeatedly mumbles "Good lord" to himself before leaving. Even in the carriage they are still giggling before they calm down as a comfortable silence sinks in for a few moments. "Still no word from the Doctor then?" Jenny asks with a twinge of sadness.

"No, my dear and there won't be." Vastra replies in the same tone.

"He can't sulk in his box forever."

"Heartbreak and tragedy is a burden to us all. Pity the man with two hearts who had to kill his own people to save billions of others."

Jenny nods silently before staring out of the carriage window. "It's starting to snow again."

Vastra frowns. "But it can't be."

"Well, it is nearly Christmas."

"But the clouds."

"What about them?"

"There aren't any." And Vastra was right. There was no clouds out that night. Just a clear, dark sky.

1842

In a snow-filled backyard to an enormous house, a group of children are playing in the snow while laughing in joy. One kid however stands alone, silently building a snowman. A pair of adults walk up to stand behind him.

"Walter, don't you want to play with the other boys and girls? They're very nice." The woman asked.

"I don't need anyone else." Walter says indifferently.

The woman turns to look at the man. "He never talks to anyone. He is so alone. It is not right. It's not healthy." They both give a sigh of defeat knowing nothing they say will convince the boy, so they turn to walk back into the house.

"I don't want to talk to them. They're silly." Walter says aloud.

_**"They're silly."**_  A voice emanates from the snowman, making Walter pause before looking around in case someone said it behind him.  _ **"Don't talk to them, they're silly. Don't need anyone else."**_  Walter turns to run back into the house before the voice says,  _ **"I can help you."**_ This makes Walter walk back to the snowman in trepidation.

"How?" He asks timidly.

_**"Help me be like you. Then we will not need anyone ever again. Do you wish to help me?"** _

Walter ponders for a few moments and then looks at the snowman with a small smile. "Yes. I will help you."

24th December 1892

Standing atop a small flight of stairs behind a massive house is Walter. Through all those years, he had grown to 6ft 2, hair a deep brown with a large receding hair line and rather gaunt features to his face. His expression was a blend of indifference and a scowl, as he watches a group of men work in collecting samples from the snowmen below. They then pass the sample jars into a carriage that works its way around to the front of house, with Walter going to collect the jars before heading inside. Within the massive room is a large round glass globe, filled with flowing snow with four electrical pylons on each side, all sparking with power. Walter grabs one of the jars before walking up to the globe. "The last of the arrivals has been sampled." Walter said, holding up the jar in his hands.

_**"A great swarm is approaching. As humanity celebrates, so shall it end. Will the final piece by ready?"**_  The voice of the snow booms out of the globe.

Walter opens a small latch in the globe, before opening the jar in his hand and using a spoon to shovel the snow inside before closing the empty jar. "It's in hand. I serve you in this as in everything else."

_**"And do you keep my secrets? Those men who helped us tonight?"** _

"It won't be a problem. I promised to feed them." Walter said. He then walked out onto the steps and looked down upon the men as they talked amongst themselves, stopping to look up at him.

"Beg your pardon, Dr Simeon. It's been a long day and I don't see any food here." One of the men says, politely confused.

"I do." Walter said dryly.

The men all look confused before a group of snowmen suddenly rise out of the ground, with delightfully evil faces and sharp teeth bared as they start to eat away at the men.

"What is this?!" Another of the men yells in terror.

"I said I'd feed you. I didn't say who too." Walter said, still keeping a dull expression on his face before turning back into the house, the men's screams of fear and pain lasting long into the night.

**The Rose & Crown**

Inside a local bar, many a man is conversing amongst themselves while downing drinks in their hands. Passing through them is a young brunette barmaid in a red dress, who picks up a few empty flagons before turning to pass out of the back door. As she closes the door, she turns to look down an alleyway to see a snowman rise out of the ground, this one with a small thin smile as it stares at her. She sets her tray down on a nearby barrel before slowly moving a small distance towards the snowman both in confusion and trepidation. Out of nowhere, a man passes by, ignoring both her and the snowman.

"Did you make this snowman?" The girl asks in a cockney accent.

"No." The man says indifferently.

"Well who did? Cause it wasn't there a second ago, it just appeared, from nowhere." Her last words make the man stop before turning around to stand next to the snowman, trying desperately to hide a look of wonder.

"Maybe it's snow that fell before. Maybe it remembers how to make snowmen." He mutters to himself.

"What? Snow that can remember? That's silly." She said with a slight snort.

"What's wrong with silly?" He asks, turning to look at her, a small smile on his face.

"Nothing. I'm still talking to you, aren't I?" She retorted.

The man looks at her fondly for a moment.  _She's clever. And gorgeous. Wait, no, stop that._ "What's your name?"

"Clara."

"That's a nice name. Clara." He looks away, hiding the sadness from his voice before walking away. "You should keep it. Goodbye."

Clara looks at him in confusion before walking to catch up to him. "Oi! Where are you going? I thought we was getting acquainted."

The man stops and turns to look at her. "Those were the old days." He says softly before walking away.

Clara stands in contemplation for a small moment.  _He's quite handsome._  She mused to herself. _But…his eyes. They were old. Far too old._  She then hears someone urging a horse to move followed by the sound of carriage wheels. "Bugger it." She mutters before running down the alleyway to see a carriage moving through an empty street, then continuing to chase after it.

Inside the carriage, the man sits silently as the voice of Vastra floats in through a phone speaker.

_"Ah, refreshing to see you taking an interest again. Was she nice?"_  Vastra asks.

"I just spoke to her." The man restrains himself from rolling his eyes.

_"And made your usual impact, no doubt."_

"No, no, no impact at all." He said impatiently. "Those days are done."

_"You can't help yourself. It's the same story every time and it always begins with the same two words."_  She admonished like a mother to her child.

"Ughh, she will never be able to find me again, she doesn't even have the name "Doctor"! What two words?!" He snapped.

The hatch on the top of the carriage opened suddenly, Clara popping her head inside with a grin on her face. ""Doctor"? Doctor Who?"

The Doctor raises his eyebrows in shock. "Okay, that's it. Get inside. Strax! Stop the carriage." Once Clara had entered the carriage with a "Oof", he opened the door to stand outside before holding up a hand to Clara, who was about to follow him. "Stay here." He then closes and locks the door.

* * *

In another part of town, a man with dark hair and a large matching beard is standing outside his house, looking upon a frozen pond. He bids farewell to the driver of his carriage as it moves away before gazing back at the pond. After a few moments, the front door of his house opens to reveal his maid and Walter standing there, but the man does not see either of them.

"The pond has frozen over." As he speaks, Walter moves out of the doorway to stand behind the man. "It hasn't frozen since the night-"

"Since the night your children's governess died, a year ago." Walter interrupts.

The man looks at him in surprise before turning to look at his maid. "Dr Simeon, sir. He insisted on waiting." She informed.

"She drowned in this very pond, which then froze." Walter continued. "You didn't find her till a month later when the ice finally melted."

"I recall the incident, it's the sort of thing one remembers." The man says.

"Ice remembers too." Walter said, hiding a slight sinister tone of warning in his voice.

"Who are you? What do you want here?"

Walter reaches into his coat pocket to pull out a card that says "The Great Intelligence Institute" before handing it to the man. "The pond is yours, Captain Latimer. But what is growing inside it, when it is ready is ours. Good evening." Walter then walks away, leaving both Latimer and the maid confused as they walk into the house. Both do not notice a small amount of frost starting to form inside the pond. Walter takes a route through alleyways to silently head back to the institute. On the way he stops as Jenny appears suddenly in front of him.

"Well, Dr Simeon. You're out late tonight." Jenny said with her hands on her hips.

"Almost makes you wonder what you've been up to." Vastra said from behind Walter. "But then I have often wondered about the activities of Dr Simeon and his exceptionally secretive institute."

"Well, I am honoured this evening." Walter says sarcastically. "The veiled detective and her fatuous accomplice."

"At your service." Jenny mockingly curtsies.

"You realize Dr Doyle is almost certainly basing his fantastical tales on your own exploits? With a few choice alterations of course as I doubt his readers would accept that the veiled detective is in reality," He moves to Vastra to pull back her veil, showing indifference to her look, "a woman, and her suspiciously intimate companion."

"I resent your implication of impropriety. We are married." Vastra bluntly said, her last words surprisingly making Walter's eyebrows raise slightly.

"More than can be said for you, eh dear?" Jenny quipped, raising her eyebrows at Walter, making him scoff.

Vastra grabbed a small handful of snow and gazed intently at it. "Now then, this snow is very peculiar, don't you think? The ice crystals have a low-level telepathic field as if it can detect and respond to the thoughts and memories of those around it. Memory snow. Snow that learns." Vastra says, rolling the snow around in her grasp.

"How fascinating." Walter says, once again sarcastically.

"I hope it's listening to the right people. It could be a terrible weapon in the wrong hands, don't you think?" Vastra asks.

"I think winter is coming. Such a winter this world has never known. The last winter of Humankind. Do you know why I'm telling you all this?" He asked in a low, dark tone.

Vastra, while staring back at Walter, dropped the snow in her grasp and gave a small smile. "I am intrigued." She said simply.

"Because there's not a single thing you can do to stop it." Walter then steps around her and continues back down the path.

"Perhaps I can't but I know a man who can!" Vastra calls in a retort.

"I look forward to meeting him!" He calls back tauntingly before disappearing out of sight.

Vastra sighs before walking up to Jenny. "Do you mean the Doctor? He will not help us. He never helps any more, you know that." Jenny said in a soft tone.

"Yes, my dear I do. So, pray for a miracle because we are going to need him." Vastra said, returning her tone.

* * *

The Doctor knelt, getting a closer look at the snow as Strax was using high-tech binoculars to look upon the Institute, while Clara was banging and rocking the carriage, repeatedly demanding for release from custody.

"They've taken samples from snowmen all over London." Strax puts away the device before turning to the Doctor. "What do you suppose they're doing in there?"

"This snow is new, most likely alien." The Doctor said, ignoring Strax's question. "When you find something brand new in the world, something you've never seen before, what's the next thing you look for?"

Strax ponders for a moment before grinning. "A grenade!"

The Doctor rolls his eyes, suppressing a groan. "A profit, Strax. Remember Victorian values, they'll be out to make profit." He said, standing back up and tossing the snow in his hand aside.

"I suggest a full-frontal assault with automated laser monkeys, scalpel mines and acid!" Strax beamed.

"Why?" The Doctor asked impatiently.

Strax had to hold back a gulp. "Couldn't we at least...investigate?" He asked with a sheepish whimper.

The Doctor scoffed. "It's none of my business. Go on your own."

"Sir, permission to express my opposition to your current apathy." Strax said.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Permission granted."

Strax stood straight and squared his shoulders. "Sir, I am opposed to your current apathy."

"Thank you, Strax. So, if I am ever in need of advice from a brainless and psychotic potato dwarf, I will let you know." The Doctor spat.

"But if this snow is suspiciously new and alien, shouldn't we be making some attempt to destroy it? Be reasonable-" The Doctor cuts off Strax by putting a finger on his lips.

"Like I said, it is not my problem. After saving so many people over so many lifetimes, the universe rewarded me with one gift: Loneliness." The Doctor said the last word with bitter sadness. "Now, we have a problem of our own to worry about." He then walks back towards the carriage before opening the door.

"Oi!" Clara yelled in annoyance.

"Quit your whining, no one's going to hurt you." The Doctor said, entering the carriage to sit opposite her.

"What is that thing?" Clara asks in confusion as Strax comes into view.

"Silence, boy!"

"That's Strax and as you can see he is easily confused!" The Doctor growled to Strax.

"Silence, girl! Sorry sir." Strax said in sheepishness.

"He's a Sontaran." The Doctor said to Clara, as if Strax wasn't even there. All Clara could do was stare at the Doctor in wide eyed awe. "They're a clone warrior race; whole legions produced at a time. Two genders are apparently too far for him to count." The Doctor said slyly, making Strax appear even more sheepish.

"Sir, please do not discuss my reproductive cycle in front of enemy girls. It's embarrassing."

"Typical middle child of six million." The Doctor said with a beaming grin.

"Who are you?" Clara asked in confusion and awe.

"It doesn't matter because you're about to forget that you ever met me. Bring the worm." He ordered.

"Sir." Strax proudly said before marching to the front of the carriage.

"You'll bring the what?! The worm?! What worm?!" Clara demanded in fear and agitation.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt you. Just one touch and the last hour of your memory is gone. Nothing to be afraid of."

That made Clara furrow her eyebrows in confusion.  _Wait a moment. If you lose your memory by touching it, how will Strax bring it over-_ Strax steps back into view with a blank look, making the Doctor blink several times.

"Where is it?" He demanded.

"Where's what sir?" Clara bites her lip to hold back the giggling bubbling within her.

"I sent you to get the memory worm." The Doctor said through clenched teeth.

"Did you? When? Who's he?" Strax points at Clara, who lets out a snort. "What are we doing here?" Strax turned to look around him with a grin. "Look! It's been snowing!" He beamed.

The Doctor put his face in his hands for a moment before sighing. "You didn't use the gauntlets, did you?"

"Why would I need the gauntlets?" The Doctor raises his eyebrows at him in a "Are you that stupid?" manner, which made Strax slowly nod. "Oh, you want me to get the memory worm."

"You...idiot." This made Clara lose it, the Doctor glaring at her in embarrassment. After a few moments, Strax was underneath the carriage looking for the worm, which was squealing loudly. "Well can you see it?" The Doctor asked, standing outside the carriage while Clara leaned against a brick wall.

"I think I can hear it." Strax said, his voice slightly muffled by the loud screeching of said worm.

The Doctor turned to glance at Clara who is no longer holding back her laughter, instead giggling away to her hearts content. "Oi! Don't run away, just stay where you are."  _Besides, it's not like she looks great smiling-wait, no, stop it!_

"Why would I run? I know what's going to happen next and it's funny." Clara grinned.

"Come on, he's not going to fall for it again." He groaned.

"Well then, he's quite the idiot, isn't he?" Clara returned with a smirk.

"That's true, but he gave his life for a friend of mine once."

"Then how is he alive?" Clara asked in awe.

"Another friend of mine brought him back, it's a long story. Now I'm not sure his brain made the return trip." The Doctor complained, making Clara giggle.

"I can see it!" Strax proclaimed gleefully.

"Ooh, can you reach it? Have you got it?" The Doctor asked, returning his attention to Strax in the vain hope that he wouldn't stare too long at Clara's glowing smile.

Silence. "Got what sir?"

Clara walked to the front of the carriage and grabbed a brown pair of large, three fingered gloves. "Are these the gauntlets?" She asked with a teasing smirk.

"Sir, an emergency! I think I've been run over by a cab!"

The Doctor looked back and forth between the gauntlets and Strax, before groaning aloud, which made Clara laugh even more. Grabbing the gauntlets and pulling out a jar, he went to grab the worm himself. "Here it is. One touch, an hour of memory. One bite, decades gone." He set the worm into the jar before sighing in relief, then turning to look at Clara in surprise, seeing her still standing there and looking eagerly at him. "You still don't want to run?"

"I don't understand how a snowman builds itself. I might run once you've explained."

The Doctor looked at her in admiration before taking off the gauntlets. "Clara who?"

"Doctor Who?" She countered.

"Ooh, that's a dangerous question." The Doctor flirts.

"What's wrong with dangerous?" Clara flirted back. Around the corner, a snowman rises suddenly out of the ground, attracting Clara's attention while the Doctor rambles to himself. "The snowman!" Clara exclaimed.

"...it targets a low-level telepathic field, seems to reflect people's thoughts and memories and because it's unusual-"

"No, Doctor!" Clara grabbed his arm to pull him into the snowman's view, stopping his rambling as he laid eyes upon it.

"Oh, that's interesting." The Doctor said, raising his eyebrows.

"Where did it come from Doctor?" Clara asked, some fear growing in them both as next to the snowman, the ground started to swirl.

"You were thinking about the snowman when it appeared?" The Doctor asked.

"Yes." Another snowman shot straight out of the ground.

"Well, please stop." They both turn to run but stop as more snowmen emerge to block their path, sadistic evil grins on their faces as they bare their teeth and move towards them. The Doctor cupped Clara's face in his hands to focus her attention on him. "Clara, you need to stop thinking about the snowmen, they're feeding on your thoughts!"

"What do you mean?!" Clara exclaimed.

"The more you think about them, the more they appear! Imagine them melting Clara!" He said.

"How?!"

"Just picture them melting!" Clara closed her eyes, thought deeply about melting snow and after a few seconds, they both jump in shock as freezing water washes onto them. They open their eyes and look around to see no more snowmen and the path clear again. "Good job Clara." The Doctor congratulated.

"Will that happen again?" Clara asked with relief.

"Don't worry, you'll know what to do if they come back." He said with a grin.

Clara then motions towards the worm. "Unless I forget."

The Doctor looks between her and the worm before sighing, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the carriage. "Alright then, you won't forget. Just do not come looking for me. Awful things happen to those around me, you're better off on your own."

"Wait, what about the snowmen?" Clara interrupted. "Shouldn't we be warning people?"

The Doctor looks at her solemnly for a few moments. "It's not my problem." He then closed the door of the carriage and walked away, missing Clara's shocked and hurt expression. "Merry Christmas. Strax, take her back to where we found her."

"Sir."

The carriage began to move as the Doctor walked away, not noticing that Clara stood on the other side having jumped out. She begins to silently follow the Doctor as he looks around discreetly before jumping a large fence into a yard. He inconspicuously whistles "Silent Night" before looking around one more time then jumping straight up and grabbing onto something which he pulled down. This made Clara widen her eyes in awe.  _Did he just pull a ladder out of nowhere?_  The Doctor climbs onto the ladder before knocking twice on its side, then the ladder rolls back up taking him with it as he and the ladder disappear from view. Clara fights hard to restrain a grin as she watches before moving cautiously to the same spot and looking upwards.  _There is absolutely nothing there. So how did he do it?_  Clara jumped up with one arm raised upwards before falling back to the ground in a huff.  _Now I wish I was taller, because that was silly._  Standing up straight, she jumps with both arms raised, surprise growing across her face as she grabs onto the ladder which then rolls down to the ground. Clara climbs onto it before pausing then knocking on it twice as it repeats the motion in reverse, raising her up towards a platform and a tall, spiral staircase. Clara looks down upon the street to see a few people moving about, one of them looking in her direction briefly before moving on as if they saw nothing.  _Am I... invisible? Is the whole staircase invisible?_  She looks up at the sound of ascending footsteps before she cautiously follows, wrapping an arm around herself as a bitter chilly wind blows around her. As she reaches the top, Clara stares around in wonder at the star-filled night sky before turning confused at the sight of a blue police box sitting atop the mist. Slowly reaching her left foot down, she giggles in awe as her foot touches a solid ground under the mist before continuing to walk on it towards the box. Reaching out her right hand, she puts a light touch on the box, recoiling in slight shock as she hears a soft humming noise before going ahead to knock on the door. Clara quickly moves to the side of the box in silence as she hears some loud sounds like metal clanging against each other for a moment before the door opens.

"Hello?" The Doctor called timidly. He walks outside a few steps before turning around at the brief sound of light breathing. "Anybody here?" He then moves quickly to check behind the box as Clara moves in front of the doors. "Hello?" Before she can look inside, she quickly moves towards the staircase to descend back to the ground. The Doctor moves back around the box to hear the soft sound of footsteps on the staircase.  _Did someone follow me here? Was it...Clara?_  The Doctor then timidly moved back inside the box and closed the door in silence.

* * *

Inside the Great Intelligence Institute, Walter is grabbing more sample jars before moving up to the globe. "It is time to wait. Time for patience. All we want will come soon enough." Walter said dreamily as he shoved more snow inside the globe.

_**"Yes. Tonight: The thaw. Tomorrow, the snow shall fall again but stronger. The drowned woman and the dreaming child shall give us form at last. We shall wait, then tomorrow the snow will fall and so shall mankind. She is coming."**_ The voice booms.

* * *

The sun rolls in through the window as Clara awakens, taking a few moments to wipe the drowsiness from her eyes.  _What was I doing today? …Ah yes. Time to be Miss Montague._  This made her smile as she rises from bed to see her already packed bag filled with her black dress already waiting for her. After getting ready, she grabs her bag and heads out the door, the owner of The Rose & Crown following her.  _Look at that. The snow must have thawed during the night._  Clara mused as she stared at the clear ground around her.

"I'm begging you, Clara. I'm on my knees." The owner said, and she shook her head with a smirk.

"I was only helping out, Elsie will be back this afternoon. I, meanwhile, have my own work to get back to." Clara said slyly.

"Why won't you tell us?"

"You'd never believe me." Clara kisses her hand in a farewell motion as the owner nods in reciprocation before she turns to leave. As she climbs into her arranged carriage, she lowers the blinds over the windows before hastily changing from her red bartender dress to her black governess frock. The carriage then arrives at the Latimer house and Clara exited the carriage, gazing at the house with a smile as the maid comes out to greet her. "Alice. How smart you look today." Clara said, now with a distinguished English accent.

"Governess should enter by the back door unless accompanied by the children." Alice quipped in a soft teasing manner, the both of them smiling at each other.

"And how are the children? Excited about tomorrow?"

"Francesca, same as ever. Digby said he missed you every day. Captain Latimer wants to see you." Alice quickly added.

"Of course." Clara then picked up her bag to move into the house before stopping and turning to look at Alice. "Every day?"

"Twice on Saturdays."

"That's better." Clara said with a wink before moving inside the large house. After moving towards Latimer's office, she politely knocked on the door before entering. "Captain Latimer." She greeted.

"Ah, Miss Montague, welcome back." Latimer replied with a kind smile.

"Thankfully, in time for Christmas. Apologies for my brief absence. Family, honestly, so unpredictable. You wanted to see me?" Clara hid a smile as she distantly wondered about her…rather intriguing night with the snowmen and the Doctor.

"Francesca has been having nightmares."

Clara sighed. "Young girls often do."

"Every night this week, she says. She will not tell me about them." Latimer gazed at the floor in dejected, dull misery. "I mean…I want to help her, I just…don't know what to do." He shrugged.

"Perhaps if you ask her kindly enough, she might tell you."

Latimer gave a smile at her words. "If I may say, you already have a remarkable amount of wisdom in your life, Miss Montague."

"Thank you. I'll see to the children now." Clara reciprocated the smile before curtsying and turning from the room. She heads through the house and out a door to the backyard to see the two children running around in laughter. They both spot Clara and rush towards her.

"Miss Montague!" Francesca exclaims.

"Miss Montague, you're back!" Digby also exclaims.

"Ah!" Clara holds up a hand making them stop and clear their throats politely.

"Good morning, Miss Montague." Digby said politely.

"Good morning, Miss Montague." Francesca mirrored.

"Good morning, Francesca." Clara shakes her hand. "Good morning, Digby." Clara repeated with him. "Christmas Eve is a most thrilling day, don't you think?" They both nod with a grin. "Now then, what have you two been up to while I was away?"

"I did seven drawings and we saw a dead cow." Digby said joyously.

Clara raised her eyebrows in mild shock. "Well…how exciting."

"Do your secret voice. Please."

Clara glanced around quickly before waving her hand for the two of them to lean forward as she does the same. "Hello mates!" She whispers in her cockney accent making the two children laugh. "Now then Francesca, I want a quick word and no, you're not in trouble." This made Francesca sigh in relief as they moved towards a nearby bench while Digby played with a red ball. "What is this about you having nightmares this week?" Clara asked worriedly.

"They're not exactly nightmares. Just dreams." Francesca said timidly.

"It's about our old governess, the one who died. She's haunting Franny from beyond the grave." Digby shakes his hands above him for mocking affect before returning to play.

"Why haven't you spoken to your father about this?"

"We can't talk about things like that to Daddy."

"You could try."

"Miss Montague, do you want to see where she died?" Digby asked. Clara contemplates for a few moments before giving into the temptation and nodding. Digby then leads them to the pond at the front of the house. "She fell in there and then it froze. She was stuck in there for days and days." Digby paused for a second. "I hated her. She was cross all the time, no matter what we did. In Franny's dreams, she's still down there, just waiting. Waiting to return."

Clara looks upon the pond with confusion riddled over her face.  _Why has everything else thawed out except the pond? The Doctor said the more you think about it, the more it will appear. Is this what he means?_  "Franny, you dream about her. But what exactly do you dream?"

"She just says that I've been naughty, so she'll come out and punish me."

"Did she say when?"

"Tonight, for Christmas."

"Honestly, I think Franny's gone mad. Maybe she needs a doctor." Digby inputted. This makes Clara look at him with a suppressed grin.  _I know just the man._

* * *

Clara returns to the yard where she followed the Doctor to the night before. "Doctor!" She called to the sky, not noticing the people around the yard looking at her in confused bewilderment. "Doctor!" Jenny pauses in her walk by the yard to see Clara, her yelling attracting the bewildered attention of the people around her. "Doctor!"

That made Jenny rush into the yard. "Now then, that's enough noise." She interrupted. "We don't want to attract attention, now do we?"

Clara turned to look at her. "I'm looking for the Doctor. Do you know him?"

Jenny smiled. "Doctor Who?" This made Clara smile knowingly.

"You do know him then."

Jenny nodded. "Yes, but he's not exactly here right now. I can take you to meet someone who can reach him."

"Who?"

"My wife." Jenny said bluntly, enjoying Clara's raised eyebrows at this. Then, after a moment, her eyes widened in realization.

"Wait a moment, are you Jenny Flint? From Paternoster Row?"

"Yes, I am. I won't need to tell you who my wife is."

**13 Paternoster Row**

Entering 13 Paternoster Row, Clara immediately paused in surprise upon the sight of Strax.

"Do not attempt to escape or you will be obliterated!" Strax warned before blinking at Jenny's stern glare. "May I take your coat?" Strax held out his arm.

Clara blinked a couple times at the mixed signals before handing her coat timidly and moving past Strax with Jenny to enter a room filled with plants and two chairs in the centre. On one of those chairs sat Madame Vastra drinking... _Okay, that's either red wine or blood._  However, the mere sight of Madame Vastra made Clara look at her in awe.

"Sit." Jenny motioned to the empty chair as Vastra looks at Clara in observation.

"There are two refreshments in your world with the colour of red wine. This is not red wine." Vastra said bluntly as she placed her glass down on the table beside her.

"Madame Vastra will ask you questions." Jenny immediately said. "You will confine yourself to single word responses. Do you understand?"

"Why?" Clara asked in confusion.

"Truth is singular. Lies are words." Vastra said. "You met the Doctor, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"And now you've come looking for him again. Why?" Clara paused in contemplation at that.

"Take your time. One word only." Jenny said.

"Curiosity." Clara says finally.

"About?" Vastra asked.

"Snow."

"And about him?"

"Yes."

"What do you want from him?"

"Help."

"Why?"

"Danger."

"Why would he help you?"

Clara squints for a moment. "Kindness."

Vastra scoffed. "The Doctor is not kind."

Clara raised her eyebrows in challenge. "No?"

"No. The Doctor does not help people. Not anyone, not ever. He stands above this world and does not interfere in the affairs of its inhabitants. He is not your salvation nor your protector. Do you understand what I'm saying to you?"

Clara smirked. "Words."

Vastra relaxes slightly as Jenny gives a small smile. "He was...different once. A long time ago. Kind? Yes. A hero? Definitely. But something horrific happened."

Clara contemplated for a few moments.  _People only act like that because of…_ "War?" She finally asked.

Vastra looked up at her, slightly impressed at her cunning. "Yes. His world was at war. A long and terrible war. The Doctor had to make a choice. He could end the war, but it would leave him the only survivor of his race, yet the universe would be safe. Tell me, what would drive him to make that choice, knowing what it would do to him?"

"Selflessness."

Vastra nodded. "That is why he's alone. Putting everyone else before him. Now he prefers isolation, but not because he does not want the pain to return. That pain he will feel shall always be there. He prefers isolation because he does not know how to move on. Kindly choose a word to indicate your understanding of this."

Clara contemplated for a few moments. "Man." She said softly.

Vastra gave a questioning glance to Jenny, who quickly nodded. "We are the Doctor's friends. We assist him in his isolation but that does not mean we approve of it." Vastra then leaned forward towards Clara. "So, a test for you. Give me a message for the Doctor. Tell him all about the snow and what fresh dangers it presents and above all, explain why he should help you." Clara goes to speak but Vastra quickly put a finger on her lips. "But do it in one word." Vastra smirked as Clara's eyes widen in disbelief. "You're thinking it's impossible that such a word can exist or that you can find it. Let us see if the gods are with you."

* * *

The Doctor sat silently inside the TARDIS, reading one of the many books from the extensive library. The phone on the door rings, making him groan as he puts down the book to answer it.  _Someday, I must patch that back through to the console unit._  "What is it Vastra? I'm trying to read here."

_"Miss Clara Oswald and her concerns about the snow? I gave her the one-word test."_

"That's always pointless." He groaned. "All right, what did she say?"

_"Pond."_  The Doctor gave a completely and utterly confused expression at that word.  _"Strax has already suggested where to start investigating. There is an institute called "The Great Intelligence". Perhaps you should look there."_

The Doctor heard Vastra hang up as he continues to stare in confusion. The TARDIS then beeps at him as if to say, "Go on then."

"No. I've already told them, I don't do this anymore." He said, placing the phone where it belonged.

_*Beeps*_  (Take a look then.)

"Why would I? Ponds do not tell you that you are in danger. Clara must be in over her head."

_*Beeps*_  (Not as much as you.)

"No. That is final. I'm not going."

_*Beeps*_  (Don't forget your key and sonic, thief.)

The Doctor realized that in his aimless rambling, he had already opened the doors of the TARDIS, making him groan in defeat. "Oh, all right, you win. I hope you're feeling happy." However, he then paused before letting a grin appear on his face. "You know what? Let us have a bit of fun."

* * *

Inside the institute, Walter sat writing at his desk as the globe remained silent before the snow inside it started to move in agitation.

_**"Danger. Danger."** _

Walter looked up in confusion and concern. "What's wrong?" He asked, moving around the desk and up to the globe.

_**"There is danger here. An intelligence that is beyond anything else in this time and place."** _

One of his butlers enters the large room without knocking. "Dr Simeon, sir. There is someone demanding to see you."

Walter waves dismissively. "No callers, not in here, not ever. Did he leave his name?"

"Sir...it's Sherlock Holmes." This make Walter turn around to look at the door, confusion radiating off his face as the door opens, the Doctor stepping inside, wearing a typical Sherlock Holmes outfit and a large, beaming grin.

"Hello! Impressive with the office and snow globe. Now, hush. I see from your collar that you have an apple tree and a wife with a limp, am I right?"

"No."

The Doctor started looking sheepish, yet the grin ceased to fade. "Do you have a wife?"

"No."

"Bit of a tree? Some apples?"

"I enjoy "The Strand Magazine" as much as the next man, but I'm perfectly aware that Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character. Get out!" The last words Walter yelled towards his butler.

"Do you have a goldfish named Colin?" The Doctor asks the butler.

"No."

"I'm sure I used to be better at this." The Doctor went to the desk and picked up one of the business cards.

"Who are you and what do you want here?" Walter demanded.

The Doctor ignored the first question and moved up to the globe. "Snow. And how convenient of you to have an honestly, quite impressive snow globe inside your conveniently secretive institute."

"You must step away now! The equipment is highly valuable." Walter snapped.

_**"We are the Intelligence."**_  The voice of the snow booms out into the room, making the Doctor raise his eyebrows.

"Talking snow. Now we're talking." The Doctor laughed at his own joke while Walter looked dully indifferent.

_**"You are not of this world."** _

"It takes one to snow one." The Doctor laughs again yet Walter stays indifferent. "Come on, work with me here. Sure, the jokes are a hundred years too early, but it is still very funny.  _*Clears Throat*_  Anyway, let us have a look. A multi-nuclear crystalline organism with the ability to mimic whoever and whatever it finds. It looks like snow, yet it isn't."

"You must leave here now." Walter repeated.

"Can I have a bit of hush, thank you?" Walter goes to ring a bell for aid. "Now then, big snow fella, you must be a swarm. You are the leader while the snowmen act as your foot soldiers. You turn up on a planet, generate a telepathic field to gather knowledge." The Doctor pulls out his red tipped sonic and points it at the lock on the door. "But you cannot conquer the world using snowmen, so you have to evolve. You'd have to become...Human."

The door begins to rattle as muffled voices float through outside. "Kick it down!" Walter yelled at the door.

The Doctor moves towards the desk and begins to flick through the large book on it. "To do that, you need a perfect duplicate of Human DNA in ice. Where do you find that?" The Doctor lands upon a page holding newspapers, one of which reports the death of a governess in a frozen pond.  _That is what Clara meant._  This made the Doctor laugh heartily. "This is fantastic!"

"Get in here!" Walter yelled as the door opened swiftly. "Take him downstair-" Walter stops however as he turns around to notice the Doctor has already left, taking an exit through the back door.

* * *

The Doctor stands outside the Latimer house, looking upon the frozen pond in contemplation.  _Snow wants a good look at a Human being, they get a body frozen in a pond. Pond. Not bad at all, Clara._  The Doctor lets an impressed smile appear before turning around at the sound of footsteps to see Strax armed with a gun. "Strax? What're you doing here?"

"Madame Vastra wondered if you were needing any grenades." Strax said with a grin.

"What?" The Doctor asked in bewilderment.

Strax paused sheepishly. "She may have said help."

"For what?"

Strax blinked. "Well…your investigation."

The Doctor scoffed. "Investigation? Who says I'm investigating? Do you think I will start investigating just because someone clever and…and…and gorgeous smiles at me? Who do you think I am?" The Doctor rambled in denial.

"Sherlock Holmes." Strax said with a smirk.

The Doctor turned around and pointed a finger but cannot find any words for a moment. "Don't be clever, Strax. It doesn't suit you." He warned emptily.

"Sorry, sir."

"I'm the clever one, you're the potato one." He said, poking Strax in the forehead with his finger.

"Yes, sir." Strax's smile becomes harder for him to hold.

"Now give me some hush or go away."

"Yes, Mister Holmes." Strax started giggling mischievously before walking away.

"Oi! Shut up! You're not clever, or funny and you've got...tiny legs." The Doctor turned around to glance at the pond, shaking his head with a small frown. "Nice job there, Doctor. Couldn't even produce your own retort." He muttered.

One of the windows of the house has its curtains drawn back to reveal Clara, who looks down at the Doctor with a smile. She then motions her hand for him to come up, which made him pause for a few seconds.  _I am just leaving, I am not going up. I am leaving, NOT going up._  He then held up five fingers and a thumbs up making Clara grin as she shuts the curtain. He quickly smacked his forehead in self irritation. "Five minutes, Doctor, where did that come from? Sentimental old bastard." The Doctor said with a huff as he went ahead towards the house.

* * *

In front of the gate to the house, Walter Simeon's carriage pulls up, secretly watched by the Paternoster Gang.

"It's the Human male from the institute. What is he doing here? I suggest we melt his brain using projectile acid fish, then interrogate him." Strax said, making Vastra and Jenny look at him, eyebrows furrowed. "Other way around." He grumbled, making them both shake their heads.

* * *

Inside the house, Clara is tucking a nervous Francesca into bed. "Am I going to have the nightmare tonight?" She asked in a small voice.

Clara looks at her in determination. "Definitely not."

"How do you know?"

"Because, someone is coming to help."

"Who?" Digby asked curiously.

"You'd never believe me."

"Is it another one of your stories? The ones that are "Definitely" true?" The last bit made Clara gasp and Digby giggle.

"Oi! All of my stories are true." Clara said with a smile.

"Like how you were born behind the clock face of Big Ben?" Digby asked.

Clara smirked. "Accounting for my acute sense of time."

"So, what's this one?" Digby and Francesca leaned forward anxiously.

Clara clears her throat. "There's a man, called "The Doctor". He lives on a cloud in the sky, and all he does all day, every day is to stop all the children in the world from ever having bad dreams."

"I've been having bad dreams." Francesca pointed out.

Clara had to hide a giggle. "He's been on holiday." A creaking sound emits from the floor outside the door. "But I am confident he has now returned to work and in fact, he's here right now. Aren't you Doctor?" Clara looks up at the opening door but jumps in shock as the children scream. Standing in the doorway was a living sculpture made purely of ice, with eyes as pale as the moon. "Bleedin' 'ell!" Clara exclaims, reverting back to her cockney accent.

"The children have been very naughty!" The Governess yelled.

"Just get back, now!" Clara demands to the children, who despite the terror in their eyes, did as she said.

"You're doing your other voice!" Digby reminds her.

"Yes, love, did you notice?!"

"Naughty, naughty children!"

"Run!" The three of them rush past the governess and out the door. Clara locks the door behind them as they hear the Governess groan impatiently.

"What do we do?" Digby asked.

"Franny. Picture her melting." Clara said as she rushes over to Francesca.

"What?"

"In your head!"

Francesca closes her eyes for a moment, but nothing happens. "I can't!"

"I have lost my patience!" The Governess roared as she rips the door open. "You have been very naughty!"

"What about the man?! You said the man was here, the cloud man!" Digby said to Clara.

"Well, he's not, is he?!"

"Where's the Doctor?!"

"Doctor?" The Doctor's voice rings out from the puppet box, making the three of them gasp. "Doctor?  _*Chuckles*_ Doctor Who?" The three of them looked bewildered at the moving puppet who pulls out the sonic screwdriver and points it at the Governess, who roars as she shatters into a million pieces, making the Doctor laugh as he moves out from behind the puppet box. "Fantastic!" The children smile at him while Clara raises her eyebrows, trying hard to hide a smile of her own.

* * *

Outside the house, Walter moves to the back of the carriage and activates a device that begins to spew snow all around it.

* * *

"Where did she go? Will she come back?" Francesca asks the Doctor as he scans the melted ice with the sonic.

"No. She's just draining through the carpet." The Doctor stands up to look at Clara. "Antifreeze. Not sure I have used it before, nor do I think I will be using it again. You're welcome."

"I'm incredibly grateful. I knew you'd come."

"No, you didn't. This is not the sort of thing I do anymore. So, the next time you're in trouble don't expect me to-" The Doctor pauses as he looks in the mirror. After he left the institute he had changed into a black leather jacket, dark purple jumper, and black trousers. Yet what stopped him rambling was not his clothes.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Clara asked in concern.

He shook his head slightly, not taking his gaze away from his new face. "Nothing."  _In all that time on the cloud, I never even looked in the mirror to see this face._  "Haven't been paying attention to the state I'm in. Clothes were just sort off jumbled together, like always."

The Doctor did not notice frost starting to form on the windows from the snow outside. "It's cooler." Clara said, pointing out the sudden drop in the temperature.

The Doctor looks up in the mirror, eyebrows raised before he lets forth a grin. "Ah, could've been worse. But look at the ears." He flicks them a few times with a frown. "They just do not want to stop. Nose is the same too. Hair…" He runs a hand over his head before shrugging. "Going to miss having big hair but short hair is nice enough."

"No, the room. The room is getting colder." The Doctor looks around in confusion before they divert their attention to the crackling noise under the carpet, which begins to give way as the Ice Governess rises.

"She's coming back!" Digby exclaimed.

"What's she going to do? Is she going to punish me?" Francesca asks fearfully.

The Doctor pulls out his sonic and tries the antifreeze, yet nothing happens. "Okay, she's learned not the melt. That or I need a new sonic. What is wrong with you?" The last part the Doctor says to the sonic, which would have been funny in any other situation. "Sorry children, but it's not really your old Governess. She's just a beast and she's here to eat you."

"Doctor!" Clara exclaims.

"What?! Do you want me to lie to them?! Have you got a better idea?!"

"No, you?!"

"Yes: Run!" The Doctor motions the children out as he grabs Clara's hand before they run out the door and downstairs, straight into Captain Latimer.

"Children, what is the exp-who the devil are you?! What are you doing in my house?!"

"It's fine, don't worry. I'm the Doctor, your governess's gentlemen friend and we've been upstairs...snogging!" Both the Doctor and Clara look at each other in surprise as they both exclaimed the same word in unison before clearing their throats to hide their blush.

The front door bell rings as Alice runs into the hall. "Captain Latimer! In the garden, there's snowmen and they're just growing, out of nowhere, all by themselves! Look!" She rushes to the front door to open it and standing there is the sweetly smiling couple of Vastra and Jenny.

"Good evening, I'm a lizard woman from the dawn of time and this is my wife." Both jumped slightly as Alice runs back into the hallway, shrieking in terror.

"This dwelling is under attack! Remain calm, Human scum!" Strax demands as he strides into the room.

Alice shrieks again before fainting onto the floor, Captain Latimer checking to see if she's okay.

"So then, any questions?" The Doctor asks Latimer.

"You sure kissing is all you did up there?" Latimer quips, referring to their blushes.

"What? No!" Both the Doctor and Clara stammer before the Doctor rushes to a window, Vastra moving to join him. "Vastra, what's happening?"

"The snow is highly localized and on this occasion, not naturally occurring."

"It's coming out of Dr Simeon's cab by the gates." Jenny points out.

"Of course, Simeon wants the Governess for snow globe boy in the institute, so he's come here for her now that she's up and about." The Doctor deducted.

"Sir, one pulver grenade would blow these snowmen to smithereens!" Strax exclaims passionately.

The Doctor groaned. "Come on, use your brain Strax. They're snow, you can't blow smithereens to smithereens. You know what Clara? You were right, not sure where his brain went to." This made Clara giggle in remembrance of their first meeting.

"Clara? Who's Clara?" Latimer asks.

"Captain Latimer, your current governess is in reality a barmaid called Clara."

"Fantastic!" The voice of the governess at the top of the stairs diverts everyone's attention.

"Meanwhile, your previous governess is now a living ice sculpture impersonating me. Oi! I'm the one that says "Fantastic", not you!"

"Fantastic!"

The Doctor sighs in defeat. "Oh, never mind then. Jenny, what have you got?"

Jenny holds up a force field bomb before throwing it in front of the Governess, causing an amber coloured field to appear, trapping the Governess on the stairs. "That should hold her!"

"Sir, into this room! One observational window on the line of attack and one defendable entrance!" Strax calls from the entrance to Latimer's office.

"Right, everyone in there. Latimer, you can help her. What's her name?" The Doctor asks, pointing to Alice as everyone but Vastra rushes in.

"Alice and don't worry, I'll help her." Latimer at once moves to carry Alice inside.

"Good man!" The Doctor moves to the foot of the stairs and pulls out his sonic to amplify the forcefield, yet it starts to fizz for a moment before working again. "Ugh! I seriously need to update you, old fella!" He grumbled.

"Nice to see you off your cloud and engaging again." Vastra said over his shoulder.

"Vastra, I'm not engaging. I'm under attack."

"Don't lie, you've missed this." Vastra says knowingly.

The Doctor turns and points the sonic at her before grinning. "Shut up!" This makes Vastra smile as they both move into the office. "Strax, how long have we got?"

"They're not going to attack, sir. They've made no attempt to conceal their arrival. An attack force would never abandon surprise so easily and they're clearly in a defence formation." Strax informed.

"Not bad, Strax. See? You've still got it!" The Doctor rubs his knuckles on Strax's head in glee.

"Sir, please do not noogie me during combat prep." Strax says with disgust.

"So, there's something here they want." Vastra points out, returning the Doctor to the task at hand.

"The ice woman. They need her to be like her." Clara quickly deducts.

"Exactly. Not bad there Clara." The Doctor says with a warm smile.

"What would she give to them?" Jenny asks.

"The Governess is a perfect duplication of Human DNA in ice form. That's what they're after, the fusion of snow and humanity. To live here, the snow needs to evolve. That's why they need her, she is what they need to become. Clara, when the snow melted last night, did the pond?"

"No."

"Living ice, so it will never melt. If the snow gets a hold of her, they will learn to make more. It will allow them to build an army of ice and it will be the last day of humanity on this planet." The doorbell rings, making the Doctor look up with a cold expression, already figuring out who is there. "All of you, stay here." He moves out of the room and closes the door but stops as it opens again to show Clara moving out to join him. "Oi! I told you to stay in there."

"Oh, I didn't listen."

"Yeah, you do that a lot."

"That's why you like me."

"Who says I like you-" Clara cuts him off by grabbing his jacket and bringing him down to smash her lips against his, making him freeze in surprise before he lets his hands rest on her shoulders.

"I think you just did." Clara says with a mischievous look as they part.

"No, you kissed me."

"And you blushed."

The Doctor does not find words for a second. "Can I have a bit of hush now?" He clears his throat after noticing how high pitched his voice is before moving quickly to the door, leaving Clara as she giggles behind him. He opens the door to see Walter standing there, the snowmen behind him growing aggressively, before letting an expression as cold as Walter's show on his face.

"Release her to us. You have five minutes." Walter warned.

The Doctor slams the door in his face, before marching towards the stairs. "We need to get her out of here yet kept away from them."

"How?" Clara asks.

The Doctor pulls out an umbrella from a nearby rack. "With this." He then pulls out the sonic and aims it at the field.

"Doctor, what're you doing?"

"Between you and me, I have no idea." The field deactivates before he uses the sonic to switch the position to behind him, not noticing Clara has already moved beside him. "Right, you look after everyone here then I can-Clara!" He whined.

"Look out!"

The Doctor ducks as the Governess lashes out before grasping Clara's hand and pulling her up the stairs. "That was stupid, Clara!"

"You were stupid too!"

"Oi! I'm allowed to be stupid!"

"Fantastic!"

"Why does she keep saying that?!" Clara groaned in annoyance.

"Mirroring, random mirroring!" The Doctor grabs the umbrella, ready to strike to delay her. "We need to get on the ro-" Clara however grabs his hand and continues the run. "No, no, wait! I'm the one that does the hand grabbing! That's my job!"

"Doctor, shut up!"

"Sorry!" Reaching the attic, he pushes open the window and climbs outside, before turning around to see Clara still there. "No time for a breather, Clara!" The Doctor admonishes.

"Oi! Try wearing a bustle and climb through a window!" The Doctor then grabs onto her and pulls, sending them tumbling onto the roof.

"It'll be easier if you take those off!" They both pause, their earlier blushes returning. "Ok, I didn't mean-"

"I know."

"I just-"

"I understand. Now what's the plan?"

"Who says I have a plan?"

"Of course you have a plan, you took this." Clara says, grabbing onto the umbrella.

"What did I just say, Clara? I'm allowed to be stupid." They both scramble as they get up off each other, the Doctor looking upwards to the sky.

"Yes, but you're also clever." Clara crosses her arms as she says this.

The Doctor smirked.  _Time for a test._  "If I have a plan, what is it?"

"Fantastic!"

Clara's eyes widened in almost playful agitation. "Is this a test?"

"Yes, now hurry up."

"What will she do to us?"

"Kill us."

"Fantastic!" The Governess then started to slowly turn into snow to move through the window.

"So, hurry up then. Do I have a plan?"

"Oh, I figured it out already." Clara boasted before throwing the umbrella at the Doctor.

"No, you didn't." He reciprocated both the tone and throw.

"Course I did."

"Tell me then."

"Why should I?"

"Because we'll be dead in half a minute, so hurry up."

"Alright then, grumpy. If we were escaping, we'd be climbing down the building. If we were hiding, we'd be on the other side of the roof. But no, we're right here."

"So?"

"So…" Clara uses the umbrella to reach up and pull the ladder down. "After you."

"After you."

"After you!" Clara huffed. "I'm wearing a dress, have your eyes front soldier."

"What do you mean, they're always front." The Doctor grumbled before moving up the ladder.

"Mine aren't." Clara flirted while looking at him appreciatively.

The Doctor looks back at her with the blush returned. "Oi! Stop it!"

"No." Clara says with a sly smile. As the Doctor climbs onto the platform, Clara moves onto the ladder before clearing her throat and briefly returning to her English accent. "I understand you're the previous governess, but I regret to inform you the position is taken." She uses the umbrella to knock on the ladder twice to make it roll upwards. "Goodnight." She says the last part in a taunt, making the Governess growl. Clara climbs onto the platform to join the Doctor as they both begin to move up the staircase. "So, you can move your cloud? Can you control it?"

"What? No. No one can control clouds! That's silly. I use the wind. Much more sophisticated." The Doctor says the last part with proud smugness. They hear a rattling noise, making them look down to see the Governess pulling the ladder and beginning to climb it.

"She's following us." Clara says with a bit of fear as they continue to climb.

"That's the idea, keep her away from the snow." The Doctor said. "So, barmaid or governess?"

Clara blinked. "She's after us with the intent on killing us and you want to have a chat?"

"Well, we can't do that after we've been killed now can we?" The Doctor retorted.

"How are we climbing up this so quickly?" Clara asked, quickly changing the subject.

"It's a long story. I'll just simplify it and say it's shorter than it looks." They both reach the top, making the Doctor pull out the sonic and use it on the staircase.

"What are we standing on?"

"Remarkably dense water vapour. Should keep her trapped for a moment." Some of the cloud then forms around the staircase, hiding it from view. They both turn and walk towards the TARDIS as the Doctor pockets the sonic and pulls out a key.

"So, you actually live up here, on a cloud, in a box?" Clara reiterated.

"Yes, I do." The Doctor nodded.

"Blimey, you really do know how to sulk."

"Oi! I'm not sulking." The Doctor grumbled as he opened the door.

"You live in a box. One that you haven't been maintaining very well, I might add." Clara said, pointing out the muck and grease on the TARDIS.

"Are you going to witter on all night?" The Doctor adds in defensive of his home as they move inside, the lights off as he prepares the reveal. "She's no more a box than you are a governess."

Clara growled. "Ugh, spoken like a man! You know, you're the same as all the rest! Sweet little Clara works at "The Rose & Crown", ideas above her station. Well, for your information, I'm not sweet on the inside and I'm certainly not-" The Doctor cuts her off by flicking the lights on and she drops her growling to stare around in awe. "Little." The console room was expansive, bathed in a golden hue while stylized in the form of coral.

"She's called the TARDIS. A ship that can travel anywhere in time and space. And she's mine, my home." The Doctor added in fondness.

Clara was utterly speechless at the size and expanse of the room. "But this...look at it, its…"

"Go on, say it. Most people do." The Doctor teases with a smile, which turns into a laughing grin as Clara rushes around the TARDIS exterior before moving inside.

"It's smaller on the outside." Clara admits finally.

The Doctor deflates at the different admission. "Okay, that's a first."

"Were you expecting me to say, "Bigger on the inside"?"

"That's what most people say." He grumbled.

"Well, tough then." Clara rushes around, giggling as she sees the interior in more detail. "Is there a kitchen?"

The Doctor raises his eyebrows in surprise. "Another first."

Clara pauses in contemplation for a second. "I don't know why I asked that, it's just...I like making soufflés."

The Doctor looks at her distantly. "Soufflés?"

Clara turned to look at him in confusion. "Why are you showing me all this?"

"You followed me, remember?"

"You're nearly a foot taller than me." Clara holds up the umbrella to emphasise her point. "You could've reached the ladder without this. You took it, for me." She chucks the umbrella at him, who catches it, his expression growing softer. "Why?"

The Doctor puts the umbrella down before reaching into his pocket. "I never know why. I only know who." He then pulls out a TARDIS key and puts in into Clara's hand.

Clara looks down, tears of joy coming into her eyes. "What's this?"

"Me, giving in. You're right. I've been sulking on this cloud for too long. It's about time I stopped." He said, giving her a soft smile.

Clara gives a light chuckle despite the tears. "I don't know why I'm crying."

"I do. Remember this, Clara. Right now, remember all of it, because this is the day. This, Clara Oswald, is the day that I stop sulking and start running!" The Doctor's words turn passionate as he moves to the console and starts flicking switches but halting in terror as he hears Clara scream. He turns around to see her outside the TARDIS, the Governess dragging her as she drops the key in her hand. "Clara! Let her go! Clara!"

"Get off me!" Clara exclaimed.

"Let her go now!" The Governess pulls Clara to fall with her off the side of the cloud, laughing evilly as she does.

"Doctor!"

"No! Clara!" He kneels on the edge of the cloud, looking in despair as he watches her fall to the Earth.

* * *

Inside the Latimer house, everyone shoots up in shock as they hear a loud shatter followed by a slam of something hitting the ground.

"What on Earth was that?" Vastra exclaims as they move towards the window. They look outside to see the broken body of Clara on the ground, surrounded by ice.

"Clara." Jenny murmurs in sadness. Strax pulls out a medical device to scan Clara.

"Oh, dear god. Where did she fall from?!" Latimer exclaims before moving to the door. "We have to get her inside!"

"The snowmen will kill you, Latimer!" Vastra yells.

"She's hurt!"

The medical device beeps as it finishes the scan to say, "No Life Signs Detected". "She's Dead!" They all stop as they hear a loud, groaning noise, looking outside to see the TARDIS materialising around Clara.

"What is that?" Latimer wondered.

"The Doctor. He's bringing her in."

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor pilots it to land inside the house, before picking up Clara in bridal fashion and moving her outside. "Latimer, move everything off the table." The Doctor said bluntly.

"She's dead, Doctor." Vastra pointed out.

"She can't be, now do as I say!" The Doctor roars, making everyone flinch as they quickly move everything off the table. The Doctor then sets Clara down before snatching Strax's medical device and resuscitates Clara. "Keep her alive, Strax." He orders as he plants a soft kiss on Clara's forehead before moving inside the TARDIS, Vastra following him.

"Madame Vastra said she was dead, so how can she be alive again?" Latimer asks softly.

"This technology has capacities and abilities beyond anything your puny Human mind could possibly understand." Strax pauses awkwardly for a moment. "Try not to worry." Strax then gets to work on the medical device.

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor is scanning the ice crystals of the Governess before groaning. "This sonic is getting worthless!" He snapped.

_*Beeps*_  (She'll be all right)

The TARDIS then opens a hole in the console before a silver sonic with a blue light appears, making him pause to grab it and stroke the console softly. "Thank you, old girl." The Doctor said with a sad smile before returning to work, not taking the time to marvel at the improved sonic.

"Doctor, could the creature still be a danger?" Vastra asks gently.

"No, not in here."

"Then you should be with Miss Clara."

"She's going to be fine. I know she is. She has to be." He muttered in an almost pleading voice.

"Doctor, please. Her injuries are severe. That equipment will bring back anyone for a moment but long-term-"

"Vastra, it's my fault what happened to Clara. She was in my care."

Vastra sighed. "What is the point in blaming yourself?"

The Doctor looked down in sadness. "None. Because she's going to live. She has to live." The Doctor then pulls a gauntlet out and a memory worm jar before taking the worm from the jar and placing it inside a box covered in markings then moving outside to join the others. "Jenny, could you please..." He stuttered.

"Sure." Jenny at once grabs the box for him as he moved towards Clara, placing a hand on her forehead and rubbing it gently.

The Doctor gives a soft smile as Clara opens her eyes and looks at him. "Hello." He whispered.

"They all think I'm going to die, don't they?" She asked wearily.

"They do. But I know you'll prove them wrong and live."

"How?"

"I never know how, I just know who." He then reaches into his pocket and pulls out the same key before placing it in her grasp and kissing her hand.

"Doctor…Vastra said you were the saver of worlds once. Are you going to save ours?"

"If I do, will you come away with me?" He asks with kind hope.

Clara, despite her current situation, lets a soft smile grace her features. "Yes."

"Well then, Merry Christmas Clara Oswald." He then leans down and plants a kiss on her forehead.

"Merry Christmas, Doctor."

The Doctor then stands up straight, clicks his neck before taking the box back from Jenny and moving to the front door. He opens it to see Walter standing there patiently, before holding the box up. "I have here a piece of the Ice Lady. It has everything you need to know about making ice people. If that's what you want, I'll see you at the office." He finishes with a taunt before shutting the door and moving to the TARDIS, motioning for Vastra to join him.

"So then, Doctor. Saving the world again? Might I ask why? Are you making a bargain with the universe? You'll save the world to let her live?" Vastra asked.

"Yes, and don't you think that after all this time and everything that I've ever done that I'm owed this one?!" He snapped as he flickered the switches of the console.

"I don't think the universe makes bargains, Doctor." Vastra simply said.

"It was my fault! So, she will live!"

"Well then, old friend. Better save the world." She said kindly.

The Doctor hugs Vastra with a smile before pulling the materialization lever to take them to the institute. They exit and set themselves patiently for Walter, the Doctor sitting at his desk with Vastra standing by him. They both give a knowing nod as they realize that the voice of the snow doesn't seem to talk without Walter. Said man then storms into the room in haste.

"You promised us something! Have you brought it?!" He demanded.

"Big fella has been remarkably quiet while you've been out. That's to be expected considering who he really is." Standing up, the Doctor grabs the box and holds it up as he moves towards the globe. "Do you know what this is?" He asked.

_**"I do not understand these markings."**_  The voice booms.

"A map of the London Underground, 1967. Key strategic weakness in metropolitan living, if I'm being honest."

_**"Enough of this. We are powerful but, on this planet, we are limited."**_  The Doctor pulls out his sonic and switches it behind his back, changing the voice to sound like a child. Walter Simeon, as a child to be exact.  _ **"We need to learn to take Human form. The Governess is our most perfect replication of humanity."**_

"What's happening to its voice?" Vastra asks.

"Just stripping away the disguise." The Doctor says as he pockets the sonic.

_**"No! Stop! Stop that! Cease! I command you!"**_  The voice roared, it's new inflection now making Walter shake in shock.

"Why does it sound like a child, Doctor?"

"Because it is a child. Simeon as a child. The snow has no voice without him."

_**"Don't listen to him! He's ruining everything!"** _

"How long has he been talking to you?" The Doctor asked Walter.

Walter gulped. "I was a little boy and…he was my snowman. He spoke to me."

"Snow doesn't talk, Walter, it just mirrors. It reflects everything you think and feel and fear. You poured your darkest dreams into that snowman and look at what it became!" The Doctor spat.

"I don't understand." Vastra said, calming the Doctor slightly.

"It's a parasite, feeding on the loneliness of a child and the sickness of an old man.  _*Chuckles*_  Carnivorous snow meets Victorian values and a terrible monster is born."

_**"We can go on and do everything we've planned."**  _The voice implored.

"Oh yes, sure. What a plan, create a world full of ice people." The Doctor mocked.

"What's wrong with Victorian values?" Walter asked rhetorically before snatching the box and ripping the lid off.

Vastra rushes forward, ready to draw her sword, but the Doctor holds up a hand. "Are you sure?"

"I've always been sure." Walter said coldly as he rips open the box before suddenly yelling in pain as he clutches onto the memory worm, which is biting deep into his hand. Eventually, his screams fade and his knees wobble, the man losing balance and falling face first onto the floor.

The Doctor gave a cold smirk. "Good. I'm glad you were so sure since your entire life's now erased. No parasite without a host. So, without you, no voice. Without the Governess, no form."

_**"What...what...what's happening? What's happening? What did you do?"**_  The voice asked fearfully.

"You've got nothing left to mirror anymore." The Doctor taunted. "Goodbye."

_**"What...did...you…"**_  For a moment it looked like it was dying before the machine powered up and the snow began to fly around inside menacingly.  _ **"Did you really think it would be so easy?"**_ It taunted in return.

The Doctor looks at it in fear. "That's not possible. How is that possible?"

"Doctor!" Vastra motions towards the window, where they see even more snow than before.

"No, that's not possible! You were just Dr Simeon, you were never real! He just dreamed you, so how can you still exist?!" The Doctor demanded, turning back to the globe.

_**"Now the dream outlives the dreamer and can never die. Once I was the puppet-"** _

"Now I pull the strings!" Walter yells with the voice as he rises from the ground, covered in frost, and electrified by the globe's pylons. "I've tried for so long to take on Human form! By erasing Simeon, you made space for me! I fill him now!" Vastra draws her sword and rushes to Walter who throws a hard fist at her. She catches it before kicking him in the stomach and piercing her sword through his upper arm. Walter yells in pain as he backhands her hard, causing her to stumble to the floor in a loss of balance. Walter then rushes to the Doctor who performs the same backhanding motion causing Walter to stumble before the Doctor tackles him straight into his desk, shattering it upon impact. Walter however uses this moment to claim an iron grasp on the Doctor's neck, cutting off his air supply before removing Vastra's sword and placing his other hand on the Doctor's face, which begins to freeze over from Walter's ice-cold touch. "Born in snow! Born in Simeon! I applaud your effort, but it shall not be enough, for even this old body is strong in my control! Do you feel it now?! Winter is coming!" The Doctor begins to scream in pain as the frost begins to seep through his skin into his very flesh, causing his nerves and muscles to seize up in agony.

* * *

Back in the house, the children struggle to hold their tears for Clara while Latimer holds her hand and Strax works away on the medical device. "No, you must fight. Hang on and fight, boy, you can do it!" Strax said in encouragement.

"Captain Latimer." Clara whispered, gaining said man's attention. "Your children. They're afraid."

Latimer swallowed. "Help me, Clara, please. I don't know what to do." He pleaded.

"Hold them. Just hold them and be there for them. The rest will be easy." Clara smiles as Latimer moves towards his children, embracing them as the family cries together.

* * *

Walter begins to seize up as thunder booms outside while the snow begins to turn to rain. He then starts to shake in agony before giving a loud scream of pain as he collapses to the ground, the snow inside the globe bursting into water. "No! What's happening?!" Walter gasps in pain.

"Doctor! The globe! It's turning to rain!" Vastra yells as she struggles to regain her balance. Both her and the Doctor look to Walter who gives several more gasps for breath before collapsing into the floor, as the life of the snow rapidly drains away, leaving him cold and alone. Vastra moves to check his pulse before helping the Doctor off the floor. "He's dead. Walter must've died when the snow took over, leaving him a mere shell. But what killed the snow?"

The Doctor takes a moment to regain his breath. "Snow mirrors, Vastra." They move over to open the window before reaching out to catch some of the rainfall. "There was a critical mass of snow at the house, so if something happened there, it would be so powerful that the snow would be forced to mirror it."

Vastra pulls a hand back in and tastes the water, frowning for a moment before it comes to her. "Salty. Saltwater rain. It's the family, Doctor."

"Yes. The only force on Earth that could drown the snow is a whole family crying on Christmas Eve." They both nod at each before racing into the TARDIS. Materialising the TARDIS back inside the house, the Doctor and Vastra exiting to see Latimer embracing his children, the three of them crying over Clara's dying body. Jenny is rubbing Alice's shoulder as she too struggles to hold her tears while Strax stands in silent respect by Clara.

"I'm sorry sir, but there's no more to be done. She now has moments only." Strax said softly before moving aside.

The Doctor moves slowly to Clara, a few tears prickling his eyes as the two of them exchange eye contact while he kneels beside her to hold her hand. "We saved the world, Clara. But not only that, you saved my life. I thank you for that."

"Are you going back to your cloud?" Clara whispers, her voice almost faint.

"No. Not anymore. No more brooding."

Clara's eyebrows raised slightly. "What changed your mind?"

"It wasn't what changed my mind. It was who." The Doctor smiles fondly at her before kissing her forehead.

Clara closes her eyes while struggling to breathe before whispering at last, "Run. Run, you clever boy. And remember me." Clara then passes on just as the bell signalling midnight begins to toll.

"It's Christmas." Jenny informed in sadness. "Christmas Day."

25th December, 1892

The Doctor and the Paternoster Gang stayed for Clara's funeral, even past their goodbyes given to Captain Latimer and his children.

"What was it controlling the snowmen, Doctor?" Jenny asks.

"The institute was called "The Great Intelligence", probably as the name Simeon coined for it. Think of it like a telepathic mind, able to manifest itself in singular and multiple forms at once."

"Do you think it truly melted with the snow?" Vastra implores.

"No. It already learned to survive beyond physical form, though I doubt we'll be seeing it anytime soon."

"Is that why you told it that the London Underground was a key strategic weakness?" Vastra points out, having already figured out his lie.

The Doctor stared blankly at that before pulling the business card out of his pocket and looked at it. ""Great Intelligence". Why does that sound familiar?" The Doctor muttered to himself before moving to Clara's grave.

"Doctor?" Jenny asks in puzzlement.

The Doctor looked at Clara's grave for a moment before his eyes widened as he saw her full name: Clara Oswin Oswald. "No. It was her." He whispered.  _Oswin. Soufflé girl. It can't be her. And Clara, on Gallifrey. It can't be._  The Doctor stands up quickly, turning to look at Vastra and Jenny. "I never wondered about it the first time on Gallifrey, I was too busy running. And with the Daleks I was too busy fighting the War that I didn't notice then, but it was her. Both times! Same attitude, same personality, the same voice, the same woman! Twice! The second time and now she died to save me, the same woman!" The Doctor started to ramble in joyous excitement.

"Doctor, please, what are you talking about?" Vastra asked in bewilderment.

"Something is happening, and I don't know what it is!" The Doctor laughs maniacally for a few moments. "This is fantastic!"

"Doctor!" Jenny exclaims.

"Right, you two, stay right there! Don't move an inch!" The Doctor then starts to race back to the TARDIS.

"Are you coming back?!" Vastra called.

"Probably not!"

"But where are you going?!"

"To find her! To find Clara!" The Doctor runs away laughing, leaving Vastra and Jenny both bewildered and relieved to find their friend with a sense of renewed energy.

"But Clara's dead. What's he on about?" Jenny asks her wife.

"I'm not sure, but perhaps the universe makes bargains after all."

* * *

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor is racing about, flicking switches as his ship flies away into the Time Vortex. "Clara Oswin Oswald!" He then looks at the monitor to see two photos of Clara. One from the Clara on Gallifrey and one from the Clara in Victorian London, before letting a large grin radiate off his face. "Watch me run!"

**AN: The echoes are over, now it's time for the original Clara to join us. Once again, thank you for reading and leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	4. The Bells of Saint John

**The Bells of Saint John**

**Blackpool, England  
** 1995

On a bright, sunny day, children are running around a playground, laughing in joy while their parents are conversing together in peace. One man, the Doctor, was sitting alone on a swing in deep contemplation. For many, many years he wondered the cosmos, trying and failing, to find Clara again. He was so drenched in his sad contemplation, he practically failed to hear a little brunette girl of nine years run up to sit on the swing next to him. "Hello." The girl greeted with curiosity, her voice a sweet northern accent.

"Hello." The Doctor responded with a smile.

"Why are you sitting on a swing?" She asked.

"Aren't I allowed to sit on a swing?" He retorted defensively.

"Yes. You're old." She said bluntly.

"Oi!" The girl giggled at his mock insulted expression.

"My Mum says I shouldn't talk to strange men."

He shrugged. "Yeah, your Mum's right."

"Are you strange?" The girl asked.

"In many ways, yes." The Doctor held a small smile at this before returning to his brooding.

"Are you lonely?" She asked suddenly, making him blink.

"Why would I be lonely?"

"You seem sad. Have you lost something?" The girl asked softly.

The Doctor's eyebrows furrowed at this. "No."

"When I lose something, I go to a quiet place, close my eyes and then I remember where I put it." She said gleefully.

"Good plan. I wish I could do that sometimes." The Doctor admitted sheepishly.

"I'm always losing things." She said with a small whine. "I lost my pencil, my best school bag and my mojo."

"Your mojo?" The Doctor asked in puzzlement.

"I got it back, though."

"Well, that's good then." A comfortable silence fell between the two for a moment before the girl perked up with another question.

"Did you lose someone?"

The Doctor gave a small, sad sigh. "Yes. A good friend of mine. I met her three times before now. First time I was in a bit of a hurry, but the latter two times, I lost her and now...I don't think I'll ever find her again." He admitted.

"Have you been looking?"

He nodded. "Of course."

"How long?"

"Oh...many years." He said distantly.

"That's sad." The girl said with pity.

"It is a bit." The Doctor glanced up to see an adult woman, who looked very similar to the girl, standing a small distance from them, chatting silently with another woman. "Is that your Mum?" He asked.

"Yeah." She nodded with a loving smile. "I'd better go and see if she's all right."

He chuckled. "Yeah, clever idea."

"How are you going to find her?"

"Well, the last two times I just bumped into her, so I thought maybe, third time's the charm...kind of." He added hesitantly.

The girl scoffed. "That's rubbish. Third time's the charm never works."

"Oi! Don't diss third time's the charm." He blinked, realising the absurdity of his words. "I mean, sure, it...doesn't work all the time, but it still works...sometimes." He said the last part sheepishly, making the girl giggle again. "Actually, I think your idea is better. I should just find a quiet place and think about it for a while."

"That is a better idea." She agreed with a nod, before standing up to leave. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye." He said with a smile and a wave.

"Oh, and mister…I hope you find her again." She said sincerely.

"I hope so too." He reciprocated.

The girl moved over to her mother, who after finishing her conversation, knelt in front of her. "Who was that?" She asked.

"I was talking to a sad man." The girl beamed.

"Clara Oswald, what have I told you about talking to strange men?" Her mother admonished before sighing, standing up and leading them away. If the Doctor heard the exchange, he either didn't notice it or he dismissed it entirely. So, after a moment of silence, he gets up off the swing and leaves for the TARDIS.

 **Cumbria  
** 1207

A large stone monastery, surrounded in grey mist and fog, sat silently atop a green hill, its front gates being repeatedly knocked on by a fearful young monk. A view latch on the door opens to show another monk looking at him curiously, including some irritation. "Wake the Abbott! The bells of Saint John are ringing!"

The other monk nodded in understanding before closing the latch, opening the door for the younger monk, and hurrying to the main tower of the monastery. After a while, in which the young monk waited with a small semblance of impatience, the other monk returned with the Abbott, who walked straight towards the man bearing the news. "Are you words true, son?"

"Yes, Father." The young monk nodded.

"Then it is time. We must go to him." The Abbott said before motioning for the man to follow, the two monks entering the main tower before opening the door to the lower library.

""Him"? The Mad Monk?" The young monk asked vehemently.

"Yes, my son, but we shouldn't call him that. He is the furthest thing to be considered a monk." The Abbott admonished lightly. They enter the library to see many candles lit, with the Doctor sitting in a chair in silence, his dark brown cloak hood drawn over his head. Behind him on two stands were two paintings of Clara Oswald. One was her on Gallifrey, the other was her in Victorian London, yet both carried the same message. The Abbott cleared his throat, making the Doctor look up. "I'm sorry to intrude. But it is time. The bells of Saint John are ringing."

The Doctor immediately stood up from his chair and walked over to them, removing his hood to show his face bearing a scraggly beard, if you could call it a beard. "I'm going to need a horse." He said simply.

"You won't be coming back, sir?" The Abbott asked.

The Doctor gave a small smile. "Probably not."

"Then you're allowed to take a horse, as long as you send it back." The Doctor gave a thankful nod to the Abbott before moving to gather his belongings and turning to leave.

The younger monk looked at the paintings with widening eyes, only speaking up when the Doctor had left the room. "Is that her?" He asked.

The Abbott nodded. ""The Impossible Girl". "The Woman Twice Dead". This, my son, is why he was here. He came to this place of peace and solitude, so he could divine her meaning." He said, pointing to the phrase on both paintings that said "Run. Run, you clever boy, and remember me". "If he truly is mad, then this is his madness."

 **Chiswick  
** 2013

Inside a single-story cream-coloured house, a young brunette, wearing a dye red dress with a grey jacket, is pacing about her bedroom in impatience as she holds a dialling phone to her ear. On her desk sat her dark grey laptop, while above it on the wall were three pictures. The first was of her and two teenagers, the second was of her as a little girl and her parents while the third was of her and a dark-skinned man in his early thirties. "Oh, come on! Just answer!" She groaned irritably to herself in her northern accent.

* * *

Outside of a cave, the Doctor patted the horse he arrived on, the motion making it trot back off to the monastery, as he entered the cave to see the TARDIS, still sitting there patiently. He stopped his movements however as he began hearing the TARDIS phone ringing suddenly. "That's not supposed to happen." He muttered to himself before he timidly moved over to the TARDIS and opened the front latch. Then, he pulled out the large brown cable phone and placed it against his ear. "Hello?"

 _"Ah, hello. I can't find the internet."_  He heard a girl say with relief. Very obvious relief, almost gratingly so.

"Sorry?" The Doctor asked in confusion.

 _"It's gone. The internet. Can't find it anywhere. Where is it?"_  She reiterated.

"The internet?" He asked incredulously.

 _"Yes, the internet."_  She almost snarled in frustration.  _"Why don't I have the internet?"_

"It's 1207." He said bluntly.

He could almost picture the girl's irritated expression melting away into squinting puzzlement.  _"I got half-past 3. Am I phoning a different time zone?"_  She asked.

"Afraid so." The Doctor said, withholding his habit to make a bad joke.

_"Will it show up on the bill?"_

"I dread to think." He muttered under his breath. "Listen, where did you get this number?"

_"The man in the shop wrote it down. It's a helpline, isn't it? He said, "It's the best helpline out there". "In the universe" he said."_

He blinked. "What man? Who was he?"

 _"I don't know. The man in the shop. Gotta say, for a pretty boy, he looked knackered."_  The girl added but the Doctor didn't respond to that.  _"So, why isn't there internet? Shouldn't it just…be there?"_

"Look, listen. I'm not actually…" The Doctor then trailed off, gave a sigh of defeat before going almost monotone in the tone of his voice. "You have clicked on the Wi-Fi button, haven't you?"

 _"Hang on. Umm…Wi-Fi…"_  The girl muttered to herself, which made the Doctor roll his eyes.

"Click on the Wi-Fi, you'll see a list of names with one you recognise…" He continued in the same tone.

 _"It's asking me for a password…"_  The girl muttered in confusion.  _"Hang on a mo_." He could hear the girl rummaging around in search of something for a few moments.  _""R-R-Y-C-B-A-R-M-1-2-3." How am I supposed to remember that?"_  The Doctor rubbed his hand over his eyes to suppress a groan.  _"Uh, here we go. Run. Run, you clever boy and remember me."_  The Doctor's eyes quickly widened in shock as he heard her speak these words.  _"1, 2…"_

At the same time the girl says "3", the Doctor yells, "What did you just say?!"

The girl audibly winced.  _"Don't shout."_  There was a small pause for a moment before she spoke up again.  _"Now you made me type it wrong. It's thrown me out again. What do I do? How do I get back in?"_

The Doctor didn't answer. Instead, he hung up the phone and raced inside the TARDIS, dashing around the console as he piloted the ship away from Cumbria. "Come on. Come on." He muttered as he landed the TARDIS with a thud, before racing outside and up to the front door of the girl's house, where he began to knock repeatedly, again and again, even using the doorbell when he received no answer. Eventually, he did receive an answer, being a pair of footsteps that were moving quickly towards the front door.

 _"Yes, I hear you!"_  The girl said in almost bemused irritation before she opened the door and all the Doctor could do was stand there like an idiot with a massive grin on his face. "Hello?"

"Clara Oswald?" He asked.

She frowned slightly at him. "Hello."

"Clara Oswin Oswald?" He reiterated.

"Just "Clara Oswald". What was that middle one?" Clara asked with a blink of confusion.

"Do you remember me?"

Clara squinted her large brown eyes at him. "No. Should I? Who are you?"

"The Doctor." He said obviously.

She frowned again, now from puzzled incredulity. "Doctor Who?"

"No. just the Doctor." He paused for a moment before his grin relaxed into a dreamy smile. "Sorry, could you just ask me that again?"

"Could I what?"

"Could you just ask me that question again?"

"Doctor Who?"

For a small moment, he thought only one question.  _Was it the scrunched expression on her face or the way she asked it?_ Either way, it left him with a small series of giggles. "Okay, just once more." He said, like a kid watching a funny magician.

"Doctor Who?" Clara repeated in the same confused tone.

He unabashedly continued with his childish giggling. "I'm so sorry. It's just I've never realised how much I enjoy hearing that. Thank you." He said earnestly.

"Okay." Clara gave him a smile before she slammed the door in his face, said motion causing his gleeful attitude to melt into pleading agitation.

"No, wait! Clara, please! I need to talk to you!

**The Shard**

Within one of the highest floors of the Shard, was a sleek, black office, full of computer desks and people in suits working away relentlessly. The front of the room had a small flight of steps leading to the head office while the back end had a large screen, filled with small pictures of various individuals from all over the world. One of the desks had a man, dressed in a regular suit, and an older woman, wearing a tie-less suit, standing behind it and looking at a newly acquired picture of Clara.

"Clara Oswald." The man said. "We've got a positive lock on her, but I think she's borderline. Very clever but no computer skills." The person he was informing was the woman, and his employer, who gave the ghost of an uninterested shrug, before glancing down at the black tablet in her left hand.

"Upload her anyway. Splice her a computer skills package." She ordered as the two of them walked towards the stairs at the front of the room.

"I'll activate a spoonhead." The man offered.

She just squinted her eyes at him. "Alexei, we call them servers, not spoonheads." She admonished.

"Sorry, Miss Kizlet." Alexei apologised before turning around and walking back to his desk.

Miss Kizlet, with a small sly smile, walked up the stairs to meet another employee, who was waiting for her in front of her office doors. She greeted him with a nod which he returned, before they walked inside. "I'm ever so fond of Alexei. But my conscience says we should kill him."

"I'll inform HR." The man says indifferently.

"Actually, he's about to go on holiday. Kill him when he gets back. Let's not be unreasonable. Now, what did you want to speak to me about?" Miss Kizlet asked as she sat down at her desk.

"We're uploading too many people too quickly. We're going to get noticed." The man said with a British accent, his voice laced with paranoia.

"If your conscience is bothering you, think of it like this: We're preserving living minds in permanent form in the data cloud. Rather like immortality." She placed her tablet on the desk and began to scroll through her employees before stopping on one with a picture of the man in front of her, Mahler. "Of course, gained fatally." She added with a mischievous smirk.

"My conscience is fine." Mahler said with his jaw clenched.

"Good. Because our client has his needs." Miss Kizlet then accessed his profile and turned his "Conscience" off completely, which in turn raised his paranoia, making Mahler sweat profusely. As he turned to leave, he paused, and glanced back at Miss Kizlet with worrying realization.

"Did you just hack me?" He asked.

"Because you changed your mind?" She retorted with mocking pity.

Mahler swallowed a small nervous gulp in his throat. "I hope I did." He then turned to leave without another word. Behind his back, Miss Kizlet briefly turned his "Paranoia" off before raising it back to nominal with a small smirk.

* * *

 _"Please, Clara! I just need to speak to you."_  Clara heard the Doctor call through the front door as she stood in the living room.

She then sighed before moving down the stairs and standing beside the door to click on the video intercom linked to the outside, which the Doctor didn't notice for a few seconds, almost making her giggle. Almost. "Why are you still here? Why are you here at all?" She asked.

 _"Oi! You phoned me, remember? You were looking for the internet."_ The Doctor retorted.

"Wait, that was you?" Clara asked with a blink.

 _"Yes, it was me."_  The Doctor said, restraining his urge to groan.

"How did you get here so fast?"

 _"I just happened to be in the neighbourhood, on my mobile phone."_  On his last words, he pointed behind him to a large blue police box sitting nearby the house.

"When you say, "Mobile phone", why did you point at that blue box?"

 _"Because it's a surprisingly accurate description."_  The Doctor retorted sarcastically.

"Okay, we're finished now." Clara said sternly before switching the intercom off and turning around, holding her head in her hands as she takes a couple of breaths, not noticing the Doctor had turned to walk back to the TARDIS in silence. As she opened her eyes, she noticed a dark skinned, teenage girl standing there in the room. She didn't take notice of the sudden appearance at first, even though she should have. "Angie! Good to see you again! Why didn't you phone me ahead?" Clara asked with a warm smile.

"I didn't phone you ahead." Angie said with an emotionless voice.

"Well, how did you get in the flat? You don't have a key." Clara pointed out in puzzlement.

"I don't have a key." Angie repeated.

"Is Artie all right?" Clara asked, now starting to get really worried.

"Is Artie all right?" Angie repeated. As she finished speaking, Clara could hear an electronic clicking from Angie before said person's head turned light blue, and her face disappeared like a hologram to reveal a silver, metallic head that focused a beam of energy onto Clara's now terrified face.

* * *

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor ran straight out of the bathroom, his face now clean shaven, and he shredded off the monk clothes in disgust. "Note to self, Doctor: Don't be a monk. Never introduce yourself as a monk. Monks are stupid!" Quickly changing into his newly fashioned clothes, topped off with his black leather jacket, he rushed outside to Clara's doorstep and knocked three times. "Clara!"

 _"Hello?"_  Clara asked through the intercom, yet the video link was switched off.

"Hello. Don't worry, I'm not dressed like a monk anymore. That was stupid of me. Even got rid of the beard, if you could call it a beard." He said with a grin. "Can I come in now?"

_"I...I don't understand."_

He blinked.  _Weird answer._ "Could you just open the door?"

 _"I don't know…where I am."_ The Doctor frowned at these words for a moment, then he heard Clara's breath getting increasingly hitched in a matter of seconds, and his eyes widened in horror.  _"I don't know where I am. Where am I?"_  Clara asked, her voice quickly becoming laced with paranoia.  _"Please tell me where I am! I don't know where I am!"_

The Doctor pulled out his sonic and unlocked the front door to march inside, seeing Clara's unconscious body lying on the floor. "Clara!" He knelt beside her and took her face in his hands as she continued to cry and whimper in confusion. But her face did not move as she spoke. Nor were her eyes open in the wide-eyed horror he expected, not even her voice, or rather the source of it was what he expected. Instead, he looked up to see a silver chrome head, draped in clothes and bearing a hologram of Clara's real and terrified face, her eyes streaming with fresh, hot tears.

 _"I don't know where I am! I don't know where I am! Please, I don't know where I am!"_  Clara continued to cry.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic, pointed it at the robot and flicked it on, his face turning into rage as he saw a download meter appear beneath Clara's face, which said, "Uploading 62%". "Oh no, you don't!" He growled, quickly switching the settings and causing a sudden halt to the download before he raced to Clara's desk and grabbed her laptop.

* * *

Inside the office, an alarm sounded an ear-piercing wail at Alexei's desk, as he witnesses Clara's download being halted without warning. "I've got a problem." He called worriedly, earning the immediate and puzzled attention of Miss Kizlet and Mahler, as they walk over to his desk. "Someone's trying to reverse an upload." He said, turning off the alarm and relieving their ears of the noise.

"Is that possible?" Miss Kizlet asked.

"If the upload isn't fully integrated, then in theory, yes." As soon as Mahler points this bit of information out, the upload, once again without warning, began to reverse, making their eyes widen in disbelief.

"Oh my god." Alexei muttered under his breath.

"Can you stop this?" Mahler demanded.

After a moment of typing and working, Alexei gulped as his actions proved to be fruitless. "No."

* * *

The Doctor continued to type furiously at Clara's laptop, code being inputted at a frantic speed to reverse the upload. "Not this time, Clara! I promise you!" After inputting his last code, and quite literally slamming his finger on the enter key, Clara's upload was reversed and cancelled. The droid then shot a light into Clara's body, which, after it disappears, leaves her gasping for breath, yet her eyes remained closed. The Doctor puts the laptop aside as he moves to Clara, gently cradling her face and stroking her hair. "It's okay. It's okay." He whispered before picking her up, moving to her bed and placing her down with a kiss on her forehead. After drawing her blankets over her sleeping form and standing up from the bed, he spotted out of the corner of his eye, a book on her bedside table called "101 Places to See". With gentle care, he held up the book and opened it to a marked page, which contained a red leaf and a list. At the top of the list was a signature title that said: "Property of Clara Oswald". The list contained her age, starting at a crossed 9 before ending in an uncrossed 27. His eyebrows arched at this for a brief moment before his expression turned into confusion as he switched his attention to the leaf. He carefully picked it up between two fingers and looked at it for a few moments.  _Curious._  He mused to himself before he placed it back inside the book, closed it, and put the book back where he found it. The Doctor then grasped Clara's laptop and moved from the room to exit the house and return to the TARDIS.

* * *

Back inside Miss Kizlet's office, now with the shadows of night pouring through the window, she kept pacing in agitation with her fingers interlaced, only relieving them of the tension as Mahler entered the room with the same expression. "Well?" Miss Kizlet asked simply.

"Our hacker sent us a message." He answered, moving to her personal monitor to press a few buttons, which brings up the message. "Under My Protection. -The Doctor."

"Get out." Mahler frowned at her and she restrained from rolling her eyes. "I have to speak to the client." Mahler nodded before darting from the room, as Miss Kizlet pressed a hidden button on the screen, bathing her in blue light. "Sir. The one you told me about, he's here. The Doctor is here."

* * *

Back at Clara's flat, now also bathed in the gleam of night, she awoke slowly from her unconscious state. Shaking off both the drowsiness from her eyes and the tiny, fading feeling of pain in her head, she stood up from her bed, exited her bedroom and crossed over her house to the front door and opened it, spotting the Doctor sitting on a chair outside the blue box, typing away on...her laptop? "Hello?" She asked with clear puzzlement.

"Hello!" The Doctor responded with a smile. "Are you all right?"

"I was in bed." Clara said obviously.

"Yeah."

"But I don't remember going. What happened to me?" She asked worriedly.

The Doctor looked at her with concern. "Don't you remember anything?"

"I was scared. Really scared. Didn't know where I was." She admitted.

"Do you know now?"

She unconsciously gave him a smile. "Yes."

"Well, you should go back to sleep. You'll be safe now. I promise." The Doctor then returned to work as Clara looked at him in confusion.

"Are you guarding me?"

"Yes, I am." He said before frowning. "That creepy? I hope it's not creepy."

"More like weird." Clara responded with a giggle, making the Doctor smile again. "Are you seriously going to sit there all night?"

"Yeah, I promise. I won't budge from this seat."

"Well then, I'll have to join you." Clara suddenly closed the door, leaving the Doctor staring dumbly at it.

"Eh?" The Doctor muttered in bewilderment before he shook it off and returned to work.

* * *

Miss Kizlet and Mahler are standing back beside Alexei's desk as they see a camera focused on the back of the TARDIS, sitting beside Clara's house. "I take it the girl's inside and alive?" Miss Kizlet asks. They nod, and she smirked. "Alexei, I need you to do something creative about that." She then moved to his profile on her tablet before turning his "I. Q" up to full. Alexei quickly moved to work.

* * *

The Doctor looks up from the laptop as he heard Clara's front door opening and closing, seeing said girl stepping outside her house, moving to sit by him, and offering him a cup of tea. "Oh, thank you." He said, taking a grateful sip, before letting a small smile of approval appear on his face, as he placed the cup down on a small foldout table beside them. "Now, I think we should properly introduce ourselves since I've forgotten my manners."

Clara snorted. "More like you being rude."

"Hush you." The Doctor said with a smile before holding out a hand. "I'm the Doctor. Pleased to meet you."

"Clara Oswald. Pleased to meet you, if ever so confused." She shook his hand.

"Yeah, I know the feeling." He admitted.

"Did I miss anything while I was out?"

"Eh, not much. I fixed that rattling noise in the washing machine, indexed the kitchen cupboards, optimised the photosynthesis in the flower bed and assembled the quadracycle."

"Assembled the what?" Clara asked.

"You had a disassembled quadracycle in the garage."

"I don't have a quadra-watcha-ma-call-it."

The Doctor's eyebrows furrow at that for a moment before he produces a bright grin.  _Did I just invent the quadracycle? Huh._

"Doctor, are you going to explain what happened to me?" Clara asked, regaining his attention.

He put the laptop down on the table and took another good gulp of the warm tea. "There is something in the Wi-Fi."

Clara frowned. "Okay. Isn't there always something in the Wi-Fi? Like a virus?"

"No." He blinked. "I mean, yes, there always is something like that, but what if something got in?"

"I don't follow."

"Clara, the entire world is almost literally swimming in Wi-Fi. Introduce kids to it then remove it from them for a few hours, they lose their minds." Clara giggled at that while the Doctor smirked. "Now, suppose something else got inside. Suppose something alive, literally alive, got inside, and is now harvesting Human minds, extracting them."

"Then they become trapped?" Clara deducted.

"Yes. Imagine that. Human souls trapped like flies in the World Wide Web, stuck forever, crying out for help."

"Isn't that basically Twitter?" Clara quipped, making the Doctor laugh.

"In a way, yes." The Doctor then…just paused and looked back up a Clara with squinting eyes.

"What's that face for, Doctor?" Clara asked in scepticism.

"A computer can hack another computer. But a living, sentient computer, an intelligence…maybe that can hack people. Edit them or rewrite them." He said in a small ramble.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because earlier today, you knew nothing about computers and now you just made two separate jokes about viruses and Twitter." Clara's eyes widened in shock as his words sank in. "Are you finding innovative ideas in your head, Clara? Ideas related to computers that you didn't have earlier?"

"Yeah. Where did all that come from?" Clara asked, starting to tremble in fear.

"You were uploaded for a while, so wherever you were, you brought something else back. Something that I very much doubt you'll be allowed to keep." The Doctor stood up quickly, gazing around with darting eyes before he moved beside the TARDIS to look behind it, seeing a man on the side path looking at them blankly. Far too blankly for anybody's liking. "You, me, box, now." The Doctor said simply despite the scattered words.

Clara just raised her eyebrows at his words. "I'm sorry?" She asked incredulously.

"Look, Clara, just get inside." The Doctor said as he unlocked the door and started to place everything back inside behind the door.

"Both of us?"

"Trust me, it'll make more sense inside."

"I bet it will." Clara said like a disappointed mother.

"Clara, please…" The Doctor started like a stubborn child, but Clara interrupted him.

"What is that box anyway? Why have you got a box?"

"Clara." He warned lightly.

"Is it a snogging booth?" Clara accused in amusement.

"A what?" The Doctor asked incredulously.

"Is that what you do? You bring a booth?" She flirted, her gaze unabashedly darting up and down his form in approval. "Yeah, you're a looker but there's such a thing as too keen." She said with a sly smile.

The Doctor looked up to see the lights in the neighbouring houses turn on far too rapidly for his own liking. "Clara, look around you." The Doctor whispered.

Clara slowly turned around, her eyes widening in surprise as she witnesses this as well. "What's happening? Is the Wi-Fi switching on the lights?"

"No. The people are, but the Wi-Fi is directing them." The Doctor said, his words sending cold shivers down Clara's spine. They watched as the man's head just disappeared in a blue light to reveal yet another silver chrome head.

"What is that thing, Doctor?"

"A walking base station, or server. They're the ones snatching up the people, doing the dirty work on location. You saw one earlier, that's how you got into the Wi-Fi."

"I saw a friend of mine." Clara said in denial, before turning around to notice the lights in the city being turned off. "Doctor."

"They must have taken an image from your self-conscious and thrown it back at you. In other words, active camouflage." He rambled.

"Doctor!" Clara grabbed his arm and pulled him over to view the city. "What's going on? Our lights are on, but everyone else's is off. Why?"

"I don't know, but we must be one hell of a target right now."

Clara looked up in the sky to see an airplane descending towards them. "Doctor, planes have Wi-Fi, right?"

"Some planes do, yeah." The Doctor then paused in quick realization as he looked up to notice the plane as well.

"Box, right?"

"Yep." They both race into the TARDIS, Clara holding onto her cup tightly as she stumbles in shock to see the interior of the TARDIS. "Yes, it's a spaceship! Yes, it's bigger on the inside! No, I don't have the time to witter on about it!" The Doctor yelled as he raced about the console to pilot the TARDIS.

"But…but…but it's- "

"Can I have some hush now, thank you?! Short bounces are difficult to do!"

"Bigger on the inside! Actually bigger!" The TARDIS landed with a thud, making the Doctor and Clara stumble slightly as he raced over to the door, Clara following him. "We're going back out there?!"

"No, we've moved! I told you, it's a spaceship! We flew away!"

"Away from the plane?!"

The Doctor laughed. "No way in hell!" He then threw open the door and they stumble out into the interior of the descending airplane, shrieking as they struggle to maintain balance.

"How did we get here?!" Clara shrieked.

"Seriously, Clara! It's a ship! Have you not been paying attention?!" The Doctor reprimanded as they moved forwards to the cockpit, past all the bodies of the passengers as they do so.

"Are they all dead?! Don't tell me they're all dead, Doctor!"

"No, they're not dead! They were just sent to sleep by the Wi-Fi!" The Doctor pulled out his sonic to unlock the cabin door, then pocketing it before ramming into the door with his shoulder to force it open as they both enter.

"What is going on?! Is this real?!"

"Do you want the long story or the short- "

"Doctor, just tell me what is happening!"

"Fine! I'm an alien from outer space with two hearts and I can't fly a bloody plane! Can you?!"

"No!"

"Fine then!" The Doctor just laughed with newfound glee. "Fantastic!" He then grasped onto the wheel before pulling up as hard as he could, Clara wrapping her arms around his shoulders as they scream from the adrenaline of the plane pulling up to narrowly miss the houses and the ground. "Whooo!" They both laugh their victory as they pull themselves together before starting to pant and wheeze. "I'm probably just going to stick to flying the TARDIS though." The Doctor quipped lightly.

"The what?"

"The TARDIS. That's the name of my ship."

One of the pilots, most likely the Captain, gave a groan as he began to wake from his sleep before jumping in shock at the sight of the Doctor and Clara. "What the hell is going on?"

"Oh, nothing much, just switching off the Wi-Fi. Do you want to go back to driving, mate? I'm a bit winded." The Doctor took several, loud breaths as he strolled out of the now stable cabin.

"You're winded?" Clara admonished in amusement.

"Oi!" The Doctor grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the TARDIS.

* * *

Miss Kizlet, Mahler, and Alexei look at the computer screen in bewilderment. "I don't understand. What's happened?" Miss Kizlet asked. "That box. Where's it gone?"

"I don't know, ma'am." Alexei said softly.

Miss Kizlet gave a growl of annoyance. "All of you!" Everyone in the office looked at her in fear. "Find that box! Now!"

* * *

The Doctor returned to piloting the TARDIS, now much more calmly as Clara slowly drinks back her cup of tea before setting the empty cup down. "Okay, Doctor. When are you going to explain to me what the hell just happened?" Clara asked.

"Oi. Have a bit of patience. I'll explain it at breakfast." The TARDIS landed with a thud as the Doctor picked up a fedora before moving to the door.

"What?! Doctor, I am not waiting till breakfast!" Clara growled in annoyance.

"You seriously haven't been paying attention, have you?" The Doctor retorted.

"Rude." Clara muttered under her breath.

"It's a time machine. You don't have to wait for breakfast." He then opened the door to a sunny day with people outside, already clapping in awe and joy at the sight of the TARDIS materialising in front of them. "Thank you! Thank you! All donations gratefully accepted!" Clara exited the TARDIS, looking both bewildered and amused as the people actually started giving money while the Doctor handed the cash filling fedora to her before moving back inside. "Just popping back into the garage!" He called.

Clara scrunched her face in wonderous bewilderment. "Garage?!" After a few more moments as the fedora filled up with more cash, Clara looked back at the box, the Doctor still not having exited the TARDIS. "So, is this tomorrow then? Tomorrow comes early?"

"No. Tomorrow came at the usual time, we just took the shortcut." The Doctor's voice rolled out as he…well…rolled out on a motorbike, making Clara look at him in awe.

_Did he have a motorbike in there the whole time?_

This new sight also made the people restart their cheering again as they took pictures and selfies with the TARDIS. "Thank you! Tomorrow, a camel!" He then hopped off quickly to lock the door before putting on a helmet to mount the bike.

"You have a camel?" Clara asked as she hopped onto the bike behind the Doctor, giving him the money as he handed her a helmet.

"No, that was a lie." The Doctor said simply, missing Clara almost wanting to pout at the answer before he started the motorbike into a roar and then sped off into the city.

* * *

Mahler walked over to Alexei's desk as pictures of the blue box popped up on his computer. "What's happening?" Mahler asked.

"Blue box, Southbank. Definitely wasn't there five minutes ago." Alexei answered as Miss Kizlet walked over.

"Are we sure this time? Earl's Court was an embarrassment." Mahler grumbled.

* * *

"If you've got a flying time machine, why are we on a motorbike?!" Clara asked over the roar of vehicle.

"I don't take the TARDIS when it's being noticed!"

"Because it's made of wood?!" Clara asked mischievously.

"Because it's the most powerful ship in the universe and I don't want-" The Doctor stopped himself as he didn't need to look behind him to see Clara's raised eyebrows in a "Are you kidding me?" expression. "Okay then! It's because it's made of wood!" He groaned.

"Does the Doctor not want to get embarrassed that his brilliant ship is made of wood?!" Clara teased.

"I'll have you know Clara-" The Doctor let go of the handle for a moment, making them both squeal in surprise as the motorbike started to swerve.

"Doctor!"

"Sorry!" He returned to his driving with a sheepish blush, making Clara giggle.

* * *

Miss Kizlet watches the computer screen with a growing smile of pleasure as recent photos of the Doctor and Clara on the motorbike pop up. "I do love London. So many cameras." Miss Kizlet said slyly.

* * *

Sitting on the outside balcony of an upstairs café, the Doctor pulled out Clara's laptop while she finishes a milkshake. "So, if we can travel anywhere in time and space, why travel to the morning? What's the point in that?" Clara asked.

"Whoever's after us spent the whole night looking. Clara, do you feel tired?" The Doctor asked.

"Not really, no." She shrugged.

"Well, imagine how they feel. They came the long way around." The Doctor reprimanded before working again. "They've got to be close. London, going by the signal distribution. I can hack the lowest level of their operating system, but I can't find their location. The security's too good."

"Are you an alien?" Clara asked randomly.

"Yeah. You fine with that?"

"Yeah, fine. At least, I think I'm fine with it." She gave a small amused snort as he just arched one eyebrow at her. "So, what happens if you do find them?"

"No idea. I can't tell the future, I just work there." He admitted.

"So, you don't have a plan?" Clara asked bluntly.

"I never have a plan, I just…improvise." He admitted, now in embarrassment.

Clara put her drained shake aside before grabbing the laptop from his grasp. "Give me."

"Sorry, what?" He asked incredulously as he took it back.

"You need to know their exact location?" Clara reminded.

"Obviously, yes."

"I can do it." She said as she grabbed it again.

"How?"

"I can give you their physical location in under five minutes. Pop off and get us a coffee." She said with a teasing smirk as the Doctor grabbed the laptop to begin their childish game of tug of war.

"If I can't find them, you definitely can't."

"They uploaded me, remember? I've got computer stuff in my head or were you not paying attention?" Clara teased.

"Oi! I did notice, missy! And I have better computer skills."

"My hacking skills are insane."

"I'm from space with two hearts and…twenty-seven brains." He almost sputtered the lie out. Unfortunately, Clara noticed.

"I can find them in under five minutes plus photographs. Twenty-seven brains? That lie is as big as your ears."

"Oi! Leave my ears alone! I'm fond of my ears!"

"Coffee, go get, now!" Clara reprimanded before pulling the laptop out of his grasp and starting to work.

The Doctor sat there in shock for a moment as he racked his brain for some other attempt to heal his injured ego. "The security is absolute."

"It's never about the security, it's about the people." The Doctor held a sigh of defeat as he stood up from his chair to re-enter the café before turning with a pause, making Clara look at him in confusion. "Why do you keep looking at me like that?"

"Sorry, it's just…your 27 yet you were at home trying to find internet." He pointed out.

"Yeah. And?" Clara shrugged.

"Well, shouldn't you be doing…you know…young things like…dancing?" The Doctor stammered as he failed to find the right words.

"What, with you? Down boy." Clara flirted with a wink.

"Oi! Stop it!" The Doctor said as he hurried back inside to hide his blush, which Clara already noticed, making her giggle. As he proceeded over to the counter, he paused for a moment to marvel the delicious food being presented. "Two cappuccinos over there, please." He said politely.

"One moment, sir." The Italian waiter said. Before he moved to work however, he stood up with a slight blue light in his eyes, holding his right hand up like he's holding something slim, now speaking in a dignified English accent. "You realize, you haven't got the slightest chance to save your new friend."

The Doctor looked at him, feeling both completely puzzled, and a tiny bit of anger in his hearts. "I'm sorry?"

"I said, "You haven't got the slightest chance to save your new friend". And don't annoy the old man. He isn't actually speaking." He then reverted back to his Italian accent, acting like he didn't say anything. "I said, "One moment, sir"."

"I'm speaking." The same English accent is heard behind the Doctor, now a female waiter, holding her right hand up in the same gesture and her eyes glowing with the same dim light. "Just using whatever's to hand."

* * *

Miss Kizlet kept pacing her office, her tablet held up in her right hand as she speaks in a self-satisfied manner into its imbedded microphone. "Oh, she's a gorgeous one, isn't she? Do you like her? I can make her like you too."

* * *

The female waiter had a brief spark in her eyes before she looked at the Doctor in confusion. "You all right, sir?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said dully, making her shake her head at him before she moved away.  _Whoever it is, when they speak, the person they talk through doesn't notice or remember it._  He quickly ran outside to check on Clara. "You okay?"

"Sure, just setting stuff up. Need a username." Clara said quickly, as if she was on a sugar high.

"You're learning fast." The Doctor said, restraining how proud she him feel purely because of the danger at hand.

"Clara Oswald for the win. Oswin!" Clara punned before returning to work, not noticing the Doctor's look of recognition as he turned back into the café. He stopped as the same female waiter from before returned, now with a slight blue spark that he noted as the symbol of possession.

"Now, I want you to look around. Go on, have a little stroll, and see how impossible your situation is. Go on, look. I do love showing off." She said smugly, before the spark faded off, only to appear in a little girl wearing a pink jacket.

"Just let me show you what control of the Wi-Fi can do for me. Stop!" On this command, everyone inside the café halted in movement, making the Doctor's expression turn ice cold.

"I already saw what you could do last night."

"And clear!" She said, making everyone who had halted leave the café until the blue shock appears, now in the eyes of a female reporter on the TV.

_"We can hack anyone in the Wi-Fi, once they've been exposed long enough."_

"You have a server nearby, do you?" The Doctor deducted.

The woman scoffed.  _"There's always someone close. We've released thousands into the world. They home in on the Wi-Fi like starving rats chasing fresh cheese."_

* * *

Back inside the office, the workers looked up in confusion as their webcams flash without warning.

"Mahler, there's something wrong with the webcams." Alexei called, making Mahler walk over to his desk. "Someone must be hacking them."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, someone is definitely hacking the webcams. But what would be the point?"

He contemplated for a moment before his eyes widened, moving to the front of the room. "Everyone!" Everyone looked up at Mahler. "Is anyone on social media of any kind? Twitter, Facebook, Myspace?" Everyone in the room held up their hands. "Put your hands down if you didn't mention where you work." No one did.

* * *

"I don't know who you are or why you are doing this, but the people of this planet will not be harmed! They will not be controlled!" The Doctor snarled.

 _"The people of this world are in no danger whatsoever."_ The woman retorted in a calm tone. _"My client requires a steady diet of healthy, living, Human minds. He loves humanity, he cares for Humanity. In fact he can't get enough of it."_ She mused.

"This is murder!" The Doctor accused.

_"It's life! The farmer tends his flock like a loving parent. The abattoir is not a contradiction, for no one loves cattle more than Burger King."_

"This shall end today! There will be no more of this!"

_"How would you end it? You don't even know where we are."_

Outside on the balcony, Clara finished her cross referencing with the photos and social media to find the same answer: Everyone worked at the Shard. She looked up to the see the Doctor there, yet too satisfied to notice his face devoid of emotion. "I did it! I really did it! I found them!"

"You found them?"

"The Shard, floor 65."

"Floor 65."

"Are you listening to me, Doctor? I've found-" Clara paused her rambling in horror as she turned to look at him, his face disappearing in blue light before it once again takes her mind into the data cloud, and all she could do was scream. The real Doctor heard these screams, sending a cold feeling of dread into his hearts as he rushed outside.

"No!" He whipped out his sonic and used it on the server, his rage intensifying as it said, "Upload Complete". He looked at her laptop to see what she found, before a grand idea popped into his head.

* * *

Miss Kizlet and Mahler are standing beside the large screen to see the many faces of people uploaded into the cloud. One of them, is the horrified face of Clara. "Should we pulp her or use her as a hostage?" Mahler asked.

"There's no point, she's fully integrated now. She can't be downloaded again, I'm sure he's found that out." Miss Kizlet said smugly.

"I'm not sure he has. He's coming." Alexei said, making them both walk to his desk to see multiple pictures pop up of the Doctor on his motorbike, stopping at the base of the Shard.

"We could stop him." Mahler offered.

"Why bother? It could be rather funny." Miss Kizlet said.

* * *

The Doctor looked up at the Shard with a cold expression, trembling to hold his rage as he turned to his left to notice a bearded man holding fish and chips standing there, with the same dim blue light in his eyes. "Really, Doctor? A motorbike? It hardly seems like you."

"I rode this in the Anti-Grav Olympics, 2074." He said simply.

"The building is in lockdown. I'm afraid you can't get in."

"Did you not hear the word "Anti-Grav"?!" He then slammed his hand down on a large red button before racing over and up the walls and windows of the Shard, the man possessed by Miss Kizlet looking up at him in bewilderment.

"Oh dear lord." As the Doctor neared floor 65, he pulled out his sonic and used it to weaken one of the windows, which crashed under the force of the bike, landing him straight into Miss Kizlet's office. He stood up, quickly brushed the glass off his jacket before sitting down at desk with restrained patience, Miss Kizlet entering a few moments later. "Do come in."

"Download her." The Doctor growled, trying at least to give her a chance.

"Sorry about the draught." She quipped sarcastically.

"Download her back into her body right now."

"I can't."

"Oh yes, you can." The Doctor stood up with a huff, crossing his arms as he walked to her in the centre of the room.

"She's a fully integrated part of the data cloud now, she can't be separated." Miss Kizlet informed.

"Download the entire cloud then."

"You do realise what would happen, Doctor? So many of them don't have bodies to go to, so they would simply die."

"Better that than being trapped in a living hell, so give the order!" He roared in impatience.

"No."

The Doctor looked at her coldly as she declined his one chance. "Then I'll have to motivate you."

She scoffed. "You ridiculous man. Why did you come here? Whatever for?"

The Doctor's cold face somehow became even colder due to his smile. "I didn't."

Miss Kizlet blinked in confusion. "What?"

"I'm still in the café, finishing my coffee." He paused for a moment before swallowing. "It's utterly remarkable."

"What are you talking about?" She asked in growing fear.

"You hack people. Me on the other hand, I hack technology." As he tosses off his helmet, he says, "Here's your motivation." Then his face turned expressionless before vanishing in blue light while Miss Kizlet's turned into horror.

"No! Not me! Please, not me!" She screamed fruitlessly as she is uploaded unwillingly into the cloud.

The Doctor could hear argued muttering within the office behind the doors as he picked up his motorbike and walked back over to Miss Kizlet's desk. He then took her tablet and hacked Mahler's "Obedience" to full. Then, he placed it wordlessly back down and used the motorbike to return to the café. There, he picked up Clara's slumbering body and took her home.

* * *

"You have no right to be in this office and I'm demanding that you leave at once!" Mahler yelled as soldiers enter, their guns pointed at the workers.

"This building is under U.N.I.T's control!" The leader said.

Hidden in her office, Miss Kizlet pressed a hidden button on her screen to show the face of her client, the late Walter Simeon, bathing her in the familiar blue light. "U.N.I.T are here. Friends of the Doctor, I presume?"

 _"Oh, old friends. Very old friends."_  He nodded.

"Then I appear to have failed you, Great Intelligence." Miss Kizlet said in defeat.

_"I have feasted on many minds, I have grown. But now, it is time for you to reduce."_

"You've been whispering in my ear for so long. I'm not sure I remember what I was before." Miss Kizlet said, her voice trembling as she did.

 _"Goodbye, Miss Kizlet."_  The Great Intelligence said coldly before disappearing. She shook in fear as she pressed a button on her tablet, bringing up a prompt saying "Restore", before she pressed the button. This made all the workers including herself grasp their heads in pain before looking up in confusion.

"I'm sorry. Where am I? What am I doing here?" Alexei asked in fear. "Are you soldiers? What's happening? How did I get here?"

"Excuse me, where are the toilets?" Mahler asked, now in a less dignified British accent.

"The toilets?" Alexei asked incredulously.

"I'm here to fix the toilets, the gents. How long have I been here?"

Four of the soldiers burst into Miss Kizlet's office, pointing their guns at her. "Ma'am, identify yourself!" One of them demanded, as she turns to look at them on the ground in terror.

"Where are my Mummy and Daddy?" She asked with a child's voice. "They said they wouldn't be long. Are they coming back?"

* * *

Clara, now dressed in a dark grey, crepe jacket with a grey blouse, navy blue shorts and black tights, opened the front door of her house, noticing with raised eyebrows that the TARDIS was still there. She then walked over and knocked on the door politely.  _"Come in!"_  The Doctor called as she then entered, spotting him sitting on the Captain's chair with his legs crossed.

"So, he comes back, does he?"

He blinked at her. "What do you mean? I didn't leave. We got back a few minutes ago."

She frowned. "Then how have I been asleep for a bike ride yet the first time I was asleep for hours?"

"Basically, just then you were uploaded and downloaded properly whereas the first time, you were pulled out mid upload. That put more of a stress on your mind, making you sleep more. Like your clothes, by the way." He said with a warm smile.

She blushed lightly. "Thank you."

"Clara, who were those two kids?"

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"You have a picture of you and two teens. Who were they?"

Clara smiled softly. "Angie and Artie. They're good kids, albeit incredibly stubborn." That made the Doctor laugh. "I was going to travel, before becoming a teacher, but as I came to stay at their house for a week…" She trailed off.

"Their mother died." He finished for her. "You felt sorry for them, so you decided to help them as a friend." Clara nodded. ""101 Places to See" yet you didn't go because you don't run out on the people you care about. So, you keep the book for remembrance."

Clara shook her head. "I keep the book, because I'm still going." She said simply as she walked over to the console.

The Doctor stood up out of the chair and moved towards her with a grin. "Clara, did you know that the wonder of a space-time machine is that you can run away for however long you like and still be home in time for tea. So, what do you say? Anywhere, all of time and space right outside those doors."

Clara looked back at the doors before looking towards the Doctor, and a grin quickly shot up onto her face. "Does this work?" She asked.

"What?" The Doctor looked at her incredulously as she giggled and skipped around him gleefully.

"Is this actually what you do? Do you just crock your finger and then people jump in your snog box and fly away?"

"She is not a snog box!" The Doctor said in defence of the TARDIS.

"I'll be the judge of that!" She retorted, crossing her arms, mocking his own favourite stance.

"Starting when?" He said, unconsciously crossing his arms.

Clara squinted one eye, tapped her fingers on her arm for a few moments before she answered. "Come back tomorrow and ask me again."

The Doctor groaned. "Why?"

"Because tomorrow, I might say yes." She then skipped back around and to the doors of the TARDIS. "Is sometime after 7 all right?" She asked.

"It's a time machine. Any time's all right." The Doctor grumbled, making Clara giggle again.

"See you then."

"Wait, Clara!" Clara then stopped, her hand resting on the door handle. "In your book, there was a leaf. Why?"

Clara smiled, now with a nostalgic twinkle in her eyes. "That wasn't a leaf. That was page one." She said softly before opening the door and leaving the ship.

The Doctor blinked repeatedly in confusion before chuckling to himself. "All right then, Clara Oswald. I think it's time to find out who you are." He then moved back around the console, lowered the dematerialization lever, and started to pilot the TARDIS away to his next destination.

**AN: Surprisingly, that was faster than the last two chapters, but it was fun regardless. Anyway, thank you for reading and leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	5. The Rings of Akhaten

**The Rings of Akhaten**

**Blackpool  
** 1981

The Doctor sat in a bus stop, casually reading a copy of "The Lord of the Rings" as he absently watched a man in his early thirties on the opposite side walk, struggling to hold a newspaper in the wind. The man was then hit in the face by a large, red leaf causing him to stumble onto the road. He would've been hit by an oncoming car if not for a brunette woman in her early thirties coming to save his life.

"Oh, my stars! Are you alright?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied as they both exchange a slightly awkward smile.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows at this.  _Hmmm, Clara's parents were both Northern?_

1984

As the Doctor stood underneath a large tree to hide himself from both the midnight rain and from Clara's parents, who were called Dave and Ellie, he watched as they ran through the rain in laughter while they sought shelter, entering a comfortable silence as they did.

"Ellie, I've got something for you." Dave says.

"What?' Ellie asks in confusion.

Dave pulls out of his pocket, the same red leaf from the day he met Ellie.

"You kept it?" She asked with raised eyebrows.

"Of course I kept it." He says with a shrug.

"Why? Do you have a new fondness for leaves?" She quips making them chuckle, and unknown to them, the Doctor.  _So, that's who Clara got her attitude from. Honestly, I'm not surprised._

"Ellie, we all live our lives by our own choices. We decide how to live our lives by ourselves. But if it wasn't for this leaf, and for you being there, you would never have become part of my life." He said gently.

She gazed at him with a soft smile. "You practiced that in the mirror?"

"A bit, yeah." He nodded.

"Come here then. You big softie." She says with a giggle before pulling him into a passionate kiss. The Doctor raised his eyebrows before shrugging and walking away.

1990

The Doctor was walking along a park, whistling to himself in solitude before he suddenly received a soccer ball to the head, causing him to stumble with a small groan.

"Oh, my stars! Are you all right?" Ellie asks as she runs up to him with Dave and a small girl of four years.

"Oh, don't worry. Just a touch embarrassed, that's all." He pauses for a moment. "That's not dangerous, is it?"

"What is?"

"Embarrassment."

"No, not to my knowledge."

He smiled a bit in relief. "Thank god."

"Sorry mate. She just wants to be Bryan Robson." Dave says, pointing to their daughter.

"Oh, no harm done." He kneels in front of the girl with a soft smile. "What's her name?"

"Clara." Ellie says fondly.

That made him beam down at her warmly. "Hello there, Clara."

Clara giggles before pointing to his head. "Your ears look funny."

"Oi!"

"That's rude, missy." Dave admonishes with a chuckle.

"His ears have competition with your nose." Ellie says, carrying Clara's mocking.

"Oi!" Dave says with a grin as they share a laugh.

2005

The Doctor stands behind a tree in silent respect as a now 19-year-old Clara cries silently. In front of her was the graves of Dave and Ellie, which were marked with the death date of "March 5th, 2005". Standing to her left and offering a shoulder in comfort was the same man from the third picture in her house.

"Thank you, Danny." Clara mumbles.

"It's no problem." Danny says softly.

She sniffed and took a deep breath. "How can we move on? How do people move on?"

"Clara, we mourn the people we lost because we love them. But then, we honour their memory. The honour lasts for the rest of your life, not the mourning. We eventually say to ourselves "It's time to honour them, by letting them go in peace."" He plants a kiss on her forehead as they walk away in silence.

The Doctor gives a small smile at Danny's words, knowing too well how many people he's had to let go before returning to the TARDIS, missing Clara looking behind her to see him. He looks on the monitor inside to see the pictures of the Gallifreyan, Victorian and Modern Clara's side by side. "She's just a girl, but she can't be. She is, but she can't be. She's impossible." He says to himself before setting new coordinates.

2013

Clara sat inside her home, now wearing a dark blue shirtdress, black jacket, and tights, holding her "101 Places" book in agitation. She looks up with a contained grin as she hears the TARDIS materialising outside, with the Doctor exiting to walk to her door and ringing the doorbell. She then opens the door with a beaming grin.

"Yes, I made it. Now come along!" The Doctor said impatiently as they rushed inside the TARDIS, before he pilots it into the Vortex.

"So, we're moving through actual time?" Clara looks at him in puzzlement. "So, what's time made of? I mean, if you could just roll through it, it's got to be made of something like jams made of strawberries."

"Well, not strawberries." The Doctor said with a look of disgust. "Just, envision it like it's made of energy. That's the best I can do." He shrugged.

"And we can go anywhere?"

"Backwards in time, forwards in time, space, you name it." The Doctor grinned. "So, where do you want to go? What do you want to see?"

Clara opens her mouth…and blinked. She closed her mouth with a sigh before scrunching her face. "I don't know."

His face falls a bit at that. "Oh, fat lot of good you are."

"Shut up!" Clara admonished. "It's like that moment where someone asks you "What's your favourite book?" and then straight away you just forget every single book you've ever read."

"Well, I've never had that happen to me." He said smugly. "So, just describe something that you want to see."

"Well, I would like to see…what I would like to see…is…something awesome." Her last words she says strongly after muttering to herself.

The Doctor gives a sly grin. "You know what? I know exactly the place." He pilots the TARDIS to his chosen location, landing with a thud before grabbing onto Clara's shoulders. "Now then Clara. Close your eyes."

"Eh?" She asks in confusion.

"What you're going to see needs to be seen in the moment, not as you arrive. Close your eyes." He implores before leading her outside the TARDIS. "Can you feel the light on your eyelids?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"That is the light of an alien sun. Now, are you ready?"

"Not really, no." She admits with a chuckle.

"Fair enough." He shrugged. Clara opens her eyes before gasping in awe. In front of her, miles ahead, was a large burnt orange sun, gleaming with soft light. Orbiting it was two large asteroids, one was completely covered in lit buildings with a large platform in front of it, facing the sun. Rings of dust and rock surrounded the sun with the millions of stars seen in all directions. "Clara Oswald, welcome to "The Rings of Akhaten"." The Doctor says with a smile.

"It's…" She stumbles to find the right words before grinning. "Oh, my stars, it is beautiful!"

"It absolutely is, but that's not all." He says with a gleeful laugh.

"There's more?" Clara asks incredulously.

The barren asteroid began to move slowly away. "In about 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." At this, it passes by to reveal a small asteroid behind it, standing on it was a large, gleaming gold pyramid.

"What is it?" Clara whispers in awe.

"The pyramid of the Rings of Akhaten, the holy site for the Sound Singers of Akhate."

"The who of what?" Her look of awe doesn't fade despite her confusion.

"Blimey, you're slow." He teases.

"Oi! Shush you." She says with a giggle.

"Seven worlds, all orbiting the same star. Each one of them shares the belief that life in the whole universe originated there, from that sun." He carries on with the tale.

"Did it?" She asks curiously.

"Well, it's what they believe. It's a nice story." He says gently.

"Can we see it? Up close?"

The Doctor looks at her, raising his eyebrows in a "Are you kidding me?" look before they both grin and rush back into the TARDIS, piloting it into a storage inside a marketplace. The Doctor grins as Clara looks around in awe and bewilderment at the various species muttering and trading.

"Where are they from?" Clara asks with a giggle.

"Oh, the local system."

"And what do I call them?"

"Well, let's see." The Doctor racks his brain for knowledge. "There's some Pan-Babylonians, a Lugarlirakush, some Eukanians, a Hooloovoo, an Ultramanta." He walks up to a dark-blue alien with goggles and a hood drawn, as they exchange what Clara notes as a silly yet funny greeting. "That fella's a Terraberserker of the Kodonian Belt. You don't see many of them around anymore. You know, I keep forgetting how much I like it here. We should come here more often."

"You've been here before?" Clara quizzes.

"Yeah, about 700 years ago." He ventures off, missing Clara's wide-eyed expression before she hurries to catch up with him. He moves to a food vendor and picks up a casket containing blue fruit in cups. "Exotic fruit of some kind." Both him and Clara have a taste before shaking their heads at each other.

"Nah." They say at the same time before putting the fruit down.

"Doctor, what did you mean by "700 years ago"? How old are you?"

"900." He says bluntly, holding back his grin as Clara's eyes widen again.

"Blimey, you are one old fella." Clara teases.

"Oi!" Clara giggles at him.

"So, why is everyone here?" Clara asks.

""The Festival of Offerings". It takes place every thousand years when the rings align. It's quite a big event here, kind of like Christmas." He then moves towards a stall while Clara gets a jump as an alien starts to bark at her.

"Uh, Doctor?" She asks nervously as he comes over, a smile growing on his face. "Why's it angry?"

"Clara! She, not it. Her names Doreen." He converses with her in barking for a moment before turning back to Clara. "She was just asking if you wanted to rent a moped. It's kind of like a hovering motorbike." Doreen then moves slightly to show it off to her potential customers. Clara barks at her while Doreen gives a small bark with a shrug.

"What'd we say?"

"Basically, you said, "Maybe Later", and she said, "Fair Enough"."

Clara shrugged at that. "How much does everything cost around here?"

"Not money. Something of sentimental value, like a photograph of family or old friends or family heirlooms, that sort of thing. The more treasured they are, the more value they hold."

"That's horrible." She says bitterly.

"Not to them, it isn't. But I do see what you mean." He says sincerely.

"So, you pay then."

"With what?"

"You're 900 years old, you must have something." She turns around to continue marvelling at her surroundings, while behind her, the Doctor briefly pulls out his sonic before scoffing and walking away to converse more. Clara turns around, yet she can't find him amongst the sea of people walking about. "Doctor?" She calls before being bumped into by a small girl, wearing regal clothing and a look of fright. "Hi. You okay?" The girl rushes off without a word before two more people in the same regal clothing walk around into her view, looking straight at her.

"Have you seen her?" The first man asks.

"Who?" She says cautiously.

"The Queen of Years."

"Who?" She now says incredulously. The two men share a look before shaking their heads and walking off in another direction. Clara then turns to follow the girl in the direction she went, walking into an empty, dark storage room. "Hello?" She calls timidly. Walking forward quietly, she hears the footsteps of the girl echoing around her before turning around with a small gasp to see her, the girl also gasping as she nearly runs straight into Clara. "Hey. Are you okay? Are you lost?" The girl then runs off again, Clara following her slowly as the girl tries to find a hiding place before bumping a canister over, making her and Clara shriek. They before look at each other silently before giggling. "You all right?" She asks gently. The girl nods. "What're you doing?"

"Hiding."

"Oh." Clara pauses with a blink. "Why?"

"You don't know me?" The girl asks in puzzlement.

Clara shook her head. "Sorry, nope."

"So, why did you follow me?"

"To help. You looked lost." Clara said obviously.

"I don't believe you."

Clara took a small breath and crossed her arms. "I've got no idea who you might be. I've never been here before. I've never been anywhere like here before. I just saw a little girl who needed help." She said sincerely.

The girl looks at her in relief. "Really? Can you help me?"

"Really. It's why I'm still here. Why do you need help?""

"Because I need to hide."

Clara looks at Merry with a look of knowing. "I know the perfect box." She holds out her hand, which Merry takes as they move towards the door. Heading outside into the market, Clara leads Merry through the crowds of people as they reach a small, hidden corner where the TARDIS was located.

"What's this?" Merry asks in bewilderment.

"It's…uh…a space-ship thingy." Clara mutters.

"It's teeny."

"Ha. You wait." Clara said before moving to open the door. However, it wouldn't open, no matter how much she rattled it. Clara looks at it in confusion before she hears a small beeping.

 _*Beeps*_  (Sorry, you need a key)

"Please." She whispers imploringly.

 _*Beeps*_  (You don't need me. Just talk to her and the rest will be easy)

Clara looks to her side to see Merry moving behind the TARDIS, so she follows, and they sit down against it. "So then, what's your name?" Clara asks.

"Merry. Merry Galel."

"Clara Oswald." They shake their hands with a giggle. "So, what's happening? Is someone trying to hurt you?"

"No. I'm just scared." Merry whispers.

"Of what?"

"Getting it wrong."

"Okay, can you pretend that I'm completely idiotic and explain?"

"I'm the Queen of Years. They choose me when I was a baby, the day the last Queen died. I'm the vessel of our history. I know every chronicle, legend, poem and song."

"Every single one?" Clara asks in surprise. Merry nods. "Blimey, I hated history." Clara mutters with a smirk.

"Now I have to sing in front of everyone. A special song, I must sing to a god. And I'm really scared."

Clara gives a soft smile. "Everyone is scared when they're little. I used to be terrified of getting lost, I'd have nightmares about it. Blackpool Beach, bank holiday Monday, I was six, my worst nightmare came true."

"What happened?"

"My world ended, my heart broke and then my Mum found me." Merry gives a beaming smile at this. "We had fish and chips then she drove me home, tucked me in bed and told me a story. "It doesn't matter where you are, in the jungle or the desert or on the moon. However lost you might feel, you'll never really be lost. Because I will always be here, and I will always come and find you. Every single time."" Clara looks down in sadness at the memory.

"And you were never scared again?"

"I was scared lots of times, but never of being lost. So, this special song, what are you scared of?"

"Getting it wrong, making Grandfather angry."

"And do you think you'll get it wrong? Because I don't. I don't think you'll get it wrong. I think that you, Merry Galel, will get it right." Merry gives a small laugh and leaps into Clara's arms, making her gasp in surprise before hugging her back. Clara then leads her back into the market to find the same two men who were trying to find her. One of them kneels in front of her.

"Are you all right?" He asks sincerely.

"Yeah, I was just scared."

"Are you scared anymore?"

"No." They both smile before he leads her away, Merry looking back at Clara with a grateful look. Clara nearly jumps as the Doctor pops up behind her with a stupid grin on his face.

"What?" Clara asks.

"Clara Oswald is a nanny. Who knew." He teases.

"Oi!" They both chuckle before moving away. "Where are we off to now?"

"The ceremony." They head down a path to emerge in a massive stadium, full of hundreds of people with Merry standing on a platform on the edge, looking over the nearby pyramid. They quickly move to take a seat, a neighbouring alien hissing at them. "Sorry." Merry turns to look at Clara who nods at her, so she turns back and begins to sing with a man in the pyramid.

_O God of Akhaten_

_Sleep, My precious king_

_Lay down, My warrior_

_Rest now, My hero_

_Akhaten_

_Lay down, My king_

_Sleep now eternal_

_Sleep, My precious king_

The Doctor is handed a pamphlet from a neighbouring alien, which he glances at before leaning into Clara, both not taking their eyes off Merry. "They're singing to the mummy in the temple. They call him "The Old God" or "Grandfather"."

"What are they singing?" Clara whispers back, watching with a smile.

""The Long Song". A lullaby without end, to feed the Old God, to keep him asleep. It's been going for millions of years, Chorister handing down to Chorister, generation after generation."

Clara watches with raised eyebrows as the crowd around her holds out their hands, loosening their grasp on the items they're holding, which turn into a golden light that flies towards the pyramid. "What're they doing?"

"Giving offerings. Gifts of value, mementos to feed Grandfather."

As all the light vanishes into the pyramid, the crowd begins to sing along with Merry and the Chorister.

_Lay down, My warrior_

_Lay down, My king_

_Sleep now, My precious lord_

_Sleep now eternal_

_Rest now your heart_

The crowd stopped singing however as the ground began to rumble in agitation beneath their feet, making Merry look around in confusion and fear. Then a light began to shine from the tip of the pyramid, engulfing Merry in a golden field as it begins to levitate her off the ground.

"Doctor, what's happening? Is that meant to happen?" Clara asked with worry. She looked around to see everyone not moving yet being afraid. "Is somebody going to help her?" The Doctor then got up without a word and proceeded to walk away, Clara rushing after him as they went through the now empty market. "Why are we walking away? We can't just walk away. This is my fault, I talked her into doing this."

The Doctor turned back to look at her with a stern expression. "There is just one thing you need to know about travelling with me: We don't walk away." Clara watched with wide eyes as he walked over to Doreen, briefly conversing with her before turning back to Clara. "We need something precious."

"Well, you must have something. All the places you've seen, there must be something."

The Doctor pulled out his sonic. "This, but I can't give it away, it always comes in handy."

"You're 900 years old and that's it? Your probe?"

"Screwdriver!"

Clara raises her eyebrows at him, like how he did to her when they arrived. Then she gives a sigh before taking off a small, diamond ring on her right hand and handing it to Doreen. "It's my Mum's." Doreen nods before allowing them the moped. The Doctor puts a comforting hand on her shoulder before kissing her forehead as they mount it, driving back towards the platform to see Merry flying towards the pyramid. Merry reaches her hand out as she struggles about in the air. Clara reaches her hand out and grasps onto her hand. "Merry! Hold on!" Clara yells. Clara starts to pull Merry towards the moped but an unseen force yanks Merry away, pulling her away from the TARDIS duo and through the pyramid entrance as it closes behind her. "Brakes! Brakes!" The Doctor yanks the brakes as the moped skids to a sudden halt and they stumble onto the ground before the door. The Doctor then stands up from the ground, giving a loud groan as he does before he helps Clara up.

"Sorry about the rough landing." He says as he pulls out his sonic and uses it on the door.

"Could've used a warning." Clara grumbles. "Can you open it?"

"Let's see. It's a frequency-modulated acoustic lock that changes ten million times a second. Not really, no." The Doctor then gives a grin. "Let's try it out anyway."

"How can they just sit there and watch?" Clara asks as she looks back at the crowd of people while the Doctor works.

"This is sacred ground."

"She's a child!"

"And he's a God. Well, to them at least."

A loud scream is heard from Merry inside, making Clara scramble to the door in worry. "Merry! Merry, hold on! We're coming! Doctor hurry up!"

"Give us a second!" After a moment, a loud clicking noise was heard within the door. "Aha! I've got it!" He yells with excitement as he uses the sonic to open the door, albeit struggling under the immense weight. They both see Merry, who looks at them in relieved surprise. Inside the large, stone room was the Chorister, mumbling a song to a corpse in robes inside a glass case. "Hello! I'm the Doctor! You've already met Clara! Are you coming?!" Merry stutters to find an answer, making the Doctor groan. "Any day now! This door is immensely heavy!"

"You'll wake Grandfather!" Merry yells in anxious worry.

"Clara, do you mind?!" The Doctor yells as the door jolts back down a few inches, making them gasp in fright as Clara rushes inside.

"Merry, we need to leave."

"No! You must leave, he will kill you when he awakens!"

"Well, you see Merry…" Clara walks up to the glass case to observe the corpse. "I don't think he looks big enough."

"Not our bodies, our souls." Merry said, making Clara look confused. "He doesn't want you, he wants me. But if you don't leave, he'll eat you both."

"Yes, and you don't want that, do you?!" The Doctor exclaims as his grip on the door begins to loosen. "You just want us to walk out of this bloody door, and never come back?!"

"Yes."

"Too bad, then." He says with a grin before rolling inside as the door slams shut behind him. He stands up to pocket his sonic again before popping his back with a groan, missing Clara's accusing glare.

"Did you just lock us in?"

"Yep."

"With the soul eating monster?"

"Yep."

"And is there a way to get out?"

"Before he eats us? Hopefully."

"Doctor, why is he still singing?" Clara asks with a nod towards the kneeling Chorister.

"He's trying to sing the Old God back to sleep, but it won't work. He's waking up, mate. He's coming, ready or not." The Doctor says, his words making the Chorister stop singing. "That's it, then? The song is over?"

"The song is over." The Chorister confirms as he stands up. "My name is Chorister Asbethix and the Long Song ended with me." On this, he pulls back his sleeve to show a golden bracelet with a button that he presses, teleporting him out with a flash.

"Rude! Couldn't have taken us with him!" The Doctor admonishes before they all turn around to look at the corpse as it gives a gasp for breath. "Oh, hello there!" He says with a grin.

"He's awake!" Merry yells.

"What's he doing?" Clara asks as they watch the corpse struggle to get out of his seat.

"Having a stretch. He's probably been asleep for a long while, he's lucky he woke up on the right side of bed."

"Why is he up now?"

"Because it's his time to wake up and feed. Feed on Merry's stories."

"She said souls, not stories!" Clara admonishes.

"They're the same thing, Mrs. Grumpy. Souls are made of stories of everything that happened in our lives, people we loved or lost or found again against all the odds." This last bit he says with a look at Clara. "Old fella threatens to awake, so the people offer him a pure soul, the Queen of Years."

"Stop it, you're scaring her." Clara admonishes as Merry gulps.

"She should be scared, Clara. She's sacrificing herself, so she should know why. Do you know why, Merry?"

"A god chose me."

"It's not a god. It'll feed on your soul but that doesn't make it a god, it's just a vampire and you don't need to do as it says." Merry keeps glancing towards the corpse in fear, giving the Doctor an idea. "Hey, why don't I tell you a story?" He then kneels in front of her. "All the elements in your body were forged millions of years ago, in the heart of a faraway star that exploded and died. That explosion scattered those elements across the desolations of space until after many, many years they came together to form new stars, planets, moons, civilizations until finally, they made you. You, Merry Galel, are unique in the universe. There is only one you, and there will never be another." He looked back at Clara to see her smiling fondly at him. "Getting rid of your life isn't a sacrifice, it's a waste." These words he says coldly towards the corpse.

"So, if I don't, then everyone else- "

"Will be fine."

"How?"

"We'll find a way." He reassures her.

"You promise?"

"Cross my hearts." He takes her hand as Clara comes to hold her other hand. He leads them back towards the door before pulling out his sonic. "Alright, let's try this again." They jump in fright as they hear the glass of the case cracking, looking back to see the corpse clenching its hand into a fist to smash against the glass while the ground beneath them begins to rumble. "Yes, we know, old fella! You're about to open your presents!" He taunts with a laugh as the door opens again, Clara and Merry rushing out before he closes it behind them. They stop to hear the glass smashing before a loud roar is heard, followed by total silence.

"What just happened?" Clara asked.

They heard a loud rumbling sound like earth moving against itself, making the Doctor's eyes widen as he put the pieces together. "I just made a massive mistake." The Doctor says nervously.

"What mistake?" Clara asks with concern.

"Old fella wasn't Grandfather, it was his alarm clock."

"Who's Grandfather, then?" Clara asks. Her question didn't need the answer as the rumbling intensified, making them look up at the star in terror, as a shadow of eyes and a toothless, evil grin appear, making the Doctor gulp. "Oh, my stars." She mumbles. "What do we do?"

"Against that? I don't know." He said shakily.

"But you promised." Merry protested. "He'll eat us all. He'll consume all seven worlds, then he'll embark on a new odyssey amongst the stars."

"I say leg it." Clara quips lightly.

The Doctor chuckles. "But, where exactly?"

"I don't know. Lake District?"

"Oh, I love the Lake District. They do great scones, especially in 1927." They fall back into silence as they stare up at the star.

"You're going to fight it, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"It's really big."

"I've seen bigger."

Her eyes widen even more. "Seriously?!"

He scoffed. "Are you joking?! It's massive!"

"I'm staying with you, then."

"No, you won't."

She clenches her jaw. ""We don't walk away". That's what you said, or doesn't that not apply to you?"

The Doctor looks at her in sadness. "Not with me. It applies to everyone else. You, Clara Oswald, are holding onto something precious, so you run. You run as fast as you can until they are safe."

"What happens if you don't come back?" Clara asks bitterly.

"Never worry about me, Clara. Now, take the moped. I'll walk." He said gently. Clara begrudgingly helps Merry onto the moped before speeding them off back to stadium, while the Doctor steps out into full view of the star. "Any ideas, Doctor? Nope, didn't think so." He mutters to himself.

* * *

Clara and Merry stare back at the pyramid with worry as the people behind them watch with confusion and fear.

"Is he frightened?" Merry asks.

"I think he is." Clara nodded.

"I want to help."

"So do I."

Merry then thinks deeply before stepping onto the centre platform and starts to sing.

_Rest now, My warrior_

_Rest now_

_Your hardship is over_

The Doctor hears Merry singing, making him smile before looking back at the star. "Okay then. That's what I'll do. I will tell you a story."

Clara looks on with a look of wonder as the people start to sing along with Merry.

_Live_

_Wake up, Wake up_

_And let the cloak_

_Of life_

_Cling to your bones_

"Can you hear them? All those people who've lived in terror of you and your judgment. All those people whose ancestors have devoted themselves, sacrificed themselves to you, can you hear them singing? I'm sure you think of yourself as a god, but you're not a god. You're just a parasite eating out with jealousy and envy and longing for the lives of others. You feed on them. On their memories of love and loss and birth and death and joy and sorrow so... so… come on then. Take mine. Take my memories." The star opens the shadow of its mouth, sending steams of fiery light that latch onto the Doctor's chest making him stumble with a groan. "I hope you've got a big appetite, because I have lived a very long life and I have seen many things. I walked away from The Last Great Time War and marked the passing of the Time Lords. I saw the birth of the universe and I watched as time ran out, moment by moment until nothing remained. No time, no space, just me! I've walked in universes where the laws of physics were devised by the mind of a madman! I have watched universes freeze and creations burn! I have seen things you wouldn't believe! I have lost things you will never understand! And I know things, secrets that must never be told, knowledge that must never be spoken! Knowledge that will make parasite gods blaze! So, come on then! Take it! Take it all baby! Have it! You have it all!" He gives a loud scream as the star drains the energy out of him, making him fall to his knees in pain as he gasps for breath while the singing in the stadium ends. He then looks up to see the star give a silent roar of pain before it closes its eyes in a swallow action, then it opens them again with an evil grin.

Clara looks up at the star with a smile as it rumbles in pain but the smile fades as the grin returns, making her rack her brain in worried contemplation. After a moment, she produces an idea and gains a look of determination before rushing towards the moped and speeding back towards the pyramid, then running towards the Doctor's side and pulling out her "101 Places to See". "Still hungry? Well, I've brought something for you." She pulls the leaf out of the book. "This leaf is full of stories. It's full of history and full of many futures that never got lived. Days that should've been but never were, passed onto me." Tears start to prickle her eyes, but she ignores them, holding out the leaf for the star. "This leaf isn't just the past, it's whole future's that never happened. There are billions upon billions of unlived days for every day we live, an infinity. All the days that never came. And these are my Mum's and my Dad's." The star sends its tendrils towards the leaf and begins consuming it.

"Well, come on then! Eat up!" The Doctor called tauntingly. The star gives a silent roar of pain, making the Doctor's smug smile grow into a grin. "Are you full already? I expected so, because there's quite a difference between what was and what should've been. There's an awful lot of one but there's an infinity of the other." The star's pain increases as it starts to collapse within itself. "And infinity is too much, even for you." He says coldly as the star collapses into nothing. Both him and Clara look at each other in silence before he envelops her in a hug. "Show off." He whispers.

"You're one to talk." She teases.

"Oi." They chuckle as he leads her back to the moped.

* * *

"Well then, you're back home." The Doctor said as the TARDIS landed outside her house, mere minutes after she left.

"It looks different." She said as she stared at it distantly.

"It's not different, Clara. You're just seeing everything in a new light."

Clara looks him with an unreadable expression. "You were there. At my Mum and Dad's grave, you were watching. What were you doing there?"

The Doctor goes solemn. "I was…making sure."

"Of what?"

"You remind me of someone."

"Who?"

"Someone who died."

Clara gains a dark offended look, making him shiver slightly. "Well, whoever she was, I'm not her, okay? If you want me to travel with you, that's fine, but as me. I'm not standing in for someone else, I'm not going to compete with a ghost." She admonishes bluntly.

"No, you won't be." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out her mother's ring. "They wanted you to have it."

"Who did?" Clara asked, her expression now much softer.

"Everyone. All the people you saved, including me. Thank you, Clara." He says with a fond smile. Clara then kisses the ring fondly before turning to leave, giving him a soft smile as she does. The Doctor stared after her before smiling softly. "Until the next time, Clara." He then closes the door to pilot the TARDIS away.

**AN: Thank you for reading and leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	6. Cold War

**1983, North Pole**

Russian soldiers are rushing about frantically in the Bridge, as red lights are flaring brightly. The captain with a tag bearing the name "Zhukov" and an officer with the name "Stepashin", both enter the room.

"Signal is genuine! I repeat, signal is genuine!" One of the soldier's yells into an intercom.

"Moscow confirming launch sequence!" Another soldier yells.

"Prepare to launch nuclear weapons!" Zhukov orders.

"Aye sir!" The crew says in unison.

The captain and his officer move towards the console before inserting their keys to the red light, arming the missiles. He then places his hand over the launch button. "The Firebird stands ready to serve." Zhukov says.

"For the Motherland." Stepashin prays.

"For the Motherland." Zhukov repeats. As he is about to press the button, the door opens with an old man entering the room singing to himself with his Walkman. The soldiers all give a groan in unison as they turn to look at the man who hasn't noticed the new attention.

" _This means nothing to me! This means nothing to me! Oh, Vienna!"_  He then glances up, before sheepishly turning off the Walkman and gulping guiltily. "Have I interrupted something?"

"We were about to blow up the world, Professor Grisenko." He says with blunt amusement.

"Again?" Grisenko says incredulously with a sigh, shaking his head.

"What are you singing?" Zhukov says in confusion.

"Ultravox, I bloody love them! Got a friend who sends me the tapes." He says with a smile.

Zhukov shakes his head before turning to the main intercom of the ship. "This is the captain. Drill abandoned, all hands stand down. I repeat, drill abandoned."

"With respect, sir, we must run it again." Stepashin says.

"Tomorrow." Zhukov says sternly.

"Comrade Captain, the NATO exercises- "

"Sabre rattling."

" _*Scoffs*_ I don't think so."

"Oh, you don't think so?"

"Sir, American aggression gets more intolerable by the day. We must run the drill again."

"Tomorrow." Stepashin clenches his jaw before walking off to check on the men without a word. "Professor, did you get your specimen stored okay?"

"Yeah, Piotr's looking after him." He nods.

"Well, at least we have something to show for our little hunting expedition. What is it? A mammoth?"

Grisenko blinks. "Probably."

The Professor walks away, leaving Zhukov alone on the bridge with his men and Stepashin.

"Stepashin. I know how you feel- "

"We must run the drill again, Captain."

"You can't put the blame on the Americans alone."

Stepashin turns to Zhukov with his jaw clenched. "Who else am I going to blame for Irina's death? She was only 6 and she will never get to live her life how she wants. Everything she could've been, she will never be."

"Remember Stepashin, we all have lost someone to this war. It is every bit the American's fault as it is ours."

Stepashin takes a deep breath. "Yes sir." He mumbles. The alarm for integrity suddenly goes off, startling the men.

"Gangway! Alarm! Alarm!" One of the soldier's yells. The ship is then rocked violently, causing it to plummet deep into the sea, while spilling gallons of water into the ship, soaking the crew with an ice-cold chill.

"Onegin, Report!" Zhukov orders.

"Hull breached! Port side!" Onegin yells.

"Evasive manoeuvres!"

"Descending 200 meters!"

"Bring her up! Bring her up!"

"It's no good, sir!"

On this, to the crew's astonishment, the TARDIS materializes in the middle of the room. The door opens to show the Doctor wearing shades, Clara behind him in a silver-blue dress.

"Viva Las Vegas!" The Doctor yells before being throttled forward by the sinking submarine.

"Stranger on the bridge!"

"Who the hell are you?!" Zhukov orders.

"Not Vegas then?!" Clara asks.

"No, a sinking, Russian submarine!" The Doctor yells with glee.

"Bring out sidearms! Restrain them!" Stepashin orders.

"410! 420! Turbine still not responding!"

"They've got to!" Zhukov denies.

"Sideways momentum! You've still got sideways momentum!" The Doctor says.

"What?!"

"Your propellers work independently of the main turbines! You can't stop her going down, but you can manoeuvre her laterally! Do it!"

"Get these people off the bridge now!" Stepashin asks.

"Ughh! Just listen to him, for god's sake!" Clara yells in irritation.

"We have one shot to stop the descent or this sub will implode, Captain!"

"600 meters, sir! 610!"

"Lateral thrust to starboard, all propellers!" Zhukov orders.

"Sir?! You're going to let this madman give the orders?!" Stepashin asks.

"Just do it! Now!" Zhukov roars, making the men hurry about frantically.

"660! 680!" The submarine violently shudders, making many lose their balance as the sub stabilizes. "Descent arrested at 700 meters."

"It seems, whoever you are, we owe you our lives." Zhukov says gratefully.

"Not a problem." The Doctor says with a smile.

"Search them." Stepashin orders. Clara looks at her arrangement with a bit of confusion and fright. "Yes, I know, it's a woman. Now search them." Some of the men then grab both the Doctor and Clara by their arms to place their backs by a pole, before searching them, but specifically the Doctor.

"Are we going to be okay?" Clara asks with a shuddery voice from the adrenaline.

"Yep."

"Is that a lie?"

"Yep."

"When are we?"

The Doctor smiles at her choice of question. "Cold War, 1983. It's a bit of a dangerous time, East and West standing on the brink of nuclear annihilation. Both sides have got trigger fingers that are getting itchy."

"When are they not?" Clara asks amusingly, making the Doctor laugh.

"Good point. This also happens to be the 80s. Hair, shoulder pads, nukes, you name it, they make it bigger."

"You don't need bigger hair; your nose and ears cover that." Clara says cheekily.

"Oi!" The Doctor looks at one of the men in front of him, as he finishes emptying the Doctor's surprisingly empty pockets to find only his sonic screwdriver. "Take care of that, it's quite the handy device." Outside, one of the rocks from the sea bed fall on the sub, making it shudder and Clara stumbles to the ground, banging her head on a console, rendering her unconscious. By them, the TARDIS starts to dematerialize. "No! No, Clara!" The Doctor rips past the soldiers to pick Clara up from the waist, as he looks behind at the fading TARDIS. "Clara? Clara?!"

One of the soldiers puts his finger on her neck while checking her head. "Just unconscious but will wake up with a bruise and a pounding head."

The Doctor nods in thanks before taking off his jacket and wrapping it around Clara.

"Stepashin, get the crew down below. We need to start repairs on the ship and find out what started it." Zhukov orders.

"Yes sir." Stepashin says.

"Bring the man and the girl and be sure the girl remains well." Zhukov adds to his crew.

"Yes sir." They say in unison before following the orders.

* * *

Clara shakes the drowsiness from her head as she awakens from her forced sleep. Opening her eyes, she finds herself with the crew in a long corridor, bathed in blue light, with Grisenko kneeling before her.

"Are you alright, my dear?" He asks.

"What happened?" Clara nods in a weary voice.

"Ship was rocked rather violently, and you banged your head. Don't worry, it's just a bruise. You'll be fine."

"Where's the Doctor?" She asks immediately.

"Who? Do you mean your friend?"

"Yes."

"Well…" He looks to his right down the damp corridor, showing her the Doctor and Zhukov conversing in irritated manners.

"Captain, we didn't attack your ship! Now if we can get the pump working, we can get her afloat!"

"We will last till the rescue ship comes, now answer the question. Who are you?!" Zhukov draws his gun on the Doctor.

"Alright, fine. I'm the Doctor, my friend's Clara, we're time travellers. We were going to Las Vegas, but we ended up here. Clara are you okay?" He asks, noticing Clara getting up.

"Think so." Clara says with fear in her voice for her friend's life.

"Time travellers?!" Zhukov says incredulously.

"We arrived out of thin air, you saw it!"

"I didn't." Grisenko points out.

"You're problem, not mine!"

"We were sinking?" Clara confirms.

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"We sank."

"No, the TARDIS, what happened?"

"Worry about that later. Listen, Captain, breath's precious down here. We've figured out the damage, we just need to figure out the source and fix it as soon as possible."

"Or we could save more air by having you both shot!"

"It doesn't matter how we arrive, the important matter at hand is that we need to-" Clara stops as she and the crew along with Zhukov notice a large silhouette standing behind the Doctor, hissing in a manner like a dragon.

"Thank you, Clara. That should be our main priority. Finally, some sense."

"Doctor!"

"What?!" The Doctor then pauses in fear as he feels damp breath on the back of his neck, making him shudder. "There's something standing behind me, isn't there?" Everyone nods at him in unison, so he slowly turns around to see it. The figure is a large, green shell suit, with the helmet covering a dark, scaled mouth with sharp teeth that is hissing in rhythm, like breathing. "Oh." He says simply.

"We were drilling in the ice. I thought we found a mammoth." Grisenko states.

"It's not a mammoth." The Doctor shakes his head slightly.

"What is…he?" Clara asks.

"He is an Ice Warrior. Native of the planet Mars. We go way back."

"Martian? You can't be serious." Zhukov says incredulously.

"I'm always serious, with days off." He says with a chuckle.

"Doctor." Clara warns.

"Trying to keep it light, Clara. They're scared."

"So am I, Doctor."

The Ice Warrior's gaze turns upon Zhukov and his lowered weapon, making him raise his arm, which extends out a gun with an electronic hissing sound in preparation.

"No, wait! There is no need for this!" The Doctor says as Zhukov straightens before putting his gun away. "Please, just hear me out. Okay, you're confused and disorientated. Of course, you've been lying dormant for…how long professor?"

"By my reckoning, 5000 years."

"Five thousand years? That's a bloody long nap, can't blame you if you woke up a bit cranky. Look, nobody here wants to hurt you. Please, why don't you tell us your name?"

"What are you talking about, name? It has a name?!" Zhukov says incredulously.

"He, Captain! Of course, he has a name and a rank. He's a soldier so he deserves our respect."

"This is madness. That is a monster!"

"Skaldak." The deep, commanding voice of the Ice Warrior silenced everyone, sending chills down their spines. The Doctor felt the same sensation, but not because of his voice.

"I'm sorry?" The Doctor asked, his voice trembling with fear.

"I am Grand Marshall Skaldak."

The Doctor then closed his eyes and gulped. "Oh no." He mumbled.

"Is it true?" Skaldak asked.

"What is?"

"Five thousand years? I have slept for five thousand years?!" Skaldak now armed his weapon with a loud noise.

"No, wait, please- "

Skaldak then immediately shudders violently from a bolt of electricity, causing him to collapse, showing Stepashin behind him with a cattle prodder.

"You. Stupid. Ape!" The Doctor roared.

"He was going to kill you!" Stepashin argued.

"He was afraid, not angry!" Stepashin then silenced himself. "Grand Marshall Skaldak."

"You…know him?" Clara asked tentatively.

"Sovereign of the Tharsyssian Caste. Vanquisher of the Phobos Heresy. He is the greatest hero the proud Martian race has ever produced."

Zhukov gulp. "So, what do we do now?"

"Lock. Him. Up!"

* * *

Skaldak growled as he struggled against the chains tightly wrapped around his suit before the few crew members hastily leave the room, locking the door from the outside. Alone, he looks down in silence.

"Five thousand years." He says in bitter sadness. "They would all be dust now. Iclar would be dust." He then turns on his distress beacon inside his suit, which emits a very faint noise that could barely be heard. "If you are still out there, my brothers, find me." He says pleadingly in the hope that he isn't alone.

* * *

The Doctor and Clara now stood before Zhukov and Stepashin in a small room, Grisenko sat on the side, listening to his Walkman.

"The Ice Warriors have a different creed, Clara, a different code. By his own standards, Skaldak is a hero and it was said his enemies honoured him so much, they'd carve his name into their own flesh before they died." The Doctor said.

"Oh yeah. Very nice, he sounds lovely." Clara said in fearful sarcasm.

"An Ice Warrior? Explain." Zhukov said calmly.

"There isn't time." The Doctor said impatiently.

"Try me."

"Martian reptile, known as the Ice Warrior. When Mars turned cold, they had to adapt. Their biomechanoids, cyborgs, built themselves survival armour so they could exist in the freezing cold of their home world. But a sudden increase in temperature and the armour goes haywire."

"Like with the cattle prod?" Clara deducted.

"Like with the cattle prod." He confirmed. "It's a design flaw that I've always wondered why they've never bothered to fix it. Oh look, Captain, you've got me talking about them and I said there wasn't time!" He reprimanded.

"Is he that dangerous?" Clara asked bluntly. This made everyone look at the Doctor, almost trembling for his answer.

"Yes. Yes, he is." This answer made everyone's trembling sensation turn into a cold shiver.

Stepashin shook his head before turning to Zhukov. "Why are we listening to this nonsense, Captain? These people are clearly enemy spies."

" _*Scoffs*_ Pretty bad spies, mate. We don't even speak Russian." Clara said almost smugly.

Stepashin turned to look at her in bewilderment. "What?"

"I don't..." Clara leaned towards the Doctor. "Am I speaking Russian? How can I speak Russian?" She whispered.

"Now? We have to do this now?" The Doctor asked imploringly.

"Are they speaking Russian?"

"Seriously, now?"

"Well, yeah. Are they Russians?"

The Doctor blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"Are they Russians?"

"Yes, they're Russians."

"Are we speaking Russian?"

"No, it's the TARDIS translation matrix."

"The what of the what?"

"Ugh, come on you slow poke."

"Oi, I heard that."

"You were meant to." They both pause as they look at each before turning to see Zhukov, Stepashin and Grisenko's eyebrows all furrowed at them. "Oh." They said in unison, making them gain a sheepish blush. "Sorry, we didn't…I mean- "They stop talking with a cough before staring at anything that wasn't each other.

Stepashin shakes his head before turning to Zhukov. "In my opinion, comrade Captain, this creature is a western weapon."

"A weapon?" Zhukov questions.

"Survival suit. What is the alternative? The little green man from Mars?"

"Correction. It's a big green man from Mars." Grisenko interjects making everyone chuckle and Stepashin roll his eyes.

"I don't appreciate your levity, Professor."

"Why does that not surprise me? Maybe, when they're not acting like children," he adds teasingly making the Doctor and Clara blush a bit more, "They're telling the truth."

"The truth?"

"Yes, it's a revolutionary concept."

"Captain, it's essential that we inform Moscow of what we have found."

"The radio is out of action in case you haven't noticed, Stepashin." Zhukov stated.

"They have our last position. They will find us. When they do…" The last words Stepashin mumbles to himself but Zhukov hears.

"Yes?"

"Well, the Cold War won't stay cold forever, Captain."

"For god's sake, Stepashin, you're like a broken record. "Zhukov states, his tone now getting impatient. "We have other priorities right now. I want you back on repairs immediately, we need to keep this ship alive. Dismissed."

"Sir?"

Zhukov stands up with his jaw clenched. "Dismissed, Stepashin."

Stepashin glares at Zhukov before moving from the room, nearly bumping Clara on the shoulder as he does. The Doctor then moves to stand in front of Zhukov, back straightened as he does.

"All we needed to do was let Skaldak go and he would've forgotten us. But you attacked him, you declared war. 'Harm one of us and you harm us all.' It's the ancient Martian code. Do you hear that?" Faintly coming out of Grisenko's Walkman was a faint noise that sounded like a distorted Morse code. "Skaldak has sent out a distress call. He will rain down the fires of hell for laying a glove on him."

"Unless you talked to it?" Zhukov finished.

"Yes."

"Out of the question. We're not losing you, I'll do it."

"Sorry?"

"You can talk to it through me, Doctor."

"Skaldak won't talk to you, you're an enemy soldier."

"And how would he know?"

"A soldier knows another soldier. He would smell it on you from a mile off."

"And he wouldn't smell it on you, Doctor?"

The Doctor's eyes hardened slightly at that. "Just let me in there before it's too late. It can't be you or any of your men."

"Well, it can't be you."

Clara clears her throat, making them both turn to look at her. "Well, there really is only one choice, isn't there?"

"No, Clara, it can't be you." The Doctor protested.

"If I don't talk to him, we will all die anyway."

"And you're betting your own life on a risk?"

"To save you, yes." She looked at him sadly. "For once, Doctor, just do as you're told."

The Doctor looked down for a moment before begrudgingly nodding.

* * *

Clara opened the door to enter the dark room containing Skaldak, wearing a pair of headphones on her head. She picked up a lamp to turn it on before smiling at the camera.

"With your permission?" She heard the Doctor say over the mic.

"Be my guest." Zhukov stated.

"Ready, Clara?"

Clara took a gulp in fear at Skaldak rhythmic hissing. "Not entirely."

"I don't blame you. Now remember, like we rehearsed."

"Grand Marshall Skaldak." His hissing quietened, almost in politeness, allowing her to bump her fist to her chest, which he acknowledged with a clicking noise. "Sovereign of the Tharsyssian Caste, by the moons I honour thee. Grand Marshall, we're sorry about this, it's not what you deserve." The lights turned off in the room, including her lamp, casting her back into complete darkness. "Oh, oh great." She said, holding back her newfound terror.

"It's okay, Clara, you're doing fine."

She then pulled a torch out of the Doctor's jacket and turned it on to shine it on Skaldak. "You're a long way from home, and five thousand years adrift in time. Please, let us help you, we are not your enemy and you are not ours."

"And yet I am in chains." Skaldak hissed.

Clara paused at those words, unable to come up with an answer. "Doctor, what do I say?" She whispered, yet Skaldak heard.

"Yes, Doctor, what should she say?"

"I think he wants to speak to the organ grinder, not to the monkey." Grisenko muttered in amusement.

"Oi, I heard that." Clara poked back.

"You are restrained until we can trust each other, Skaldak, you would do the same in my position and don't even think about using that sonic weapon. Not in the torpedo room."

"I was fleet commander of the Nix Tharsyss. My daughter stood by me. It was her first taste of action. We sang the songs of the old times, of the red snows." Skaldak's tone now shifts from mourning to bitter. "Five thousand years. Now my daughter would be dust. Everyone I knew would be dust. My people would be dust."

"No, no, no, listen. Your people live on, Skaldak, scattered across the universe and Mars will rise again, I promise you. Just let me help you."

"I require no help. There will be no help."

Clara moved closer to Skaldak.  _Why isn't he moving when he speaks?_

"Careful, Clara, don't get too close."

"I'm okay." Clara reassured. "Doctor, something's wrong."

"What?"

Clara reached up and pushed off Skaldak's helmet, only to jump back in shock as she found nothing underneath. The suit then opened to confirm her fear.

"He's not there, he's gone!"

"Gone?! What do you mean?!"

"He's got out!"

"It is time I learnt the measure of my enemies and what this vessel is capable of." Skaldak's voice echoed throughout the room, making it hard for Clara to determine his location in the dark. "Harm one of us and you harm us all. By the moons, this I swear!"

"Clara, get out of there!"

Clara spun around, squinting her eyes as she tried to find Skaldak before speeding back to the door and struggling to get it open. Once she does she jumps back as she feels something rush past her and out of sight.

"Clara!" She turns around to see the Doctor rush towards her and pull her into a hug, behind him is Zhukov and Grisenko.

"I'm okay, I'm okay." Clara mumbled to him. "Was I okay?"

"You were Fantastic." The Doctor said sincerely.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Doctor. The signal, it's stopped." Grisenko says.

The Doctor swallows. "Skaldak has received no answer from his brothers. Now he's given up hope."

"Hope of?" Zhukov asks despite knowing the answer.

"Being rescued. Now he thinks he's alone in the universe." The Doctor didn't need the spell out the similarity there for himself. "He's got nothing left to lose."

"What can he do, stuck down here with the rest of us?"

"What can he do?" The Doctor said incredulously. "Zhukov, this sub is filled to the brim with nuclear missiles, it's obvious what he will do when he finds that out. It couldn't get any worse." On this note, the sub throttled around as another rock from the sea struck it, sending them stumbling to find a grip. The Doctor didn't need to look at Clara to know she had her eyebrows raised at him. "I know, Clara. I spoke too soon." He admitted with a sigh.

"We need to get back to the bridge and regroup with the men." Zhukov stated, making everyone move quickly and without a word.

* * *

Stepashin is alone in a small room, performing repairs while wiping the water from his eyes as he tried to focus. The lights flicker as the door opens, making him turn to look yet unable to see who entered. He pulls out his gun, his hand trembling as he does.

"Hello? Who's there?" He asks shakily. There is utter silence for a few moments. "Who's there-" He stops as he feels two clawed hands grasp onto his face, with a large presence behind him and the familiar rhythmic hissing, making the hairs on his neck stand up. "What do you want with me?"

"Much." Skaldak hissed into his ear.

"Listen to me. We both understand each other. This mewling time of peace, it doesn't suit us. We're both warriors. And together, we can form an alliance."

"Alliance? Why?"

Stepashin gulped. "To win the Cold War."

"Why would I help you to win your petty war?"

"Both sides are capable of completely obliterating the other. It's called Mutually Assured Destruction. But it hasn't happened, not yet. I want my country to survive and America to die. This war took my daughter from me. America took my daughter from me. I want to see them repay me. Their blood for the blood they took from me."

Skaldak's hissing softened for a moment in contemplation. "Then you will understand me. I have slept for five thousand years, now my dear daughter has become dust. Your kind woke me before you attacked me. Not just them, you." He allowed a cold grin to appear on his face, even though Stepashin couldn't see it. "Harm one of us and you harm us all. And you, soldier, were the one to harm me. So, you will repay me with your blood." Taking one clawed hand, he dug it deep into Stepashin's throat, killing his scream before it escaped his mouth.

* * *

Inside the bridge, Zhukov stood in front of his men, with Grisenko, the Doctor and Clara standing off to the side.

"Comrades, you know our situation. The reactor is drowned. We are completely reliant on battery power and our air is running out. Rescue is unlikely, but we still have a mission to fulfil. If the Doctor is right, then we are all that stands between this creature and the destruction of the world. Control of one missile is all he needs. I know I can rely on every one of you to do their duty without hesitation and without fail. We are expendable comrades, but our world is not. That is all."

"Sir." All 12 soldiers stated in unison before moving to work. Clara leaned towards the Doctor to whisper.

"Doctor, even if a missile did get launched, that wouldn't be, 'It', would it?"

"Clara, I told you, Earth is like a storm waiting to break. Both sides are barring their teeth, talking up war. It would take only one spark to ignite the flame." The Doctor stated.

"Yes, but the world didn't end in 1983, did it? Or I wouldn't be here."

"Afraid not, Clara. History is in flux. Time can be rewritten." Clara went into silence on this as the Doctor moved towards Zhukov. "How many of us are left?"

"Twelve, and we can't find Stepashin."

"We split up to comb the sub. Leave one team here to guard the bridge."

"That's the plan?" Zhukov asked.

"That or we wait until he kills us."

"Fine." Zhukov grumbled before marching back to the men to give the new orders.

Clara moved to stand beside the Doctor again. "Have you ever seen one outside their shell suits?"

"Shell suit?" The Doctor asked incredulously.

"Well, I don't know what it's called." Clara shrugged.

"Clara, for an Ice Warrior to leave its armour is the gravest dishonour."

"Won't that make him more vulnerable?" Clara asked.

"No, it would make him more dangerous, so we have to find him before it's too late."

"Will this help?" Grisenko interjects, holding up the Doctor's sonic.

"You saved it!" The Doctor said with a grin. "Fantastic! I could kiss you, professor!"

"If you insist, but little missy here won't be happy about it." Grisenko teased.

"What?" Clara squeaked. "No!" The Doctor also blushed yet he didn't say anything, making Grisenko's smile become smugger. Zhukov comes over to them.

"Clara, Doctor, Grisenko, you're with me." Zhukov stated, as they followed him out of the room into another, the Doctor briefly stopping to perform some repairs on the next door with Zhukov.

"So, why have you got a cattle prod on a submarine?" Clara asked Grisenko.

"Polar bears." He stated simply. "Run across them while drilling. They can be rather nasty, you know."

"I'd have one over an Ice Warrior any day. Cuddlier." Clara stated with a chuckle.

"Come on, Clara. Have a bit of courage." The Doctor stated.

"You know, I always sing a song." Grisenko stated, making Clara furrow her eyebrows at him. "To keep my spirits up."

"Yeah, that would work. If this was 'Pinocchio'." The Doctor grumbled, making everyone chuckle.

"Do you know 'Hungry Like the Wolf'?"

"What?" Clara asked.

"'Duran Duran', it's one of my favourites. Come on!" Grisenko stated gleefully.

"I'm not singing a song." Clara stated with a smirk. A loud rumbling noise is heard around the sub, from the underwater terrain outside crumbling under its weight, making everyone shiver. "What was that?"

"Pressure. Just pressure." The Doctor reassured. "We're 700 meters down, remember?"

"Don't worry about it, think of something else." Grisenko said. " _I'm lost, and I'm found. And I'm hungry like the wolf._ " He hummed.

"I'm not singing." Clara stated with a giggle.

"Don't you know it?"

"Of course, I know it. We do it at karaoke, the odd hen night."

"Karaoke? Hen Night?" Grisenko stated incredulously. "You speak excellent Russian, my dear, but sometimes I don't understand a word you're talking about."

"That's what it's like with big ears over there."

"Oi!"

"You looked in the mirror lately?" The Doctor shook his head yet before he could return to work, a loud growling noise is heard along with two men screaming in terror and pain, making them all run from the room to the source of the noise. As they entered the room, they all saw the mutilated and torn bodies of two soldiers, one was Onegin. The Doctor and Zhukov clenched their jaws at this sight, while Clara put her hand over her mouth to contain her feeling of horror at the sight of them.

"Good god! He's torn them apart." Grisenko stated in horror.

"He's a monster." Zhukov growled.

"No, Zhukov. Forensic. He's learning, trying to find your weaknesses."

"We need to move faster before he kills anyone else." Zhukov stated as he, Grisenko and the Doctor moved from the room. The Doctor however stopped when he saw Clara standing still, looking at the bodies with wide eyes.

"Clara, come on, we need to keep moving." The Doctor said sincerely as he placed a hand on her cheek. Clara nodded weakly allowing him to lead her away. They found a small crossroads of two doors ahead of them. "Clara, stay here. Grisenko, look after her please."

"Sure." Grisenko stated. The Doctor did a double take as he saw Clara sitting down without a word.  _I'll talk to her when this is over._

"It's a young man's game, all this dashing about." Grisenko said amusingly despite his panting. As he sat down, he saw Clara not speaking, just staring off blankly. "Clara? What's wrong?"

"I was doing okay." She mumbled. "I mean, I went in there and I did all that…scary stuff, you know? I went in there, with Skaldak, and it went okay. I mean, it went as badly as it could've done, but that wasn't my fault exactly."

"Not at all." Grisenko nodded. "So, what's wrong?" Clara couldn't find any words, but her eyes said it all.

"Are we going to make it?" She asked weakly.

"Yes, of course." He reassured.

* * *

The Doctor and Zhukov are rushing through rooms and doors as they try to find Skaldak, stopping abruptly when they see another body.

"Stepashin." Zhukov stated in bitter sadness. He knelt before him and pulled out from his clutched hand a small wallet containing a photo of a small blonde girl of 6 years and him smiling. "Stepashin, I'm so sorry."

The Doctor placed his hand on Zhukov's shoulder. "Who was she?" He asked softly.

"His daughter, Irina. That saying, Doctor, that a daughter is the apple of their father's eye, that wasn't truer with him. But she died."

"How?"

"In the middle of a war? What do you think happened, Doctor?" Zhukov stated bitterly. "All of us on this ship have lost someone we hold dear to us, but Stepashin took it the hardest. He already was a patriotic man, sometimes frustratingly so, but now he truly blamed the Americans for everything. We tried to tell him repeatedly that it was every bit the Americans fault as it was ours, but he never listened."

"Grief affects everyone, Zhukov. Some people differently and even drastically."

"How would you know, Doctor?"

The Doctor said nothing at this, which Zhukov guessed the reason for. "Come on, we need to keep moving." He gave Zhukov his hand in offer to stand him up, which as he did, they heard a rattling and rustling noise around them, making Zhukov raise his gun.

"He's in the walls." Zhukov stated.

"And he's fast." The Doctor said as Skaldak rushed out of the room. "Let's get back to the others." Zhukov nodded, and they rushed from the room.

* * *

"What was that?" Clara asked as more rumbling could be felt and heard around the submarine.

"The Doctor told you, it's just the boat settling." Grisenko said. "Tell me about yourself. What do you like doing?"

"Stuff. You know, stuff." Clara said in absentminded fear.

"Stuff. Very enlightening. And the Doctor, what he said…is it true? You're from another time? You're from our future?"

"Yes."

"Tell me what happens." He said in agitation.

"I can't."

"I need to know."

"I can't."

"Ultravox! Do they split up?!"

Clara jaw dropped before she started laughing at this, Grisenko smiling at her improved mood. "Funny. You're funny." Two large, clawed hands reach down from the dark ceiling and grasp tightly onto her face, making her jump in shock.

"Let her go!" Grisenko roared as he pulled out a hidden pistol and fired upwards, making Skaldak let go of Clara, allowing her to give a sigh of relief. "See? I don't just like western music." Skaldak then reaches down and grasps on Grisenko's face.

"No, please! Don't hurt him!" Clara pleaded as the Doctor and Zhukov came rushing in, staring up into the darkness to see a pair of blood red eyes staring down upon them.

"You attacked me. Martian law decrees that the people of this planet are forfeit. I now have all the information I require. It will take only one missile to end this 'Cold War'."

"Grand Marshall, there is no need for this. Please, listen to me."

"My distress call hasn't been answered. My people are dead, and I am the last one. There is nothing left for me except for my revenge." Skaldak then gives a low roar, which Clara notices starts a faint humming noise from Grisenko's Walkman.

"There is something left, Skaldak. Mercy."

"Mercy?"

"You must wear that armour for a reason, my friend. Let us see, shall we?" Zhukov stated before raising his gun.

"No, Captain, wait!"

"I will do whatever it takes to defend my world, Doctor!"

"Don't you see?! We are getting somewhere here, we are negotiating!"

"Very well. We'll negotiate but from a position of strength."

"Excellent tactical thinking. My congratulations, captain." Skaldak said.

"Thank you?" Zhukov said in confusion.

"Unfortunately, your position is not as strong as you would hope."

"What do you mean?" The Doctor asked.

"Doctor, it's that sonic humming noise again. Are you bringing the armour?" Clara asked Skaldak.

"Remarkable thinking there, girl. Remarkable indeed." Skaldak said before letting go of Grisenko and rushing off towards his newly arriving armour, with every step sending a loud clucking noise to echo through the room as he leaves for the bridge. "My world is dead. But now there will be a second red planet. Red with the blood of humanity."

"Bridge, now!" The Doctor stated, making them all rush to follow Skaldak.

Skaldak turned around a corner to see the door to the bridge closed, with two men in front of it with their weapons raised at him. They fire upon his armour, which does nothing of significance to it or him. Skaldak literally stomps his way down the corridor towards the two soldiers, as they change fire towards his helmet, which makes Skaldak raise a hand to protect his uncovered jaw. Once he reaches them he grasps their weapons and snaps them in two like wood, before grabbing one of them to shove their face into the wall, crushing their skull underneath. He then holds down the second soldier with his left hand before raising his right and crushing his skull under the strength of his armour, then using his sonic weapon to blow apart the door to the bridge. Moving towards the main console, he hacks into it using his own technology, arming the missiles before placing his finger over the launch button.

"No, Skaldak! Wait!" The Doctor yelled as he, Clara, Zhukov and Grisenko rush into the room. "Where is the honour of condemning billions of innocents to death? Five thousand years ago, Mars was the centre of a vast empire, the jewel of this solar system. These stupid little apes had only just begun to leave their caves. Five thousand years later, they still are frightened children. Who are you to judge them?"

Skaldak turned to face the Doctor. "I am Skaldak. This planet is forfeit under Martian law."

"Then teach them! Show them another way! Show them there is honour in mercy!" The Doctor pleaded. "Is this how you want history to remember you? Grand Marshall Skaldak, the destroyer of Earth? That's what you will become if you send those missiles. Five billion lives extinguished, snuffed out like a candle flame. You will be remembered as a murderer, not a soldier." Skaldak scoffed before turning back to the console. "All right! All right, Skaldak, you leave me no choice!" He said coldly before pulling out his sonic and turned towards a different setting.

"A threat?! You would threaten me, Doctor?!" Skaldak said incredulously.

"Not you! All of us!" He then activated it.

"Self-Destruct sequence initiated." A monotone, computer voice rang through the ship. If Skaldak was Human, he would've raised one eyebrow at his actions.

"I will blow this sub up before you can reach that button, Grand Marshall!"

"You would sacrifice yourself?"

"To save this planet?! Yes!"

Skaldak smiled. "Mutually Assured Destruction."

"Look into my eyes, Skaldak. Look into my eyes and tell me you're capable of doing this. Look into my eyes, Skaldak!" The Doctor said.

Skaldak then turned to face the Doctor. "Well, Doctor." Activating a command in his suit, it lifted his helmet off to reveal his face underneath. Compiled with the blood red, reptilian eyes and sharp teeth was dark green scales that made him resemble a dragon and a snake. "Which of us shall blink first?" He said tauntingly.

"Why did you hesitate?" Clara said, making Skaldak look at her. "Back there, in the dark, you were going to kill Grisenko. I begged you not to and you listened. Why show your compassion then, Skaldak, and not now?" Skaldak didn't give any words to this as he stared in contemplation. "The Doctor is right. Billions will die. Mothers, sons, fathers, daughters." This made him snap back to look at her, blinking as he does. "Remember that last battle, Skaldak? Your daughter? You sang the songs of the red snows. What was her name?"

"Iclar. Her name was Iclar." He said fondly. The sub then rocked violently, making everyone stumble about as they tried to regain their footing. They then heard from both Grisenko's Walkman and Skaldak's suit the same humming noise, but now much louder. This made Skaldak smile in gladness. "My people live! They have come for me!"

"We're rising. We're rising. 600 meters. 550." Zhukov stated with a grin as he looked at the pressure dial. After a moment, the sub suffered another violently rocking as it emerged out of the ice in the North Pole, before stabilising, making Zhukov and Grisenko sigh in relief. The Doctor and Clara didn't, not yet.

"We've surfaced. Your people have saved us." The Doctor said.

"Saved me, not you." Skaldak said with a shake of his head.

"Just go, Skaldak, please. Go in peace." The Doctor said softly. Skaldak looked at him with a soft expression before a small humming noise is heard and the nuclear missiles are disarmed before he teleports away in a white light. The Doctor then used his sonic to deactivate the self-destruct before sighing. "Now, we are safe." He said gladly. He looked at Clara who gave a similar sigh of relief before moving over to her as they jumped into each other's arms.

"Saved the world."

"Yep."

"That's what we do." Clara said with a smug smile.

"Let's head upstairs, see what we missed." Zhukov said with a hint of amusement, making everyone chuckle. They all followed him to exit the top of the sub, seeing the shattered ice surrounding the sub and a large ship hovering above them and the cold, misty snow.

"Doctor, the TARDIS! You never explained!" Clara realised.

"Oh, don't worry about that." The Doctor said with a sheepish blush.

"Stop saying that. Where is it?"

"Well, I wasn't to know, was I?"

"Know what?"

"I've been tinkering, breaking her in. I'm allowed."

"What did you do?"

"I reset the HADS." The Doctor grumbled under his breath which Clara didn't hear.

"Huh?"

"I reset the HADS." The Doctor repeated.

"The what?"

"The HADS, Clara! The Hostile Action Displacement System. If the TARDIS comes under attack, gunfire, time winds, the sea, it…relocates."

"Oh Doctor." Clara stated with a shake of her head.

"I haven't used it in god knows how long, it seemed like a good idea at the time." He said defensively to protect his already injured ego. "Well, never mind, it should turn up somewhere." He pulled out his sonic before using it to track the TARDIS. "See, found it."

"Where is it?"

"The pole."

"Not far then."

"The South Pole."

"Ah."

The Doctor gulped before almost squeaking, "Captain, can we have a lift?" Everyone, including Clara and the Doctor burst out laughing at this before moving back inside.

"Well then, you'll have to bunk up in a room, you two. It'll take a while." Zhukov said. The Doctor paused outside for a moment before giving the Ice Warrior salute as the ship flies away.

* * *

The Doctor and Clara now stood in a small room, which held one large bed, as they looked at it with a blush.

"Okay." They squeaked at the same time. "I mean…it could be worse…" They stopped so they wouldn't continue their embarrassment.

"So, Doctor. Why exactly did you think it was a good idea to use the HADS?"

"Ugh, again Clara?" The Doctor grumbled.

Clara giggled. "I'm sorry, it's just funny seeing you acting like a kid."

"You know what I say to that?"

"What?"

"There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes." He said proudly, remembering that long scarf. They fell into a comfortable silence for a moment before the Doctor had to bring up the elephant in the room. "Are you alright, Clara?"

"What do you mean?" Clara asked in confusion. The Doctor simply looked at her with sadness, reminding her of what she'd been trying to avoid. "That." She said simply, making the Doctor nod at her. "I…don't know. Just, seeing those bodies. It's somehow become very…real." She said shakily, making the Doctor pull her into a hug.

"Clara, I can promise you that not all the time in the TARDIS is like this, but I can't promise you that you'll always be safe." He said sincerely.

"You don't need to worry about me."

"Rubbish. Of course, I worry about you." He then placed his hand on Clara's cheek. "Remember, I am here, Clara. You don't have to go through everything alone."

Clara then pulled him back into the hug in gladness. "What about you, Doctor? Are you fine with seeing them?"

"I've seen worse." The Doctor said simply, making Clara hug him tighter. "Don't worry about me, Clara."

"Rubbish. Of course, I worry about you." Clara repeated his earlier words, making him smile. They may be stuck in this submarine for a while, but at least they won't be alone.


	7. Hide

**Caliburn House. November 25th, 1974**

Inside a large, lonely mansion on a pitch-black night, the wind and the rain battered ferociously against the walls of the house. The thunder as loud as drums of war boomed in the sky, terrifying animals and insects alike into utter silence. Inside a large room behind the front door however, two lonely figures, a man and a woman worked together, drifting from awkward conversation to awkward silence.

"How are we looking?" She asks as she walks into the room, the man nearly banging his head on the desk he was under in shock.

"Uh…about ready, I think."

She chuckles, sending a pause between them. "Any thoughts on the…uh, interference?"

"A stray F.M broadcast possibly but I've fitted some ferrite suppressors and RF chokes. Just in case." He shrugs. After a moment he grabs a camera before standing up. "Are you sure you want to go through with this? I mean, the last time it was very- "

"But she's so lonely." She said in sadness.

"Very well, then." He nods. Sitting down on a chair with a microphone, he taps it in testing, creating a feedback noise before placing some headphones on his head. "Caliburn House, night four, November 25th, 1974, 11:04pm." He gets himself ready before nodding to her, as she walks towards a dark hallway, struggling to withhold her shaking fear.

"I'm talking to the spirit that inhabits this house. Are you there? Can you hear me?" She calls out, despite receiving no answer. "I'm speaking to the lost soul that abides in this place. Come to me. Speak to me. Let me show you the way home."

The man looks at the desk as he hears the recording equipment responding rather erratically. He then hears a loud feedback sound in his headphones, making him wrench them off with a gasp of pain. The woman walks backwards as she feels a cold presence rushing towards her.

"Let me show you the way home!" She exclaims as she hears the presence beginning to wail, the noise echoing throughout the house. As the man takes pictures of the activity, the presence reaches the woman making her gasp as if a hand of ice placed a firm grasp over her heart, making her stumble to a chair with the man rushing to her aid.

"Emma!" He says.

"She's…she's so…" Emma gasps out in sharp, wheezing breaths.

"So, what?"

"Dead." They both unknowingly lean their foreheads on each other, allowing their presence to calm them before they jump as a loud knocking noise is heard on the front door. The man then walks up to the door, missing Emma's look of worry that she gives him before he opens the door to see nothing, then jumping with a gasp as a face pops up.

"BOO!" The Doctor roars before laughing gleefully at his expression. "Fantastic! I've always wanted to do that." He says this to Clara, who is hiding behind him, so the man and Emma miss her giggling. "Hello. I'm looking for a ghost."

"And you are?" The man asks.

"Ghostbusters." Clara says as she appears from behind the Doctor, wearing a dark-blue ditsy dress, black tights and jacket, carrying a red umbrella as they both grin before they high five each other. "I've always wanted to do that."

"I just said that."

"I know, so I stole it." She smiles mischievously.

"Now, I'm the Doctor." He says as he pulls out his psychic paper, missing Clara's look of bewilderment at it.

"Doctor what?" The man asks incredulously.

"If you like." He shrugs. "This is Clara. Now, you must be Major Alec Palmer. Member of the Baker Street Irregulars, the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. Specialising in espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance behind enemy lines. Also, a talented watercolourist, professor of psychology and ghost hunter. Total pleasure." He says with childlike excitement as he shakes Alec's hand, somewhat missing his accusing look.

"No, you're wrong. Professor Palmer spent most of the war as a POW." Emma denies.

"No, that's a lie told by a very brave man involved in very secret operations and the type of man that keeps a Victorian cross in a box in the attic. But you already know that because you're Emma Grayling. The Professor's companion." He says, shaking her hand as both him and Clara move inside, with Clara sitting on the desk filled with equipment.

"Assistant." Emma shakes her head, hiding her slight blush that Alec misses.

"It's 1974. You're the assistant and 'Non-Objective Equipment'. That means- "

"Psychic. Already guessed." Clara says smugly as she placed the umbrella down.

"Alright then. Smarty pants." He grumbles those last words under his breath.

"I'm sorry?" Clara says accusingly.

"No, nothing. I said nothing." He almost squeaks.

"Relax, Emma. He's military intelligence." Alec says, despite not being entirely convinced himself. "So, what is all of this in aid of?"

"Health and Safety."

Alec squints his eyes at the Doctor at this.

"I'm afraid so. The Ministry got word of what's going on here, so they sent me to check that everything is in order."

"They don't have the right." Alec mumbled in anger, making Emma place her hand on his shoulder instantly, calming him.

"Oh, don't worry. We'll be out of here in five minutes. But look at this!" The Doctor says, his childish wonder returning at his last words as he glances at the equipment. "Lovely! The ACR99821. It even has a toggle switch." He then starts to flick said switch repeatedly, missing Clara's slight blush at this. "I do love a toggle switch- "

"Doctor!" Clara slaps his hand.

"Ow! What was that for?" The Doctor whines as he rubs his hand.

"Don't do that. It's just wrong."

"Why?" The Doctor pauses as he looks at her. "Are you…blushing?"

"What? No!" Clara squeaks, making the Doctor gain a smug smile. He stands up while pulling out his sonic before scanning both Alec and Emma as they look at it with furrowed eyebrows.

"What is that?" Alec asks.

"Scientific tool. Classified, I'm afraid."

"What's it telling you?" Emma asks timidly as she looks at Alec who just shrugs.

"It's telling me that you haven't been exposed to any life-threatening trans mundane emanations." The Doctor says simply.

"Uh…English please?" Clara asks.

"It's…ghost…stuff." The Doctor fails to find the right words.

"Yeah, that totally helps." Clara says sarcastically, making the Doctor shake his head as he picks up a candelabra.

"So, where is the ghost?"

"No, no, no, no." Alec says frustratingly. "I will not have this stolen out from under me then be fobbed off with pat on the back from the queen, never again, do you understand? This is my house, Doctor, and it belongs to me."

"Wait a minute. Is this actually your house?" Clara asks with raised eyebrows.

"It is." Alec says bluntly.

"Sorry. You went to the bank and basically said, 'You know that gigantic, old house on the moors? The ones that dossers are too scared to doss in? The one that birds are too scared to fly over? I would like to buy it, please? With my money.'"

"Yes, I did."

Clara lowers one eyebrow but keeps the other raised. "I'm not sure if that's incredibly brave or very foolish."

"I guess time will tell." Alec admits.

The Doctor walks up to him so they stand face to face. "Listen, Major. We just need to know what is going on here."

"For the Ministry?"

"You know I can't answer that."

Alec sighs in admission. "Very well. Follow me."

* * *

Alec has rolled out a board, fill of photos and findings of his time here, with Clara, the Doctor and Emma sitting down in patience.

"So, what's an empathic psychic?" Clara asks.

"Sometimes I sense feelings, the way a telepath can sense thoughts. Sometimes though, not always." Emma says.

"The most compassionate people you'll ever meet, empathics." The Doctor says. "And the loneliest." This makes Emma look down. "I mean, exposing themselves to all those hidden feelings of guilt and pain and sorrow- "

"Doctor." She places her hand on his.

"What?"

"Shhh." She places a finger on her lips while jerking her head in Emma's direction, making him see her expression.

"Oh. Sorry."

"Do you care to have a look?" Alec calls as he finishes putting the last findings on the board, making the three come over to him. "Caliburn House is over 400 years old but she has been around for much longer. The Caliburn Gast." He places his hand over the pictures, all of which show a ghastly, pale white ghost, with her hand up in front of her and her jaw hanging down as low as her chest. Her eyes and open mouth were filled with darkness, making the Doctor and Clara get a cold shiver down their spines. "She's mentioned in local Saxon poetry and parish folk tales, but no matter her new titles, she always remains constant. The Wraith of the Lady. The Maiden in the Dark. The Witch of the Well."

"Is she real? As in, properly real?" Clara asks as the Doctor looks on in contemplation.

"Oh, she's real. In the 17th century, a local clergyman saw her. He wrote that 'Her presence was accompanied by a dreadful knocking as if the Devil himself demanded entry.' During the war, American airmen stationed here and left offerings of tinned spam. The tins were found in 1965, bricked up in the servants' pantry, along with several handwritten notes, appeals to the Gast. 'For the love of God, stop screaming.'"

Clara looked at all the pictures like skim reading, her eyebrows becoming more furrowed. "She never changes. The angle's different, the framing but she's always in the same position. Why is that?" Clara asked as the Doctor picked up on this by leaning in closer.

"That, we don't know. She's an objective phenomenon. But objective recording equipment can't detect her…"

"Without the presence of a powerful psychic." The Doctor finished.

"Absolutely. Very well done." Alec complimented.

Emma took a small breath. "She knows I'm here." This made everyone turn to look at her. "I can feel her, calling out to me."

"What is she saying?" Clara asked.

"'Help me.'"

"The Witch of the Well. So, where's the well?" The Doctor asked.

Alec led him over to a desk. "A copy of the oldest plan that we could find. There is no well on the property, at least, one that we couldn't find, anyway."

"So, you think the well means something that isn't physical?" The Doctor concluded.

"Yes."

"Well, I'm going to go have a look for it." He says with a grin before picking up a candelabra.

"You going to take Clara?" Alec asks.

"I'd have to ask her first." He tapes her on the head, making her jump as she turns to look at him, her eyebrows raised in a 'Are you kidding me?' manner. "Are you coming?"

"Where?"

"To find the ghost."

"Why would I want to do that?"

"Because you want to, now come on."

"Well, I dispute that assertion."

The Doctor thought for a moment before doing his best 'puppy dog eyes' look. "I'm giving you a face. Here, can you see me?"

Clara finds it hard to contain her laughter at his failed attempt before shaking her head with a smile. "Dare me."

"I dare you. No takesie-backsies."

Clara then lets out her laughter at this before snatching his candelabra as they move out of the room, Alec and Emma looking on with raised eyebrows.

"The music room is the heart of the house." Emma called.

"Thanks very much." The Doctor called out before they disappeared, leaving Alec and Emma alone.

"Is he really from the ministry?" Emma asked.

"Uh, I don't know. He's certainly got the right demeanour. Capricious, brilliant."

"Deceitful." Emma added.

" _*Chuckles*_ Yes. He's a liar. But you know, that's often how things are, when someone's seen a thing or two. Experience makes liars of us all. We lie about who we are, about what we've done…"

"And how we feel?" Emma asked, trying to hide the hope in her eyes.

"Yes. Always…always that." Alec says, stuttering a bit from the look. He notices Emma reaching for his hand, making his face flush. "You know, I have to…um…I have to be getting on with things. The…um…the equipment and so forth."

"Of course." Emma says, yet they stay still for a moment, just looking at each other before moving away.

* * *

Clara and the Doctor are walking through dark rooms and hallways, the only light being provided is their candelabra.

"Doctor, what was that paper you showed Alec?" She asks.

"Psychic paper. Tells people whatever I want it to tell them. Saves a lot of time."

Clara nods slightly at that. "Okay, say we actually find her. What do we say?" Clara whispers.

"We ask her if she came to be or if she is." The Doctor reciprocated her tone.

"Why?"

"Because I don't know. And ignorance is…what's the opposite of bliss?"

"Carlisle?"

"Yes. Ignorance is Carlisle." They came to a pair of doors, which when opened revealed the music room. "Ah, the heart of the house. Do you feel anything?"

"No." Clara said sceptically.

"Your pants are so on fire." The Doctor teased.

"Shut up." Clara laughed. She then felt the back of her neck prickle, making her shudder. "Do you feel like you're being watched?"

"That's the weird tickling feeling on the back of your neck, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then a bit. Well, quite a big bit." He flirted.

"Well, I can't help it." She flirted back as they chuckled. Clara heard a crackling noise like burning fire behind her, so she turned to look yet found nothing there.

The Doctor moved the door leading to the next room before stopping as he felt himself get instantly cold. "Cold spot. Spooky." He then paced around to determine the exact spot before pulling out a piece of chalk and drawing a circle on the floor.

"Doctor?"

"Hmm?" He mumbled as he pulled out his sonic to scan the circle.

"Doctor."

"What?"

"I'm not happy."

He squinted his eyes as he looked around the room. "She might be here. We should go back."

Clara nodded as they almost rushed from the room, missing the chalk circle starting to emit steam. They entered a dark hallway.

***BANG***

They jumped as they heard a loud noise like a battering ram on a castle gate.

"Doctor, what was that?"

***BANG* *BANG***

They then shuddered as a cold wind blew through the room, extinguishing the candles and casting them into near darkness, the only light left being the dim moonlight casting through the window. The temperature of the house then suddenly dropped, making them shiver as Clara put down the candelabra to rub her arms for warmth, while the window started to fog up.

***BANG* *BANG* *BANG***

"Okay, what was that?" Clara asked, fear coming into her voice.

"It's…a…very loud and…angry noise." The Doctor said, reciprocating her tone.

"What's making it?"

"I don't know. Are you making it?" He failed to joke.

***BANG* *BANG* *BANG***

This makes the Doctor jump as he moves to Clara's side, as she looks at him with a small smirk.

"Doctor?"

"Yes?"

"I may be a tiny bit terrified."

"Yes?"

"But I'm still a grown-up."

"Not sure about that. So?"

"So, there's no need to hold my hand."

"Clara?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm not holding your hand." The Doctor said warily as he held up both hands, making them freeze as they turned to look behind them. Lightning flashed, shining extra light through the window, casting down briefly upon a crooked figure made of jagged bones and pale flesh, making the Doctor and Clara shriek as they run back to Alec and Emma. When they reached the room, Alec was holding up his camera while Emma was staring down a dark hallway before everyone, but Emma's attention was diverted by a sudden appearance of a round, black disc that hovered before them. "Has this happened before?"

"No." Alec said as he handed the Doctor the camera, who took some pictures of the disc before it started to crack, gleaming white light upon them.

Emma however, was staring with heavy breaths upon The Caliburn Gast, who simply stood there, holding out her hand towards her.

"Doctor!" Clara shouted, diverting his attention to the Gast.

"Help me!" The Gast shrieked as it disappeared. Emma gasped before loosing her balance, making Alec rush over to catch her. The Doctor pulled out his sonic to scan her, while Clara looked up on the stair wall as she heard a crackling noise, like earth being torn apart.

"Doctor." She said. The Doctor looked up to see the words, 'Help Me', appear on the wall in a pale haze before disappearing.

* * *

Clara handed the seated Emma a glass of whiskey, who took a sip before flinching in disgust.

"I'd rather have a cup of tea." Emma said humorously.

"Yeah, me too." Clara nodded before taking her glass. "Whiskey is one of the most disgusting things ever invented. So, you and Professor Palmer, have you ever…"

"Oh god, no." She shook her head.

"Why not? You do know how he feels about you, don't you? You of all people."

"I don't know." She denied. "People like me, sometimes we get it all mixed up. We think people are feeling how we want them to feel, when they're special to us, when there's nothing there."

"Oh, this is there." Clara smirked.

"How do you know?"

"Because it's obvious. It sticks out like a…big, pair of ears." She chuckled.

"What about you, and the Doctor?" Emma asked.

"Oh god, no."

"Now, who's denying the obvious?" Emma retorted.

"Shut up." Clara blushed.

"This one is more than obvious, it's just…"

"It's just what?" Clara asked.

"There's a sliver of ice in his heart. Just like Alec."

"What do you mean?"

"You've seen his record, so you know what Alec has been through. It's the same with the Doctor. It's a sense of…bitter sadness and loneliness."

Clara looked down with a hint of sadness. "Well, the Doctor doesn't say where he comes from, or where he's been, or any other people he's met. He doesn't say anything."

"Neither does Alec. No one likes to mention their past when they hate it. Give him time and he'll come around. You just have to remember, it's the here and now that really counts, not what came before."

Clara nodded weakly.

* * *

The Doctor and Alec were alone, processing the taken photographs in the darkroom, being drowned in dark, red light.

"I had a little peak at your records back at the ministry. Well, you've certainly seen many things in your time; Disrupting U-boat operations across the North Sea, sabotaging railway lines across Europe, Operation Gibbon. The one with the carrier pigeon was fantastic. I love carrier pigeons." The Doctor said gleefully.

"I did my duty but so did thousands of others. Millions. I was just lucky enough to come back." Alec admitted.

"Yes, but how does that man, that war hero, end up here in a lonely, old house looking for ghosts?"

Alec felt his throat constrict. "Because I killed, and I caused to have killed. I sent young men and women to their deaths. But here I am…still alive." He takes a deep breath to compose himself. "It does haunt you, living after causing so much…death."

The Doctor looked down at that.

"You see, I was alone and unmarried, so I didn't mind dying. Not for that cause, even though it was a very fine cause, defeating the enemy. But I guess, some things aren't worth giving up your life for."

"If you could contact them, the people you…lost, what would you say?"

"I would say that I'm very sorry for what I have done, but I'm also grateful for where it put me."

"With Emma?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, with Emma. I'm still not exactly sure how to approach that, but just her being there makes it easier."

The Doctor smiled at that.

"You relate to this?" Alec inquired.

"Yes. I was in a war, but both sides had lost so much. It was no longer about winning or losing, it was about just ending it. And I did, so many horrific things that I regret."

"But your grateful for…who it put you with?" Alec said.

"Clara? Oh yes, I'm grateful." The Doctor smiled softly.

Alec then pulled out the processed picture of the Gast, before pegging it up. "What do you think she is?"

"I'm not sure. I'm getting ideas, but we need to find out how she came to be like this."

Alec thought for a moment. "Would you like to borrow this until you've finished?" He said, holding up the camera.

"Yes, thank you." He said. "Right then, I'm going to enact one idea, I'll be right back." He then rushed from the room, missing Alec's confused expression. "Clara!" He called as he reached the front door.

"What is it?" She asked.

"We're going to find out how the Gast came to be." He said simply. "Now, come on, hurry up." They raced from the house, through the rain to the parked TARDIS under their umbrella.

Clara paused as she noticed the sign on the front as the Doctor unlocked the door. "Doctor. I don't think that's how you open- "The Doctor already went inside, leaving her groaning to herself as the doors were opened inwards. "That's not how you open a police box." She grumbled before following him inside. She looked around in confusion as the Doctor raced around the console. "You need a place to keep this." She gestured to her umbrella.

"I've got one." He said, pointing to an empty space by the door before pausing to look. "Or, I had one. I think I had one. Did I have one? Am I going mad?" He grumbled.

"Nah, I think you're already mad." Clara teased as she put the umbrella down.

"Oi!"

"So, where are we going?" Clara asked as she walked up to the console.

"Nowhere. Staying right here if I can get it right."

"So, when are we going?"

The Doctor grinned before high fiving her. "That is brilliant. We are going always." He sent the TARDIS into lift off before rushing from the room to the wardrobe.

"Oh yeah, that totally answers it." Clara grumbled sarcastically. "Does he even notice the sign on the front door?" Clara asked the TARDIS.

*Beeps* (No).

Clara rolled her eyes. "Dear me, he is an idiot."

"I heard that." The Doctor called as he rushed back into the room with an orange spacesuit. "Now, what do you think?"

"Colour's a bit boisterous."

"I think it brings out my eyes."

"It makes my eyes hurt." Clara smiled slyly.

"Rude." The Doctor grumbled. He then piloted the TARDIS to a landing before scrambling into the suit. "I'll be right back." He said before leaving the TARDIS. Outside was plains of charcoal black rocks, mixed with lava. He then pulled out his sonic to perform precise scan, before using the camera then rushing back inside as he felt the suit begin to heat up rapidly. "Don't touch!" He yelled as the suit emitted steam, making Clara raise her hands as she backed off. "Hot suit! Hot, hot, hot!"

"When are we?"

"About six billion years ago." He then piloted the TARDIS several billion years forward, before leaving to repeat the action in a dense jungle. Racing back inside, he piloted the TARDIS to 1895 to once again repeat the action. He then piloted the TARDIS five billion years forward, exiting to repeat the action for a last time on a barren landscape, looking down upon a desolate, ruined city. Entering the TARDIS to quickly discard the suit, he noticed Clara staring at the monitor with tears in her eyes. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"Have we just watched the entire lifecycle of Earth, birth to death?"

The Doctor sighed. "Yes."

"And you're okay with that?"

"Yes."

"How can you be? One minute, you're in 1974 looking for ghosts, then the next you're standing on the final days of the planet. To you, I haven't been born yet and I've been dead for billions of years. Is my body out there, in the ground?"

The Doctor looked down with sadness. "Probably, yes."

"But here we are, talking, so I am a ghost. To you, all of us, even me are ghosts. We must be nothing." Clara mumbled.

"No, you're not."

"Then what are we? What can we, silly little apes possibly be?"

The Doctor placed a hand on her cheek before smiling softly. "You, silly little apes, are the only mystery worth solving."

Clara's eyes softened as he placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Don't ever think so badly of yourself, Clara. You, and all of humanity are brilliant."

Clara nodded.

"Now, come along, we have a ghost to catch." He said amusingly, making Clara smile a bit as he piloted the TARDIS back to the Caliburn House.

* * *

The Doctor and Clara now stood in the house, as he and Alec were preparing a projector for the new findings while Emma walked up to Clara, who had a distant look in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Emma asked.

"I just saw something I wish I hadn't."

"What did you see?"

"That everything ends."

"Not everything. Not always." She glanced at Alec.

"But you were right. It's the here and now that counts, not the past and certainly not the future."

Emma smiled. "Now you get it. I told you he'll come around."

"He hasn't come around fully, but he's getting there." Clara nodded.

"Fantastic!" The Doctor called gleefully, making Clara and Emma look at him with their eyebrows furrowed. "It's done, now come on." He motioned them over. "So, The Caliburn Gast. Never changing and forever trapped in a moment of fear and torment. But what if she's not?"

"Come again?" Alec asked, making the Doctor roll his eyes.

"What if she's just trapped somewhere that time runs much slower than it does here? And if someone took a snapshot of her every few billion years, what would they get?" Using the sonic, he flicked through the pictures to show a dark-skinned woman in a futuristic white spacesuit, running through a fogged forest. "She's not a ghost, but she's definitely a lost soul. Her name is Hila Tacorian. She's a pioneer, a time traveller, at least in a few hundred years." He added dryly, making Clara giggle.

"Time travel isn't possible, the paradoxes- "

"Resolve themselves." The Doctor cuts Alec off.

"How long has she been alone?" Emma asked.

"Well, this is the funny bit. For us, it's been several billion years. To her, she crash-landed roughly…3 minutes ago."

"Crash-landed? Where?"

"She's in a pocket universe, a distorted echo of our own. They happen on their own, yet they don't last very long."

"Doctor." Clara interrupted.

"What?" He turned to look at Clara as she nodded towards Alec and Emma, who were looking at him with open mouths and blinking eyes. "Oh." He then reached into his jacket and pulled out two balloons, one blue and one red.

"Why do you have balloons?" Clara asked

"Uh…no idea." He admitted, before breathing into the balloons, yet more so into the blue one. "Our universe." He holds up the blue balloon. "Hila Tacorian is here, in a pocket universe." He holds up the smaller, red balloon. "These two are linked and you, Emma, are the spotlight. You're the lantern, shining across the dimensions to guide her back to our universe." He said as he threw the balloons away with a small look of self-disgust.

"So, what's she running from?" Clara asked.

"No idea." He grinned. "Shall we see?" They nodded at him, so he flicked to another image, which made everyone gain an expression of confusion and fear. "Oh. I…don't know what that is." He admitted. On the projector was an image of a foggy forest, filled with dead trees and a blurry figure of a crooked man, hiding behind a tree.

"So, how do we save her?" Emma asked.

"Not we, you. You save Hila Tacorian because you are Emma Grayling, the rest of us are just along for the ride. Now, we're going to need some sturdy rope and a blue crystal from Metebelis III. Clara, you mind giving me a hand?" She nodded, so they raced from the room and back to the TARDIS to gather the equipment.

Alec started to pace while Emma gazed off in contemplation. "Don't do it." He said pleadingly.

"I'm sorry?"

"Nobody asked her to risk her life. This woman, she doesn't deserve…Whoever she is, however brilliant or brave, she's not you. She is not worth risking a single hair on your head, not to me." He rambled.

She looked at him lovingly. "Tell me what I'm thinking right now."

"I can't. I don't have your gift." He denied.

"You don't need it. Just look at me." He looked at her for a moment before a light of hopeful recognition entered his eyes. "There you are, you read my mind." She smiled. They looked up to see the Doctor and Clara racing into the room with armfuls of equipment as they began to set it up.

"Can't you just, you know, fly the TARDIS into the parallel universe?" Clara asked, missing Emma and Alec's blinking looks.

"Pocket universe, Clara, not parallel."

"Okay then, Mr. Gumpy." She teased.

"Oi!" She giggled. "Yes, the TARDIS could get in there fine and dandy, but the entropy would bleed her dry, and trap her there until it decayed away, taking her with it."

The Doctor finished setting up the equipment, which filled the room with cables and clocks, with a chair in the centre and a large stand behind it. On top of it stood a gleaming, blue gemstone.

"What is that?" Clara asked.

"Subset of the Eye of Harmony."

"I don't- "

"Of course, you don't. It'd be bonkers if you did."

"Why?"

"Because I barely understand it myself."

"Your saying that it would be mad if I knew more than you?"

"Yes."

"Man, your ego is off the charts." She teased.

"Shut up!" He then grabbed a headset with a small, blue crystal inside it, before motioning Emma to the seat and placing it on her head.

"What does this do?" Emma asked.

"It amplifies your abilities."

"Like cerebro?" Clara asked. Emma and Alec looked at her funny.

"That doesn't come out for another 26 years." He hushed.

"Oh." She said simply.

"What exactly is this arrangement?" Alec asked as the Doctor used his sonic to activate the clocks in the room, creating an echoing, ticking noise.

"A psycho-chronograph." The Doctor said as Clara helped him into his harness.

"Forgive me, but isn't all this a little, 'Make do and mend'?"

"Non-psychic technology won't work where I'm going. Now, all I must do is rescue her from the monster in the woods before the entire dimension collapses and it'll all be fine. Any questions?"

"Will it hurt?" Emma asked.

"Yes. I'm afraid it will." The Doctor said with a touch of pity. Emma nods as Clara turns the Doctor around to face her.

"Stay safe out there, okay?" She said.

"Yes boss." He said.

"Oh, am I the boss now?" She said flirtatiously.

"I thought you already were." He flirted back before they hugged each other in parting. He turned to Emma. "Ready?"

"Ready." She said before closing her eyes. "I'm talking to the lost soul that abides in this place. I'm speaking to Hila Tacorian."

The clocks in the room starting to spin and tick faster as the same black disc from much earlier reappeared, yet it now spun four times before conjuring a gateway made of blinding, white light that filled the room with a new rush of wind.

"See?! The Witch of the Well! It's a door!" The Doctor shouted over the wind before he clicked his neck. "Alright then, let's do this." He said before sprinting straight into the gateway, falling through a winding chasm of wind and light, like the inside of a tornado. He grasped onto the rope as he saw the oncoming ground, before he collapsed onto it with a loud groan. He stood up to take off the harness before glancing around. To his right, he saw a sheer cliff being drowned in rushing wind, while to his left, he saw an endless forest of dead trees and mist. He proceeded to sprint into the mist. "Hila! Hila! Hila Tacorian!" He yelled, before coming to a dead stop as he heard a crunching sound like bones being broken. He glanced around yet he couldn't find the source of the sound, until he heard a new sound of twigs and branches being stepped on before seeing Hila rushing out of the mist and literally shoving them to the ground.

"Oh, sorry!" She said.

"No problem. You Hila Tacorian?"

"Yes, who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor, and we've got to get out of here."

"Wait! There's something in the mist." She said, which was followed by the same bone-crunching sound, making them look for the source.

"Well then, we should run." He said, which she nodded to before they sprinted off.

" _Doctor?! Doctor!"_

"Who's that?" Hila asked.

"That would be Emma. She's the one that brought me here."

" _Come home, Doctor!"_

They stopped to see a mirror image of the Caliburn House materialising into the forest in the same place that the Doctor entered.

_"Doctor! We're here!"_

"Fantastic!" The Doctor said gleefully.

"What is it?"

"That would be our ticket out of here." The bone-crunching noise returned, yet more ferociously. "Keep running!" He said as they rushed towards the front door before shoving it open and barring it shut behind them. The same gateway as the one which he entered through appeared, with the harness beside it.

" _I'm not strong enough!"_

"Grab the rope! Give it three tugs and do it quickly!"

"What about you?!" Hila yelled as she put the harness on.

"I'll follow after!"

Hila then nodded before giving the rope three tugs before lunging into the light. The Doctor then jumped back with a fright as the doors were rattled repeatedly.

"Oh! That's what the banging was!" He said with a grin. He turned to rush into the light, before it closed off in front of him, his grin vanishing with it to be replaced by a look of terror. He blinked and found the house had disappeared, now finding himself alone in the woods. He took a breath as a loud roar was heard echoing through the forest. "Oh dear." He mumbled shakily.

* * *

Alec started rolling back the rope after it was tugged three times to see Hila stumble through the light before Emma gave a shriek of pain and collapsed, her loss of strength causing the portal to close.

"No!" Clara yelled. Silence fell through the room as it closed, the only sound being Hila's painful breathing as Alec held her. "Emma, please! Open the portal!" Clara pleaded as she got on her knees in front of her.

"I'm sorry." Emma said tearfully.

"Don't be sorry, what you did- "

"Wasn't enough. She needs to do it again." Clara cut Alec off.

"She can't! Look at her!"

"She has to! I can't leave him there!" Clara then rushed out of the room and back to the TARDIS.

Alec placed his hands-on Emma's face to bring her gaze up to him. "I know that you feel like you can't do this, Emma, but look at Hila there. You saved her. She's only here because of your strength, and so am I."

Emma looked at him with a soft gaze.

"Emma, I was as lost as her but being with you, you gave me a reason to be, Emma." He kissed her softly on the lips, making her smile as he pulled away. "The Doctor feels the same way with Clara, so we can help them. You can help them."

Emma nodded before getting onto her feet and placing the headset on her head, reaching out her hands so Alec and Hila could grasp onto them.

* * *

Clara raced towards the TARDIS, before groaning as she found it locked again.

"Oh please, let me in! I need to save him!" She pleaded. She then turned around as a flickering sound happened behind her, to see the image of a young brunette woman.

"Okay, what's this?"

"The TARDIS voice visual interface. I'm programmed to select an image of a person you've seen. Of several billion images in my databanks, this one best meets the criterion."

"But I don't know her. Whatever, you need to help the Doctor."

"The Doctor is in the pocket universe."

"Then enter the pocket universe."

"The entropy would drain the energy from my heart. In four seconds, I'll be stranded. In ten, I'll be dead."

"I'm so sorry, but all I can hear is 'Meh-Meh-Meh-Meh-Meh'. Come on, let's go!" She said in agitation. The image disappeared without a word. "Oh, come on, please! I don't want him to die!"

After a moment, the TARDIS unlocked its doors, allowing Clara to step inside. She paused for a second.

"I just realised, I have no idea how to fly you." She laughed at her idiocy.

*Beeps* (Don't worry, I'll show you)

Clara raised her eyebrows, trying to hide her grin. "I'm sorry?"

*Beeps* (You heard me, I'll show you how)

Clara let her grin forth.

* * *

The Doctor stood alone in the forest, fear gripping his bones as he looked for the creature. "Where are you? What do you want? To frighten me, I suppose."

An evil laughter was heard echoing through the forest in conjunction with the bone-crunching sound.

"That's what you do, you hide. You're the bogeyman under the bed, seeking whom you may devour." Silence fell, making the Doctor shiver as he turned to look behind him, yet seeing nothing and hearing the evil laughter taunt him. This started to boil a cold rage in his veins. "So, why am I still here? Why not just eat me? It's because you still need me." This made the laughter stop, making the Doctor's rage become mixed with smugness. "Oh yes, you need me to ferry you out of here."

" _Doctor! Doctor come home!"_

The Doctor gave a cold grin. "To that I say; See if you can keep up!" He then sprinted further into the forest, hearing the TARDIS whooshing as it appeared above him, descending towards him rapidly. He started gaining more speed as it came closer, before jumping as high as he could and grasping onto the side of the box as it started to vanish, materialising with him back inside the Caliburn House as he saw Emma screaming in agony before she collapsed in tears, Alec and Hila by her side. He stood up with a stumble and a groan before Clara opened the TARDIS doors. The Doctor looked at her in confusion before moving over to Emma. "It's alright, Emma. It's over now." He said softly as he removed the headset before going to sit down on a chair, Clara moving to stand beside them as the sunrise gleamed through the windows. "How did the TARDIS get there?" He asked her.

"I flew her." She said bluntly, getting a smug grin as she saw his jaw drop.

"How?" He stuttered.

"She showed me how, so I could get you back." She said softly, looking down.

The Doctor's expression grew soft before he stood in front of her and placed his hands on her face to move her glance back. "Then you saved my life again, Clara. Thank you." He kissed her forehead before enveloping her in a hug, which she returned gladly.

* * *

The Doctor stood at the front doors as Clara, Alec and Hila conversed by the TARDIS, while Emma walks up beside him.

"You wanted a word?" She asked.

"Well, if that's- "

"It's fine." She said dismissively. "You didn't come here for the ghost, did you?"

"No."

"You came here for me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I needed to ask you something."

"Ask away."

"Clara."

"Yes?"

"What is she?"

"She's a girl." She shrugged.

"What kind of girl?"

"She's a perfectly, ordinary girl. She's very pretty."

"Gorgeous, not pretty." He said, making her chuckle.

"Very clever."

"Oh yes."

"And more scared than she lets on."

The Doctor sighed at that.

"Is there more you wanted to know?"

"I'm starting to think it might not matter anymore." He said simply.

"How much do you care for her?" She asked.

"Well, a lot- "He stop as he saw her raise her eyebrows. "Oh, no, that can't ever happen." He denied.

She smiled. "Alec would've said the same thing."

The Doctor looked at her with furrowed eyebrows. "What made him not say it anymore?"

"When he looked at who was in front of him." She said.

The Doctor had a look of recognition in his eyes as he pondered her meaning.

"Come on, let's get to the others." Emma said, which he nodded to as they proceeded to the rest of the group, Emma walking up to Hila. "Where will you go?" She asked.

"He can't take me home. History says I went missing." Hila said.

"But he can change history, right?"

"No, not always, there are fixed points- "

"Doctor stop talking." Clara said as she pulled his arm away.

"Oi, Clara!"

"Shhh!" She said with a giggle.

Hila looked at Emma with gratification. "I knew you were there. I could feel you, calling out to me."

"I know."

They started blinking at each other. "Have we? No, we can't have." They said in unison.

"No, you can't have met her yet, but she could be yours and Alec's descendant, but you already figured that out, right?" The Doctor interjected but paused as Emma and Alec looked at him with wide eyes. "Oh. You didn't. Dear me."

"The paradoxes- "

"Resolve themselves. They always do, otherwise time travel would be impossible." The Doctor cut Alec off. "But you see, that's why the psychic link was so strong, it was blood calling to blood. See? Not everything ends." He said as he walked back to the TARDIS with Clara, Alec following them.

"Doctor? What about…um, what about us?" Alec gestured to him and Emma. "What's supposed to happen now? What do we do?"

"Hold hands." He said simply. "Hold hands and don't let go. The rest will come easy." He turned to Clara. "So then, missy."

"Yes?" She said mischievously.

"You flew the TARDIS. How did you learn so quickly?"

"Honestly I was just winging it." She shrugged.

"Well…that's how I do it." He said, making them chuckle.

Clara looked down for a moment. "There's just one thing I don't get, Doctor."

"What?"

"That creature, in the pocket universe."

"Yes?"

"How was he there in the house to hold my hand?"

The Doctor gazed off blankly before his eyes widened and he slapped himself on the forehead, alerting Alec, Emma and Hila. "Bloody hell, I'm slow!"

"Doctor?"

"Clara, how do sharks make babies?"

Clara blinked. "Carefully?"

"No. Happily."

Clara stared dumbfounded. "Sharks don't actually smile. They got lots of teeth and they're quite…eaty."

"Come on, Clara. How can he be here if he was in the pocket universe?"

Clara stared for a moment before she gained the same look in his eyes. "There's two of them?!"

"Exactly! Every lowly monster needs a companion." They then rushed to gazed into a window of the house to see the same crooked creature, yet this one had skin that was less pale. The Doctor wrapped his arms around Clara in a hug. "It's one of the oldest stories in the universe. Boy and girl fall in love, they get separated by war or politics, whether by their making or others. Since then, they have been yearning for each other across time and space, so this isn't a ghost story. It's a love story." They then looked at how close together they were before pulling back with a blush.

"Sorry." They said in unison before turning back to Emma.

"Sorry Emma. Just have a small favour to ask." The Doctor said.

"What?" She asked.

* * *

The Doctor landed in the forest and tore off his harness before sprinting into the forest.

"I'm sorry! I understand now! I can take you to her! I can take you to a safe place far away from here! You can be together!" The Doctor called. He heard twigs crunching behind him, making him turn to look to see the male creature standing before him on all fours, gazing at him with an expression of hope. "Hello!" He said with a grin. "Now then, here she comes." He said proudly as the TARDIS materialised in the pocket universe.

"Whoohooohooo!" Clara called out from inside the TARDIS.

"Get ready to jump." He said cheekily before they jumped to grab onto the TARDIS as it took them out of the universe and back home.


	8. Clara and the TARDIS

**Clara and the TARDIS**

**TARDIS**

Clara, wearing a red tank top and checkered pyjamas walked into an empty console room to give a half glare at the console. "Where is it?" She asked accusingly.

_*Beeps*_  (I don't know what you're talking about)

"I know what just happened. I left to go to the bathroom and thank you for the hologram leopard, by the way. That was an unexpected pleasure, so when I returned, I found my bedroom completely missing!" She growled before taking a breath to calm herself. "So, just tell me where you put it."

_*Beeps*_  (Nowhere)

Clara sighed. "Come on. This can't be the first time he's brought a girl home. He's over 900 years old, he should've had company at some point." The monitor then began to flicker through images which had names at the bottom. ""Romana", "Ace", "Sarah Jane", "Barbara", "Tegan", Romana again." She listed. The monitor came to a picture of a brunette woman with a tight v-shirt that was cut rather low. "Dear god, Peri! If that isn't suggestive clothing, I don't know what is."

_*Beeps*_  (She was quite the looker)

"Yeah, she does look good in that." Clara agreed before giving a small tired sigh. "Look, this is the Doctor we're talking about. He's an overgrown child with an ego and a co-dependent relationship with a screwdriver. If he had to choose between a girl and enormous, complicated machine he could fix with a toolkit, who would he go with?"

_*Beeps*_  (Both. Except you. He would choose you without a doubt)

"Shut up!" She blushed. The console beeped repeatedly which made Clara's jaw drop incredulously. "Are you…giggling? Are you giggling at me?" She accused.

_*Beeps*_  (Yes)

Clara rolled her eyes at the console. "All right, I have one question. That girl you showed me with the interface at the house, who was she?" The TARDIS brought up a picture of the same girl. ""Susan Foreman". Who was she?" Clara asked.

_*Beeps*_  (The Doctor should be the one to tell you)

Clara groaned. This conversation was indeed going nowhere. "All right, I give in. I'm going to find my goddamn bedroom now. Can't wait to see your next mischievous trick." She grumbled before moving to leave yet pausing in shock as she saw herself standing there, hair all rustled and a scowl on her face. "Who the hell are you?"

"You, from tomorrow night." The other Clara grumbled. She then walked up past the present Clara to the console. "Okay, where have you put it? Where's my bedroom?"

A pair of rushing footsteps drew Clara's attention as another Clara came rushing in, leaning against the railings and panting hard. "This isn't funny, I'm exhausted! Where is it?!" She demanded.

"You think you've got problems?" Two Clara's suddenly said in unison from the other end of the room. "We've got to share a bed." They said flirtatiously.

_*Beeps*_  (The Doctor would love to see that)

"Shut up!" All the Clara's blushed in unison.

_*Beeps*_  (Well, don't ever come back to me and say you were sorry)

Clara, the proper actual Clara, gave a blink as she scowled at the console. "Oh, dear god. Are you kidding with this?"

_*Beeps*_  (Of course I'm kidding. They're holograms)

On this the Clara copies vanished from the room and Clara looked at the console accusingly. "Hang on. You just moved my bedroom and showed me the leopard for a laugh, didn't you?" Only silence answered for a few moments until a few playful beeps came from the console.

_*Beeps*_  (Nooooooo)

"Ugh, you're the worst!" She growled before moving to leave.

_*Beeps*_  (You still love me)

"No, I don't!" She called back before walking out the door and turning left.

_*Beeps*_  (No, it's to the right)

"Next time, could you just have arrows to these places, please?" Clara muttered before disappearing, missing the chuckled beeping of the TARDIS.

_*Beeps*_  (Maybe)

**AN: Just a fun little chapter for you to enjoy. :)**


	9. Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS

**The Van Baleen Bros. Ship**

Flying through space was a long, charcoal black ship. Inside a room, filled with scrap, junk and thin layers of dust was three dark-skinned men. Two of them were sleeping while one with eyes that glowed neon green was cleaning in silence. An alarm sounded, blaring one of the sleeping men up as he gets up to join the other.

"Incoming salvage! Please validate!" The computer said.

One of them turns off the alarm with a groan. "Rusty garbage. It's not worth lacing up my boots."

"We're wasting our time, Bram. There's no salvage this far out." The other says with a synthetic voice.

"You're a lucky boy, Tricky. You're an android. You don't get…" Bram cuts off his condescending tone with a sigh. "I'm sorry, Tricky."

"It's alright." Tricky mumbled.

"If we just got better luck, we could get out of this mess, you know. Have a better ship and all. Even Gregor would agree." Bram said, pointing to said man who was waking up.

"Gregor won't turn back, not with half a cargo." Tricky raised his eyebrow.

"He's not captain. We're equal partners." Bram scoffed.

"Yeah right." Tricky mumbled before taking a drink to cool himself.

**The TARDIS, at the same time**

The TARDIS beeped in a sighing manner as the Doctor and Clara paced around the TARDIS, Clara now wearing a red fit and flare dress and a black collar with her hair pinned up in a small bun.

"What do you mean you don't know what this stuff does? You flew the TARDIS, of course you would know." The Doctor said.

"Yes, by winging it with the help of the TARDIS." Clara groaned. "Helmic Regulator. What is a helmic regulator anyway?"

"Ugh, it's like…um-"

 _*Beeps*_  (It's the steering wheel)

"See? Even the TARDIS is a better teacher than you. Hell, she can pilot herself better than you can." Clara admonished teasingly.

"You take that back, Clara. My piloting skills are fantastic."

"Dear god, you're like a walking ego wrapped in an overgrown child."

"No, I am not!"

"Oh yes, you are!" Clara said.

 _*Beeps*_  (Thank you, Clara)

"Oi, that's not fair! Why are you both teaming up against me?"

"Because it's fun." Clara said slyly. The TARDIS around them let out a whirring noise like giggling.

"You know what? I'll prove that I'm a better teacher. I'll just put the TARDIS in basic mode and show you the main controls." The Doctor said as he moved to work.

 _*Beeps*_  (That's a horrible idea)

"No, it's not. It's a marvellous idea." The Doctor denied as he finished his work.

* * *

"Suit up, fellas. It's good salvage. I can almost smell it." Gregor said as he walked up to them.

"It's just trash." Bram said.

"No, look. There's something in the Magno field." Tricky said as the screen showed the TARDIS appearing.

"Screw it." Gregor said as he activated the Magno-Grab.

"Magno-Grab ready. Engaging." The computer said.

"Go ahead, Tricky. It's your turn." Gregor said.

Tricky smiled before selecting a song off the computer.

_I see the bad moon arising_

_I see trouble on the way_

_I see earthquakes and lighnin'_

_I see bad times today_

Gregor and Bram exchanged impressed looks.

"Good choice." Bram said, which Gregor nodded too.

"Now, come on. Let's suit up." Gregor said impatiently as the three hurriedly moved to their lockers to get into their brown leather jackets and equipment. Gregor pulled out a small, round charge before pressing the button, lighting the charge in red light. Outside, the front of the ship opened and sent a blue, hazy field towards the TARDIS

* * *

The Doctor moved to pull the materialisation lever yet found nothing happened.

"Doctor?" Clara asked uncertainly. The same music from the ship began to float through the TARDIS.

_Don't go around tonight_

_It's bound to take your life_

_There's a bad moon on the rise_

"Okay, you were right, that was a stupid idea." He moved in agitation around the console.

"What's going on?"

"The electrical impulses are jammed, I can't get the shields back up. She's completely vulnerable." The Doctor placed both hands on a level as he struggled to lift it.

"External control, right?" Clara deducted.

"Basically, yes." The Doctor lifted the level, which did nothing until the TARDIS began to rock violently and cause sparks to fly out of the console as the room came apart in a mess. "It's a Magnetic Hubble field! We're flying right into it!"

"Please tell me there's a button you can press to fix this!" Clara yelled.

"Oh yes! A big, friendly button!" The Doctor yelled sarcastically.

"You're lying, right?!"

"Yes!"

"To stop me freaking out?!"

"Yes! Is it working?!"

"No!"

"Ah well, at least I tried!"

Clara spotted a small, round charge lit red rolling towards her, so she bent down to pick it up with one hand while the other gripped onto the railing. As she held it, she felt a burning sensation in her hand causing her to scream in pain as she dropped it. The TARDIS rocked violently again, causing Clara to stumble and roll to the ground, banging her head on the railing and knocking her unconscious.

"Clara!" The Doctor yelled before the same rocking caused him to lose his grip and tumble towards the doors. "Clara!" The railing he held onto creaked and groaned before it came loose, sending him tumbling through the door and onto a cold, hard ground before debris and junk came crashing down onto his head, sending him deep into a dark pit of sleep.

* * *

Gregor, Bram and Tricky watched through a thick window as the sparking and ruined TARDIS was brought in by large cranes as they let it go, sending it tumbling down onto the ground.

"What is it? An escape pod?" Tricky asked.

Gregor shrugged. "Let's find out." They left to head into the room, missing the Doctor stumbling out as debris knocked him unconscious. As they walked into the room, they grabbed their allotted equipment and gear. "Crack it open." Gregor told Bram, who nodded as they proceeded to use their tools on the TARDIS doors, however nothing worked.

"Nothing's working." Bram told Gregor in confusion.

"Use a thermo-charge and blast it." Gregor told him as he chucked him a charge.

"No, wait!" They both turned their heads to look at Tricky as he moved towards the TARDIS. "Can't you feel it? It's like, it's alive and it's in pain."

"It's a robot, Tricky."

"No, Gregor, he's right. It's looks like there's a broken fuel line." Bram said, pointing to the smoke coming out of the ship as they backed off.

"Alright then, throw it back. No salvage today." Gregor said. "Open the bay doors, Bram."

"Wait." Tricky said as he motioned them over to a pile of debris. "I think that's one of the crew members. He must have fell out when we brought it in."

"Alright. You know the drill, boys. We did nothing. If anyone asks, the crew was already dead, and the ship was busted when we found it. Right?" Tricky and Bram nodded timidly.

"You do realize it's rude to whisper." The Doctor mumbled, making them turn around. "Hello. Can I have a hand?" They moved to push the debris off him. "Thank you." He said as he got up with a groan, popping his back as he did. "I'm the Doctor. And you are?"

"Gregor and Bram Van Baleen and this is Tricky. He's a lucky charm android." Gregor said with a pat on Tricky's back, who smiled softly. "What happened to your head?" Gregor pointed.

The Doctor looked confused as they gave him a mirror, which he help up to see two scars across his left cheek, stopping before they reached both his left ear and the corner of his mouth. "Right, I got debris on me head. That must have been a side effect."

"Yeah, we found you drifting. Your ship was busted pretty bad."

"What broke my ship was a Magno-Grab." He reprimanded. He pulled out of his pocket a small, red charge that Tricky looked at before checking his pockets with wide eyes. "Yeah, I found this baby in your pocket. This is outlawed in most galaxies as he can disable whole vessels, unless of course you have shield oscillators." The Doctor then placed his forehead in his palm. "Which I turned off to protect my injured ego. Blame Clara and the TARDIS for ganging up on me." The Doctor paused as his face fell. "Wait, where's Clara?"

The three shrugged.

"She's about yah-high." He placed his hand at his collarbone. "Rather feisty, quite gorgeous-" He cut himself off with a blush. "Forget that last bit." He then paled in realisation as he turned to look at the TARDIS. "She's still on board." He then started to the ship but was held back by Tricky.

"No, wait. Your ship is leaking fuel. If she's still in there, she's dead."

"She better not be." The Doctor said sternly as he moved to their lockers before grabbing a respirator. "Now, can I ask a favour, and have you fellas help me out?"

"What sort of fee are we talking?" Gregor asked.

"If you help me get her out, you get all of it. Think about it, this box can't hold two people and everything a ship needs to fly. The box is a disguise and it's bigger on the inside. Behind those doors is the salvage of a lifetime and I need your help."

The three exchanged timid looks before Gregor shrugged. "Bugger it. Get your respirators on."

"Is it really worth the risk? That ship is spewing poison." Bram protested.

"Which I can fix with your help." The Doctor rolled his eyes.

The three moved to grab the new gear before walking up to him as he pulled out a key to unlock the doors.

"You're sure about this? The salvage of a lifetime?" Gregor asked.

"I feel rather confident that I can deliver on that." The Doctor said as he opened the door. "May I ask, if Tricky is an android, why does he need a respirator?"

"Flesh coating. He'd burn up just like us." Bram explained yet to the Doctor, it sounded like something that was rehearsed.

"No fear, no hate, no pain." Tricky said with a wink, which the Doctor raised an eyebrow at.

"Alright, in we go." The Doctor said as he pulled on the respirator and moved inside.

The three followed him in as they looked around in awe. "You were right. It's bigger on the inside." Gregor said.

"How big is this baby?" Bram asked.

"Picture the biggest spaceship then chuck that out because this ship is infinite." The Doctor said.

"Woah, awesome." Tricky said with a laugh.

"Rather well put." The Doctor said, raising his eyebrows with a grin. He then flicked a few switches that aired out the smoke. "It's safe to breathe now." He said as he pulled off his respirator with the others. "Now, the last time I remember, she was right there. Then she tumbled off down the corridor."

"It would take you hours to find her." Gregor said as they marvelled at the technology despite the mess.

"Days, plus this whole place is toxic. She'd be dead by the time I reach her, so here is the mission. We are going to find her in one hour."

"We?"

"Yes, we. You are my guys for this."

"That wasn't the deal." Gregor protested.

"It is now." The Doctor said coldly.

"What makes you think we'll help?" Bram asked.

The Doctor flicked a switch, which set off an alarm. The monitor showed a timer counting down from 60 minutes. "I just activated the TARDIS self-destruct system. We have one hour until this ship blows." Bram raced towards the doors which shut and locked on their own. "Don't try to leave and don't bother trying to steal my key, the TARDIS is in lockdown. I will open those doors when Clara is by my side, alive and safe."

"You crazy lunatic!" Bram yelled.

"My ship, my rules!"

"You'll kill us all and the girl." Gregor said.

"She'll be dead anyway if we don't do anything." Gregor and Tricky then raced towards the doors as they tried to break out, making the Doctor groan. "Alright, a little persuasion." He flicked a few switches to reduce the timer to 30 minutes. "How about half an hour?"

"We'll die even faster!" Bram protested.

"We all perform better under pressure. Would anybody like to go for 15 minutes?"

"Woah, wait, stop!" The three yelled in unison, making the Doctor grin coldly.

"Perhaps I should reiterate my earlier statement. 'Salvage of a lifetime'. I meant Clara Oswald."

* * *

Clara groaned as she shook the drowsiness from her head before pushing the debris off herself, so she could stand up, gasping in pain as she felt the stinging in her hand return tenfold while a bloody gash was burning in her forehead. She looked through the dark hallway, lit only by red lights an a small, burning fire.

"Doctor?" She called out yet found no answer, making her proceed on by herself. She came to the door at one end, which was closed with a red flashing light above it.  _Okay, that means something bad. 'Get out of here fast?' or 'Whatever you do, don't open this door'._  Clara placed her uninjured hand to her chin in contemplation before placing her hand on the button to open the door, showing a storm of fire rushing towards her, making her shut the door again. "Bad decision." She grumbled as she smacked her forehead before gasping.  _Dammit, wrong hand._  She then turned to walk back up the corridor and taking a left through an open doorway. One the wall was a black scorch mark, like someone had dragged fingers made of hot metal across the wall. She looked down to see a small hologram, pointing her down the corridor with the words 'The Library' on it. "Thank you dear." She said as she kissed the wall.

What answered her was silence.

"Old girl?" She asked, receiving a small, distant growl like a wolf, making her jerk her head as she proceeded cautiously down the direction of the arrow.

* * *

The Doctor led Tricky and Bram as they walked through a series of corridors, searching for Clara while Gregor trailed closely behind, holding out a small scanner.

"Report. What's on board this thing?" Gregor asked the scanner.

"Dynamorphic generators. Conceptual geometer. Beam synthesiser. Orthogonal engine filters." A quieter version of the computer voice said from the scanner.

Gregor stared in contemplation before getting an idea, making him rush to catch up with the others. "Guys, I think we should split up. It's our best chance of finding the girl, you know it is."

The Doctor squinted his eyes before sighing. "Fine. Tricky, you with me." Tricky nodded as he moved off with the Doctor.

"Keep in radio contact, Tricky." Gregor said with a small salute.

"Yes boss." Tricky said with a smile.

"And don't touch anything, the TARDIS will get mad if you make a mess." The Doctor called out as he and Tricky disappeared.

"Get back to the console and strip it apart." Gregor told Bram, who nodded as they moved in separate directions.

Bram re-entered back into the console room before taking out a few tools and proceeding to pry one of the console panels apart.

" _I made up the name TARDIS from the initials. Time and Relative Dimension in Space."_

" _Dimensionally transcendental."_

" _That's trans-dimensional engineering. A key Time Lord discovery."_

" _A thing that looks like a police box, standing in a junkyard. It can move anywhere in time and space?"_

These indistinct voices made Bram look up in confusion before he pulled a piece of the grating floor back to reveal a ladder.

"Bram? Bram, can you hear me? Bram, the ship is alive. Get out of there and don't touch anything." The voice of Tricky came in through the radio yet Bram ignored it as he stared at the column of green light that was linked to the bottom of the console.

"You're just the sweetest thing ever." He marvelled before he started to descend the ladder.

"Bram, are you listening to me? You've got to get out of there."

Bram placed his hand on a part of the ladder that was scorched through, burning his hand and making him hiss in pain as he lost his grip on the ladder, making him fall to the ground with a groan of pain. He struggled to get up as the pain in his hand burned with the spasm in his back from the fall. As he stood, trying to maintain balance, he turned to see a figure standing in a nearby doorway, covered in scorched rock and with lava for veins while it's eyes glowed like red ambers. It stared at Bram, growling before it charged with a roar, knocking Bram to the ground before it placed its hands-on Bram, making him scream in pain as his head was burned alive.

* * *

Gregor was walking through a series of corridors as he held his scanner out in front of him, humming as it searched the nearby areas of the ship. As he passed by a door, the scanner beeped in an alert.

"Everything." The scanner said.

"What? Report."

"Everything behind that door."

"Everything? What do you mean 'everything'?" Gregor asked incredulously.

"Sensor detects everything you could possibly want."

Gregor thought for a moment before pressing his hand on the door button to open it, revealing a small room filled with wires and large, white bulbs with Gallifreyan markings, assembled like an overgrown, hanging tree.

"Everything."

"I don't understand. Give me a price tag."

"Incalculable."

"What?"

"More valuable than the total sum of any currency. Living metal. Bespoke engineering. Whatever machine you require, this system will build it."

Gregor smiled in appreciation as he put the scanner away, before holding up his cutting laser to detach one of the bulbs.

"Don't you dare do that!" The Doctor yelled as he ran in with Tricky. "If you take anything from this room, the TARDIS won't let you leave, do you hear me?!"

"What is this place?" Gregor asked.

"It doesn't matter what this place is, don't touch anything!" The Doctor roared.

"Gregor, please just listen to him. This ship, it's in pain. Let's just find the girl and get out of here." Tricky tried to reason.

Gregor snorted before he pulled a circuit out, causing a high-pitched tone to blare through the room, hurting Gregor's hearing yet leaving the Doctor and Tricky unharmed as the door suddenly disappeared.

"What the hell? Where it's gone? Where's the door gone?!" Gregor asked in fear.

"Since you so obviously wanted to see the TARDIS get mad, now you're got the front seat." The Doctor mocked.

"Well, aren't you going to stop me?" Gregor mocked.

"Don't have too. I have a whole ship that you're in right now to do it for me." The Doctor said coldly. "It's her basic genetic material. She won't relinquish it."

"Tricky, torch the door." Gregor said, pulling out a thermo-charge.

"No. Just give her back the circuit, Gregor." Tricky pleaded.

Gregor scoffed before arming the charge, only to give a smug smirk as the door reappeared.

"Look at that, Doctor. Your ship is too scared to fight me." Gregor mocked before he proceeded out of the room. Tricky looked at the Doctor apologetically before hurrying after him.

The Doctor clenched his jaw as he tried to contain his boiling rage, running a hand on one of the circuits in apologetic pity to his ship. He then proceeded to follow the two, who found themselves walking in circles in a fork-pathed corridor.

"It's just the same. What is going on here?!" Gregor asked in fear.

"She's spinning a maze around us. We'll never reach Clara in time now give it back!" The Doctor roared.

Gregor shook his head as his fear towards the Doctor started to grow before he rushed down a different path. The Doctor rolled his eyes as he turned around to see Gregor walk towards him.

"Don't you get it now?! There's no point in building walls, you'll just smash them down! Answer; Labyrinth! You can get out of this situation easily and unharmed. All you have to do is give it back!"

"Bram? Bram, can you hear me? Bram, the ship is alive. Get out of there and don't touch anything." Tricky heard nothing through the radio. "Bram, are you listening to me? You've got to get out of there." They then heard him stumble and fall in pain which after a moment of silence was heard by an animalistic roaring, followed by Bram's scream of pain and agony. "Bram? Bram?!" Tricky then turned to look at Gregor. "Gregor do something!"

"It's too late, he's gone. Let's just worry about the salvage." Gregor said, trying to hide the pain in his voice.

"Why do you care more about a circuit than you do about him?!" Tricky asked.

"Stop this now!" The Doctor roared, making them look down like guilty children. "Your concern for your brother is really touching, Gregor, yet Tricky seems more cut up about it than you are. Now stop bickering and listen! There was something with Bram that killed him, so something else is aboard this ship." The Doctor pulled out his sonic as he began a scan of the TARDIS.

"We've got to get out of here. Gregor give it back. Give it back now!" Tricky yelled.

"Alright, fine!" Gregor yelled as he took the circuit out of his bag and throwing it onto the ground, which didn't even dent it. "Why are you always on the side of the machines?!"

"I said stop this now!" The Doctor roared, repeating the same effect. "There are multiple life forms aboard this ship with us right now."

"Where are they?" Gregor asked in fear.

"You won't like the answer; About two steps away." This made them all pause as they turned around to look behind them, seeing now two figures like the one that killed Bram, only these two and only one limb each and were joined at the place were the other used to be.

"Run!" The Doctor ordered as they moved to rush from the room, however Gregor was backhanded by one of the creatures, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground at a different doorway.

"Gregor!" Tricky yelled.

"Tricky, Gregor, run now!" The Doctor yelled, which Gregor and Tricky complied to without hesitation then ran down the corridor while the Doctor looked at the two creatures with pity. "I'm sorry." He said sincerely before running to follow the two.

* * *

As Clara walked along a route of arrows, she found a door which when opened, made her raise her eyebrows at the site of the expansive library and-"Why does he have a swimming pool in the library?" She mumbled. She walked through the library, to raise her eyebrows as she saw her '101 Places to See' on a shelf, yet this had more age than the one she had.  _Could it be a future version?_  She then saw sitting alone on a stand, a book titled 'The History of the Time War'. In curiosity, she walked up to it and turned to the last page before reading a small section.

_Stepping out of the TARDIS, the Doctor took one last look upon his home planet of Gallifrey, knowing this will be the last time he will see it whether he dies or not. Not the burnt orange sand nor the clear blue skies mixed with grey clouds and bathed in the red twin suns. In the far distance he saw the same barn he ran to in his childhood. This walk would be his penance, his atonement for the crime he would commit; burning all Gallifrey and his own people to save the universe. Picking up The Moment, he began the long trek towards the barn._

" _Time Lords of Gallifrey, Daleks of Skaro, I serve notice on you all. Too long I have stayed my hand, No More. Today, you leave me no choice. Today, this war will end. No More. No More."_

Clara closed the book, sniffing as she held back the tears in her eyes. "You poor man." She mumbled in sadness.

The door to the library clanged open, making Clara hold back a gasp in shock as she moved to a hiding place, wiping the tears from her eyes as she did. Another one of the creatures entered the library alone. This one had one of its hands on its face, rubbing it almost in sadness.

 _Who are you?_  Clara watched in silence as the creature looked around before it moved silently out of the library. Clara then rushed out of another door, before following another trail of arrows that led her through another door into the console room. "Oh, thank you." She said gleefully before hurrying up to the console. "Thank you so much." She said, placing a kiss on the console, yet her face fell as she looked upon the door, which was instead of the wooden police box was just solid stone. "Oh, dear god. What's going on? Something's wrong with you, isn't there?" She asked the TARDIS which gave no answer. "Please, where are you, Doctor?" She mumbled. The console suddenly moved and jerked as pieces of debris and junk were flung from the console, making Clara jerk up in shock. Her breathing became full of fear as some of the switches were flicked before it stopped, leaving her in silence apart from her fearful panting. She then heard an animalistic growling as one of the creatures entered the console room. "I really should've closed the door." She reprimanded herself as it came near her yet stopped as Clara tried to steady herself. Clara looked at it with confusion despite her fear. "What are you?" She asked, receiving no answer. The creature then briefly looked around before giving a growl as it advanced on Clara, backing her to the door as it reached its lava covered hands out, making Clara scream in terror.

* * *

Gregor, Tricky and the Doctor ran into the console room, closing the door behind them as they stopped the pursuit of the creatures following them.

"Back where we started?" Tricky asked.

"No, it's an echo room. The console room is the safest place on the ship, but this isn't the original. Look at the door." The Doctor said, pointing to the door which was replaced with a wall of stone. "This room is just a copy. The TARDIS can replicate this room any number of times, it's trying to protect us."

"Why would it protect me? I tried to steal from it." Gregor mumbled

The Doctor sighed. "You gave it back in the end, besides, the TARDIS would never condemn you to death and neither would I."

"Don't feel sorry for me, mate. It was my fault, I should've given it back earlier. We would've gotten to the girl much faster."

"No, it was my fault that Clara is in trouble. I'm the one to blame, not you, all because I can't control my goddam ego." He said in self anger, shoving some of the debris off the console yet him and Tricky paused as they just disappeared.

"Where did that go?" Tricky asked.

"There's more than one echo room. Wait, look!" He said, pointing to a small shadow that passed hesitantly over the railing. "The TARDIS has got Clara safe, that was her there. Thank you so much!" He said with a sigh of relief as he placed a kiss on the console.

"So, why can't we see her?" Gregor asked.

"Think of the echo rooms like a light switch. We're only together for brief instances. I just need something to identify her, so I can bring her to the right room."

Gregor thought for a moment. "Would this help?" He asked, pulling out his scanner.

"Oh yes, thank you!" The Doctor yelled before snatching it and pulling out his sonic.

"Wait, shhh!" Tricky said, making them quiet down. They could barely hear Clara's fearful panting filling the console room.

"That's her, that's definitely her." The Doctor said as he got to work with the scanner.

"Scanning for female Human." The scanner said.

Suddenly, the familiar growling noise filled the room.

" _I really should've closed the door."_

"She's by the front door!" Gregor pointed, finding the source of her voice as her terror filled screams echoed through the room and sending cold shivers down the Doctor's spine.

"That she is!" The Doctor yelled as they rushed to the door.

"Unidentified Human."

"It doesn't know Lancashire or sass, but that's her, that's Clara!" The Doctor switched a few settings before using the scanner as Clara began to fade into the room in a ghostlike haze. He then reached a hand, grabbing onto her arm and pulling her towards him as she focused into reality, throwing his arms around her shaking body. "It's alright, Clara! It's alright."

Clara wrenched herself from him, glaring, which made him gulp.

"Clara, wait, I'm sorry!" The Doctor yelled fruitlessly as Clara punched his shoulder hard. "Oww!"

"You and your goddam ego got us into this mess!" Clara yelled as she smacked his face hard.

"Oww!"

"Why have you got zombie creatures in your ship?!"

"I said I'm sorry!" The Doctor pleaded.

Clara calmed down as some tears came into her eyes before she threw her arms around him. "Don't ever do that again, you hear me?"

"Yes boss." The Doctor mumbled.

Their presence started to calm each other down, before Clara noticed Gregor and Tricky standing there looking awkward. "Who are you?" She asked in confusion.

"I'm Gregor, this is Tricky." Gregor mumbled awkwardly. "Doctor wanted our help finding you."

Clara hugged him tighter. "You didn't have to worry about me."

"Rubbish. Of course, I worry about you. By the way, what happened to your head?" He asked, pointing to her gash.

"Banged my head. What happened to you?" She asked, pointing to his scars.

"Banged my head. Wait, did you just steal the words out of my mouth?"

"No." She giggled.

"Okay, you have Clara back, now can you please cancel the self-destruct?" Gregor asked.

Clara looked at the Doctor with accusing expression, yet it didn't reach her eyes. "Did you threaten them?"

"No, I lied. There is no self-destruct. I just wanted Clara back." The Doctor mumbled.

Gregor put his face in his hand, yet they looked at the console as an alarm set off.

"Okay, apparently there is something wrong." The Doctor said with furrowed eyebrows as he untangled himself from Clara and moving to the monitor. "Ah. The engine is damaged. Great."

"What's going to happen then?" Tricky asked.

"If we don't fix the engine, the TARDIS will blow up and yes, I'm not lying this time."

"Where is the engine at?" Gregor asked.

"The engine is at the centre of the TARDIS. Want to go on a little trip?" The Doctor asked.

"Well, we've got nothing to do and I don't want to be on my own again, so why not?" Clara said with a shrug.

"Yeah, me and Tricky could give a hand. It's the least we can do." Gregor mumbled apologetically.

"Would now be a good time to use that 'Big Friendly Button'?" Clara said teasingly.

"Oi!"

"Sorry, what?" Tricky asked.

"Long story." Clara said.

"Are we going to witter on all day? Come on." The Doctor said impatiently.

"Rude." Clara admonished before she, Gregor and Tricky followed the Doctor.

* * *

The Doctor led the group through a series of dark hallways, lit by his scanning sonic. Rustling noise came past, making Clara shush them as they tried to listen.

"Something is in here." Clara said.

"Of course, there is. Captain obvious." He mumbled under his breath.

"I'm right here." She warned.

"I didn't say nothing." He denied.

"What are those things? The creatures that are following us?" Gregor asked yet he got no answer.

"Doctor? What aren't you telling us?" Clara asked.

The Doctor looked at her in sadness as he placed a hand on her cheek. "There are some things you should never know."

They heard a growling noise behind them, making them look to see the back of one of the creatures.

"Okay, move and quietly." The Doctor said as they rushed away yet split up. Tricky and Gregor went down one hallway while the Doctor went down another with Clara before she lost track of him.

"Doctor?" She called timidly into the silence. "Doctor? Again." She mumbled, looking down to inspect her scar, the pain had faded from her hand to be replaced by what looked like a message but was hard to read. The pain in her forehead, while passing was still there, making her wince slightly.

" _What do you mean you don't know what this stuff does? You flew the TARDIS, of course you would know."_

" _Yes, by winging it with the help of the TARDIS."_

Clara looked up to see past versions of her and the Doctor walking past, making her raise her eyebrows both in shock and confusion. She turned around to see herself staring at her.

" _See? Even the TARDIS is a better teacher than you. Hell, she can pilot herself better than you can."_

Clara blinked at the past version of her disappeared to be replaced by another.

" _Please tell me there's a button you can press to fix this!"_

Clara turned around to see the Doctor standing there, yet he had a look of rage on his face.

" _She's spinning a maze around us. We'll never reach Clara in time now give it back!"_

"Clara, wait!"

She turned to see the real Doctor standing there. "What's going on?"

"There's a rupture in time somewhere onboard this ship, a small tear in the fabric of reality. Past and future are leaking into the present."

"But, why were you angry? Who were you angry at?"

"I was angry with myself." He mumbled.

"It wasn't your fault, Doctor. No, stop." She cut him off. "It wasn't your fault, okay?"

The Doctor nodded weakly. "Okay. Now, come on. We've got to keep moving. Just ignore those, they are memories."

They turned around to see one of the creatures standing there, looking at them.

"What about this?" Clara asked fearfully.

"I'd say…run." He said simply as he grabbed her hand to run through a series of corridors to lose it. "Hurry! She's right onto us!"

"She?"

"Clara, please don't ask me anymore." They hid around a corner in silence as the creature came down, trying to look for them.

" _You take that back, Clara. My piloting skills are fantastic."_

" _Dear god, you're like a walking ego wrapped in an overgrown child."_

The creature looked to see the past versions of Clara and the Doctor walking past, deciding to chase after them instead.

"Well, thank goodness for that." The Doctor chuckled as Clara let out a slight laugh. They looked up as they heard a creaking and groaning noise above them.

"What's that noise?"

"We're right under the primary fuel cell."

"So?"

"So, the fuel's spilled out and the rods will be exposed. Means they'll cool-"

"And start to warp."

"Maybe even-"

"Don't say it."

"Maybe even-"

"Don't you dare say it."

"Maybe even break apart." They jumped back as a large, rod burst out of the roof into another wall, missing their heads by inches.

"Run?" She offered.

"Love that idea." He nodded before they rushed off down the corridor, gasping as more rods burst out, barely missing them. One rod burst out, missing both of their heads, making them wince before they heard Tricky scream in pain, making them rush to the source. They found Tricky impaled against the wall by a rod that was buried in his left arm, Gregor looking on in horror as he tried to pull the rod out.

"Just cut my arm off!" Tricky pleaded.

"No!" Gregor denied.

"It's the quickest way to release me, you know it is! I can get a replacement arm, just do it!"

"No, I can't!"

"Why not?!"

The Doctor looked on in bitter sadness. "Tell him, Gregor. Tell him the truth."

"What truth?!" Tricky asked.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic and performed a scan on Tricky. "The only thing that is android about you is the bionic eyes and the synthetic voice box. But the reality is, you are Human."

"What?" Tricky mumbled as his eyes widened.

"I'm sorry, mate. We just did it as a joke. A stupid joke." Gregor mumbled guiltily.

"Who am I?" Tricky asked.

"You're our brother, Tricky. You lost your memory, sight and voice in an accident. We made you think you were an android, because Dad wanted you to be captain."

"And you did this, so you could be captain?!" Tricky accused.

"Yes. But that was a mistake."

"Why would you insist on it being a mistake?"

"Because you would've made a better captain than us."

Tricky's eyes softened at that.

"I don't expect you to forgive us, Tricky, but at least know that we're sorry."

The Doctor looked between them with sadness, Clara placing her hand on his shoulder in comfort. "Cut the metal." He mumbled. Gregor complied without a word.

* * *

Gregor carried the wounded Tricky as they and Clara followed the Doctor till they arrived at a closed door with a window. Behind it was a brightly lit room with a dense orange glow.

"Where are we?" Clara asked.

"Power source. Right, you lot wait here. I'll go inside, we can only survive for a few minutes in there."

"What happens if we stay too long?"

"Our skins would liquefy and burn." The Doctor said bluntly.

"I always feel so good after we've spoken." Clara said sarcastically.

"Yeah, so do I." The Doctor retorted.

"Watch it." Clara warned.

"Yes ma'am." He smirked.

"You're asking for a smack, aren't you?"

"Can you guys please keep the flirting down for a moment?" Gregor mumbled.

"We're not flirting!" They said in unison, which made them blush.

"Look, just keep this door shut." The Doctor said, which they nodded to, making him rush inside. The room was just a bridge over a dark chasm, wind rushing through the room as a bright star burned inside, boiling his skin and making him sweat profusely as he moved to the other door.

* * *

Gregor held up his scanner towards Clara, which made her raise an eyebrow.

"Lancashire. Sass." The computer said.

"Sass?" She said incredulously.

"That's what the scanner said." Gregor mumbled.

Clara shrugged. They looked to see the Doctor open the door.

"Woah, it is boiling in there!" He ranted. "Did I miss anything?"

"Apparently I'm sass." Clara said.

"Did you just figure that out?" He chuckled.

"Shut up!" She giggled.

"Now, come on, we can only last for a few minutes in there." He said hastily as they moved into the room.

"What is that?!" Clara shouted.

"The Eye of Harmony! An exploding star in the act of becoming a black hole! Time Lords rip the star from their orbits and suspend it in a permanent state of decay! Smart bunch they were! Horrendous dress sense, but smart!" He shouted as he wrenched the other door open, only to shut it again as the lava zombies growled on the other side. "Maybe not that way!"

Tricky and Gregor rushed to the other door, only to find more creatures banging on that door. "There's no way out, we're trapped!" Gregor yelled.

"You're going to tell me right now! If we are going to die here, tell me what they are!" Clara ordered.

The Doctor looked at her in guilt ridden sadness. "I can't."

"Tell me! What's the use of secrets now?!"

"It's not about secrets, Clara! If you knew the answer, you wouldn't…" He trailed off.

"Wouldn't what?!"

"Want to stay with me!" He finished, making her eyes widen.

Gregor held up his scanner to one of the creatures.

"Sensor detects Human core element. Identified as: Lancashire. Sass."

"What?" Clara mumbled.

"I told you, Clara. Time is bleeding here, past and future. They're us, from being trapped in here. I didn't want to lose you again and now I have."

"What do you mean, lose me again?" Clara asked.

The Doctor placed rubbed his hand on his face to contain his guilt, turning around to look at anything but Clara yet he stopped. He noticed one of the zombies was mimicking his movements, which started to make his skin burn, until he stopped, making it return to normal. He looked up at Gregor and Tricky who were side by side, like the zombie pair earlier.

"Wait a moment! If we interrupt the time line, this won't happen! Gregor, Tricky! Don't touch each other!"

They both moved away from the door, as one of the zombies broke the glass, reaching a hand down to open the door before moving through. Tricky grabbed one of their tools to smack it on the head, causing it to fall over the railing and down the chasm. They all moved to rush for the door, before stopping as the adjoined zombie pair emerged, trapping them again. Gregor then grabbed the tool from Tricky's hand before bashing the pair through the railing, before giving them a final push with a kick, which they took advantage off by grabbing onto his ankle and pulling him down, making him grasp a part of the railing.

"Gregor!" Tricky yelled, rushing towards him.

"Don't worry about me, Tricky! Just go!"

"No, you're my brother!" Gregor looked at him with wide eyes as Tricky grabbed his hands. "No matter what you've done, I forgive you." They exchanged a small smile. "Now come on!"

"Wait, don't touch him!" The Doctor yelled but as they stood up, they screamed in pain as they're adjoining limbs melted into one another before smoke poured out of their eyes, as they're skin burned charcoal black with lava running through it. They then looked at Clara and the Doctor before growling and rushing towards them. "Run!" He yelled as him and Clara rushed through the door and locked it from the other side. They looked to the door at the end of the corridor before rushing towards it.

"What's through there?!" Clara yelled.

"The engine room! It's the heart of the TARDIS!" The Doctor said as he wrenched the door open, Clara running through first then the Doctor before he grabbed her hand to pull her back. They found themselves on a rocky cliffside overlooking a fog filled chasm.

"How are we outside?"

"We're not. We're still inside the TARDIS."

"There's no way across?"

"Afraid not."

"Time for a plan then?"

"What have I told you, Clara? I don't have a plan, I just improvise."

"Doctor, we need a plan, or we could die here." Clara protested.

"I don't have a plan, so you might as well tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"You're right Clara. If we're about to die what is the point of secrets? So just tell me who you are."

"You know who I am." Clara shook her head.

"No, I don't!" The Doctor yelled, silencing her. "I look at you everyday and I still don't understand, why do I keep running into you?!"

"You invited me, remember?"

"Before that! I met you on my home planet when I stole this TARDIS, there was a girl there who understood me better than most people I've met in my life and she was you!"

"No, she wasn't."

"The Dalek Asylum during the Time War!" The Doctor ranted, ignoring her. "There was a girl in a shipwreck who died saving my life and she was you!"

"She can't be."

"Victorian London! I was sulking in the TARDIS on a cloud, there was a governess/barmaid who got me to stop sulking, save the planet yet she died saving my life and she was you!"

"Doctor, you're scaring me!"

"What are you?! A trick?! A trap?!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" She slipped, making the Doctor grab her arm and pull her into a hug as his eyes widened at his actions to her. He pulled back slightly, giving her a soft look.

"You really don't know, do you?"

"I think I'm more scared of you right now than anything else in the TARDIS." She admitted cautiously.

"Emma was right. You're just Clara. Ordinary, perfect, Clara." He hugged her in gratitude.

"I don't know what the hell this is about, but the hug is appreciated." She said in confusion.

The Doctor pulled back as his eyebrows furrowed. "Wait a moment, we're not going to die here."

"What do you mean?"

"This isn't real, Clara." He said, picking up a rock and chucking it down the chasm, yet it vanished before it touched the fog. "See that?"

"Yes. What does it mean?"

"It's a snarl. Think Clara, what does a wounded animal do?"

"It tries to scare everyone away." She said in realisation.

"That's right. We're close to the engine so the TARDIS is just trying to scare us off. Which means-"

"Don't say it."

"It means-"

"Don't you dare say it."

"We need to jump."

"I told you not to say it."

"Sorry, I wasn't listening." He teased.

"How can you be so sure?" She asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Honestly, I'm not sure."

"Yeah, that's reassuring." She said sarcastically.

"Come on, Clara. I've piloted this ship for most of my life, so trust me this one time please."

She now raised both eyebrows at him.

" _*Chuckles*_ Okay then, plus all the other times. You ready?"

"Not really, no."

"Neither am I." He laughed. "Fantastic!" They then ran to the edge, jumping off before landing suddenly in a white room. It looked like they were floating in space, with metallic debris hanging still in the air. "The engine, it's already exploded." He mumbled , despair coming into his voice. "It must have been the collision with the salvage ship."

"So, how are we not dead?"

"She wrapped her hands around the force. She froze it, but it's just delaying the inevitable. There's no way I can save her now." He blinked as tears started to prickle his eyes. "She's always been there for me and yet now when she needs help, I have no idea what to do." Clara walked up to him and immediately took his hand, rubbing her thumb on the back of his hand which began to calm him until he looked at her in confusion.

"What's that face for?" She asked.

He pulled her hand up in view to inspect the scar, before a grin came on to his face. Her hand bore a scarred message saying, 'Big Friendly Button'.

"Wonderful." He said with a laugh, kissing both her hand and forehead.

"You have a plan now?" She asked with a smile.

"Oh yes." He pulled out his sonic and switched the settings. "The time rift is bleeding out the past and the future. All I just have to do is find the moment we crashed which would mean find the music." Flicking on the sonic, the song began to blare again.

_Hope you got your things together_

_Hope you are quite prepared to die_

_Looks like we're in for nasty weather_

_One eye is taken for an eye_

"You know, no matter what is happening, it's a great song." She said with a smile.

"Creedence Clearwater. I met the singer, John Fogerty. I was there at his wedding."

"Which one?"

"The one in 1965. We should go see them live sometime."

"That would be fun." She grinned.

"Alright, let's get out of here." He grabbed her hand again as they hurried away.

* * *

Inside the console room, they saw a crack in the wall, gleaming white light into the ruined room.

"There's the time rift. Recent past and future, all colliding together at once." He pulled out the charge he took from Gregor.

"What are you going to do?"

"Hopefully, rewrite today. I've thrown this through the rift before, but now I must make sure I go through myself." He said as he wrote the words 'Big Friendly Button' into the charge.

"Will it hurt?"

"Tremendously." He said before turning to the crack.

"Wait!" Clara stopped him. "All those things you said. How we've met before and I've died-"

"Clara, if we get out of this, I promise you I'll tell you the truth, okay?"

"How do I know you're not lying?"

"I think you already know the answer to that."

"No, I don't." She shook her head.

"It's because I trust you, Clara." He said softly. "All you just need to do is hold onto these memories and you won't forget."

"Doctor, in the library, there was a book."

He looked down.

"Is that why you don't talk about yourself?"

"Yes."

"Why do I get the feeling you will tell me?"

"I told you, Clara. I trust you." He hugged her and kissed her forehead. "Now, just hold on."

"Hold onto what?"

"I was talking to myself." He said amusingly, making them chuckle. He pulled away, moving closer to the crack and clicking his neck. "Let's do this!" He shoved himself through the rift, screaming in pain as he did.

* * *

"It's a Magnetic Hubble field! We're flying right into it!"

"Please tell me there's a button you can press to fix this!" Clara yelled.

"Oh yes! A big, friendly button!" The Doctor yelled sarcastically.

"You're lying, right?!"

"Yes!"

"To stop me freaking out?!"

"Yes! Is it working?!"

"No!"

"Ah well, at least I tried!"

The future Doctor screamed as he shoved his way through the crack, holding up the charge in his hand as the past Doctor and Clara looked at him in astonishment.

"Doctor, I'm from your future! This will reset time, you have to press it!" He chucked it onto the floor which rolled towards Clara as the rift disintegrated him into atoms.

Clara bent down to pick the charge up with one hand while the other gripped onto the railing. As she held it, she felt a burning sensation in her hand causing her to scream in pain as she dropped it.

"Clara!" The Doctor yelled as he rushed towards her, catching the charge as it fell and looking at the message before laughing. "Big Friendly Button! Fantastic!" He then pressed the button, blinding the room with white light.

* * *

"Suit up, fellas. It's good salvage. I can almost smell it." Gregor said as he walked up to them.

"It's just trash." Bram said.

"No, look. There's something in the Magno field." Tricky said as the screen showed the TARDIS appearing.

"Screw it." Gregor said as he moved to activate the Magno-Grab, but he stopped as the TARDIS vanished.

"Where did it go?" Tricky asked.

"No idea." Gregor said, shrugging.

"Hey Tricky, got treat yourself to some food. You deserve it." Bram said.

Tricky smiled softly before moving off. Gregor sent Bram an approving nod which Bram returned.

* * *

The Doctor finished cleaning and fixing the console room as Clara entered, a daisy dress and carrying a towel which she was using to dry her hair.

"You alright?" He asked.

"I feel really exhausted." She admitted.

"We've had two days crammed into one."

"It's not that." She denied.

He looked at her softly. "You remember then?"

"Yeah. By the way, thank you." She said, kissing the console.

 _*Beeps*_  (No problem)

"What?" He asked.

"She showed me the way back to the console room in the first place."

The Doctor smiled. "Well, thank you old girl." He then kissed the console. He then pulled the monitor over, which showed the pictures of Gallifreyan and Victorian Clara.

"Woah." She mumbled.

"Yeah. I don't have a picture of you in the asylum. By the time I found you, you were already turned into a Dalek."

"What's a Dalek?"

The Doctor looked down with a sigh, which Clara took as a notice to listen.

"I'm a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. Time Lords figured out a science to live long through regeneration. Basically, every time we would die, we heal except we would gain a new face and a new personality."

"How many faces are you on?"

The Doctor gulped, not ready to admit to his past face. "9, including this one. The last one was a bit of handsome bloke, you would've like him." He smiled.

"Shut up!" She blushed.

"But there was a war. The Time Lords were fighting a race called the Daleks. They're creatures built on nothing but rage and hate, whose only purpose is to eliminate anything that wasn't Dalek. I fought in the War myself, but it just kept going, no matter how hard we tried to stop it."

"What made you stop it?"

"It's not a matter of what, it's a matter of who." He said, pointing at her.

"Me?"

"In the asylum, I made you a promise to save your life, but you gave your life to save mine. I decided the War had gone on too long and it needed to stop. But…" He trailed off, tears starting to come into his eyes.

"Doctor, it wasn't your fault." She protested.

"How could it not be?! I had to burn everyone on my own planet to save the universe! Do you know how many children died on Gallifrey by my hand?! 2.47 billion! So many of them could've lived out brilliant lives but they're all dead because of me!"

Clara rushed to pull him into a hug as he tried to contain his sobbing. "What is the point in blaming yourself, Doctor? It's no good putting yourself to blame."

"Clara, I can only blame myself. There was no one else who did it but me."

"You can't blame anyone else, not even yourself. Doctor, it may have been by your hand, but it wasn't your fault." She said as she placed her hands on his face.

"How?"

"Because you keep going. You keep on moving and living. Just do one thing for them."

"What?"

"Don't hide it like a secret, Doctor. You'll always mourn them, but you don't honour their memory by acting like they didn't exist. You don't have to confess everything sin you've done, you just have to remember them, like family."

The Doctor gave her a soft smile before hugging her tightly. "Do you know that after the War, I sulked on a cloud?"

"Only you would do that." They chuckled lightly.

"But you were there, and you helped me. You brought me back from the dead."

Clara smiled. "I'm glad, but don't say that line, it's really cheesy."

"Sorry."

"Doctor, at the house, the TARDIS showed me a hologram. It was Susan. Who was she?"

"She was my granddaughter." He mumbled. "First person I ever travelled with. Brilliant yet she found enjoyment dressing like a pixie." Clara giggled at this.

"What happened to her?"

"She fell in love, with a man called David. I decided it was time for her to live her own life, her own way."

"Was she happy?"

He smiled. "There were a few bumps later on, but yes, she was happy." He kissed her forehead again. "Thank you, Clara. I didn't expect you to react like this."

"What did you expect?"

"Does anger and disgust ring a bell?" They chuckled. "Now, I've got something for you."

"What?"

"It's about time you had one." He said, pulling out a TARDIS key.

"Thank you." She mumbled with a soft smile as she took the key.

"Now, tell me, do you feel safe travelling with me? Anything could happen wherever we go."

"That's what I'm counting on." She smirked.

"But first, you should get some rest. I got something to do."

Clara moved to leave the room. "Where are you going?"

"London. Got sort out some plastic."

"Some what?" She called confusingly.

"I'll explain later." He shrugged.

She rolled her eyes before leaving, the Doctor looking on with a smirk before moving around the console to pilot it elsewhere.


	10. Rose

**March 4th, 2005, Powell Estate**

A blonde, teen girl of 19 years groaned as her alarm woke her up at 7:30am, shutting it off before shooting up out of bed, remembering to get to work. Hurrying to get dressed in her usual pink jumper and dark blue jeans, she gives her mother a kiss on the cheek as she hurries out of the door.

"Bye Mum!" She calls.

"See ya later, Rosie!" Her Mum calls back.

Catching a bus into town, she heads into her work, Henrik's Department Store. The rest becomes a routine blur for her; Do as she's told, arrange the new clothes, go out with her boyfriend Mickey at lunch break, return to work, continue until 5:00pm, get the lottery money and deliver it to Wilson, the chief electrician before heading home again. She heads into the elevator, giving a slight sigh at her routine life. The elevator stops in the basement, so she heads out into the hallway, filled with boxes both opened and unopened as she knocks on the door, saying 'H.P Wilson C.E.O'.

"Wilson? Wilson, I've got the lottery money. Wilson, you there? Look, I can't hang about cause they're closing the shop. Wilson?" She calls but receives no answer. "Ugh, come on." She mumbles. Her answer to this is a distant clattering followed by small footsteps, making her turn around. She walks to a nearby red door. "Hello? Wilson, it's Rose. Hello?" She pushes the door open to see a pitch-black room, making her flick on the lights. "Wilson?!" She calls, uncertainty not beginning to lace within her voice. She walks towards another red door, only to find it locked.

***SLAM***

Rose jumps as the door she entered through closed on its own, the noise echoing throughout the room. She runs towards the door and attempts to open it, but finds it locked from the other side.

"You've got to be kidding me." She mumbles in fear. Items banging against each other are heard down the corridor, making her turn to look. "Is that someone mucking about?!" She walks forward in uncertainty, slowing as she hears a low, creaking noise, making her turn to see one of the mannequin dummies turning to look at her. She looked at it with wide eyes, a cold chill of fear racing up her spine as the dummy starts to walk towards her. "Right. You've got me, very funny." She says sarcastically. More dummies turn and start to walk towards her. "Right, I've got the joke! Whose idea was this?! Is it Derek's?!" The dummies start to corner her against a wall, her small amount of bravado fading fast. "Derek is this you?!" She turns to run but a dummy grabs her arm and shoves her against the wall, before raising its hand above its head, ready to strike. She closes her eyes in fear, before turning to look to her left as a hand grasps hers.

"Run." The Doctor says before leading her away just as the dummy strikes at where she was, only hitting a gas pipe. He leads her through another red door before running down the hallway, looking back to see the dummies starting to run to catch up with them. They arrive at an elevator, which after pressing the button opens, so they rush inside and get the door closed, just in time as the dummies arrive yet one of them shoves its hand through the door. The Doctor grabs it and wrenches hard a few times, which the 3rd pops the arm out and nearly stumbles him over as the door closes fully.

"You pulled his arm off." She said, swallowing the fear of death inside her.

"Yep. Plastic." He says with a smile as he tosses the arm to her, which she catches as he crosses his arms in patience.

"Very clever, nice trick. Who were they, then…students? Is this a student thing or what?"

"Why would they be students?" He asks.

"I don't know." She shrugs slightly.

"Well, you said it. Why students?"

"Cause, to get that many people dressed up and being silly, they've got to be students."

He nods slightly. "That makes sense. Well done."

"Thanks." She says blinking.

"They're not students."

"Look, whoever they are, when Wilson finds them, he's going to call the police."

"Who's Wilson?"

"Chief Electrician."

"Wilson's dead." He said sombrely as the door opens and they move out, Rose looks at him with furrowed eyebrows.

"That's not funny! That's sick!"

"Hold on. Mind your eyes." He said, pulling out his sonic and sparking the elevator controls so they couldn't be followed, the flash of light from it makes Rose wince.

"I've had enough of this now. Who are you, then? Who's that lot down there?" She asks but the Doctor just rushes off without saying a word, making her groan. "I said, who are they?!"

The Doctor then rolls his eyes as he leads her to an exit. "They're made of plastic. Living plastic creatures and they're being controlled by a relay device on the roof, which would be a great, big problem if I didn't have this." He said, pulling out a homemade bomb, which was beeping in small noises. "So, I'm going to go upstairs and blow them up and I might well die in the process. But don't worry about me, I'm more worried that I'll be found out I'm doing this by-" He stops as Rose raises her eyebrows at him. "Okay, never mind that bit." He says, turning to hide his slight blush, making Rose look at him in confusion. "Just go home, go on. Go have your lovely beans on toast." He said, pulling Rose out of the door. "Don't tell anyone about this, cause if you do, you'll get them killed." He said before closing the door, leaving her blinking in confusion before he opens the door again. "I'm the Doctor, by the way. What's your name?"

"Rose."

"Nice to meet you, Rose. Now run for your life!" He said with a grin before closing the door again. Rose then turns around before sprinting off from the back alleyway, heading in a fast walk down the street to a bus stop. She turns back to look at the store before shaking her head with a sigh.

***BOOM***

The store explodes, making people around duck and look at in fear before running off. Rose looks at it with wide eyes before she hops onto the oncoming bus to head home, shaking slightly from the sudden explosion as the bus passes the TARDIS, parked silently in an alleyway.

* * *

Rose sat in her home as the news of the destroyed store is shown on the television as her mother, Jackie, comes in the room with a cup of tea and the home phone in her hand.

"I know, it's on the telly. It's everywhere. She's lucky to be alive. Honestly, it's aged her. Skin like an old bible. Walking in now, you'd think I was her daughter." Jackie ranted into the phone as the door opens and closes, Mickey walking into the room. "Oh, and here's himself." She said, motioning Mickey into the room as she leaves.

"I've been phoning your mobile. You could've been dead!" Mickey said in slight hysteria. "It's on the news and everything! I can't believe that your shop went up." He pulled her into a hug as she raised one eyebrow at him.

"I'm all right, honestly, I'm fine. Don't need to fuss." She said softly.

"Well, what happened?"

"I don't know."

"What was it though? What caused it?"

"I wasn't in the shop, I was outside. Didn't see anything."

Jackie walks back in, the phone held to her shoulder. "It's Debbie on the end. She knows a man on The Mirror, 500 quid for an interview."

"Oh, that's brilliant. Give it here." She mumbled. Jackie hands her the phone before she hangs up and places the phone down with a hand on her forehead.

"Look, Rose, you've got to find some way of making money. Your job just went kaput and I can't bail you out." Jackie said softly.

"I know. Just give me a couple of days."

Jackie then sighed before the phone rang, making her pick it up. "Beth! She's alive. Yes, I've told her; Sue for compensation. She was within seconds of death." Jackie entered rant mode again as she left the room.

"Wait a moment, why are you drinking tea? Nah, that's no good. You're in shock, you need something stronger." Mickey said as he took the cup from her hand to place down on the coffee table.

"I'm all right."

"Now, come on. You deserve a proper drink. We're going down to the pub, you and me, my treat. How about it?"

"Is there a match on?" She said slyly.

"No, no, no. I'm just thinking about you, babe." He rambled.

"There's a match on, isn't there?"

"Yeah, we could catch the last five minutes, but that's not the point."

"Go on then. I'm fine, really. Now go." She said, shaking her head. "Oh, get rid of that." She said, pointing to the plastic arm on the armchair.

He looked at her, raising his eyebrows. She sighed before leaning up and giving him a kiss before he playfully shoves her back, making her chuckle. He gets up to leave, making her raise her ankle to trip him slightly, making him chuckle. He picks up the plastic arm as he walks out.

"Goodbye." He says, in a high-pitched voice and using the plastic arm to effect.

"Bye."

He uses it to pretend choking himself before leaving, Rose looking back at the TV, her improved mood going back into silence.

Outside as Mickey walks away, he chucks the plastic arm into a nearby trash can, not noticing as he leaves the rattling noise inside.

**March 5th, 2005**

Rose groaned as her alarm woke her up at 7:30am, shutting it off before shooting up out of bed, remembering to get to work.

"There's no point in getting up, sweetheart. You've got no job to go to." Jackie called through the door.

Rose then sighed, before falling asleep for another hour, waking up at 8:30am and getting up out of bed as the sun shines through the window. Getting dressed in her usual clothes, she headed into the living room as Jackie brought her a cup of tea.

"There's Finch's. You could try them, they've always got jobs." Jackie offered.

"Oh great. The butchers." Rose grumbled, shaking the drowsiness from her head.

"Well, it might do you good. That shop was giving you airs and graces. And I'm not joking about compensation. You've had genuine shock and trauma. Arianna got 2,000 quid off the council just cause the old man behind the desk said she looked Greek." Jackie rambled, grabbing her cup of tea to get dressed. "I mean, she is Greek, but that's not the point. It was a valid claim." She called back, making Rose chuckle.

The cat flap on the door fluttered before soft pattering was heard on the carpet. Rose gets up and walks to the front door.

"Mum, you're such a liar. I told you to nail that cat flap down, we're going to get strays."

"I did it weeks back!" Jackie denied.

"No, you thought about…it." Rose trailed off as she noticed that there were nails, just on the floor by the hole like they had been wrenched out. The flap then fluttered, making Rose jump slightly before she presses a cautious finger to the flap and pushing it, leaning down slightly to see the Doctor looking through with furrowed eyebrows, making her jump up to open the door.

"What are you doing here?" He asked incredulously.

"I live here." She said bluntly.

"Well, what did you do that for?"

"Because I do. And I'm only because someone blew up my job."

He pulled out his sonic to look at it in confusion. "Must've got the wrong signal. You're not plastic, are you?" He asked, tapping his knuckles softly on her forehead, making her lean back a bit. "Nope. Bone head. Bye then." He said with a grin, yet Rose grabbed him by the arm to pull him inside.

"You, inside, right now." She said before closing the door behind him as he blinked a few times.

"Who is it?" Jackie called.

Rose moved to the door of Jackie's room. "It's about last night, he's part of the inquiry. Give us ten minutes."

Jackie nodded as Rose moved away, the Doctor standing where she was. "She deserves compensation." Jackie said before looking at him in appreciation, which he didn't notice.

"Oh, we're talking millions." He said, his sarcastic tone going unnoticed by Jackie.

"Um.  _*Clears throat*_ I'm in my dressing gown." She says, attempting a flirtatious tone.

"Yes, you are." He said obliviously.

"There's a strange man in my bedroom."

"Yes, there is." He said, now noticing her behaviour.

"Well, anything could happen."

The Doctor forces himself not to laugh at her, instead going for a sly smile. "No." He said, moving from the room, Jackie giving a 'Rude' face at his back. He enters the living room, where Rose is doing a hasty clean before moving into the kitchen.

"Don't mind the mess. Do you want a coffee?" She offers.

"Might as well, thanks. Just milk." He says as he picks up a gossip magazine off the table.

"We should go to the police." Rose says, starting to ramble but the Doctor somewhat blanks it out.

"Hmph, that won't last. He's gay and she's an alien." He mumbles before putting it back down to pick up a book called 'The Lovely Bones'. Flicking through right to the last page, he frowns at it before putting it down. "Hmm, sad ending." He comments before finding a class picture and seeing the girl there yet younger. "Rose Tyler." He reads, before looking in the mirror. He gives a shrug before frowning. "If only she wouldn't keep poking fun at them." He says, flicking his ears and picking up a deck of cards. " _Luck be a lady._ " He hums before trying to perform a card trick that ends up scattering the cards everywhere and him looking sheepish, yet Rose doesn't notice. "Maybe not." He groans before looking to the couch as a pattering noise is heard behind it. "What's that, then? Have you got a cat?"

"No."

The Doctor gasps as a plastic arm shoots out and grasps hard onto his neck, choking him as he struggles to breathe and wrench it off.

"We did have, but there's these strays, they come in off the estate." Rose says, coming into the room and rolling her eyes at him. "I told Mickey to chuck that out. You're all the same, just give a man a plastic hand."

If the Doctor could, he would've given her the most obvious 'Are you kidding me?' look.

"Anyway, I don't even know your name. Doctor…what was it?" Before she continues, he finally wrenches the arm off completely, yet it hovers in the air for a split second before flying at Rose, placing its hand on her face, cutting off her sight and breathing as the Doctor jumps up to help her. He tries to wrench it off yet only succeeds in sending them tumbling into the coffee table, smashing it. He then pulls out his sonic and wrenches the arm off Rose before hastily flicking settings and killing the arm stone dead, making them breathe a sigh of relief.

"It's all right, I stopped it. You see? Harmless." He says with a smile, holding back a slight roll of the eyes as he hears a blow dryer on.

"Do you think?" She says before whacking his arm with the plastic arm.

"Ow." He says, wincing at the pain before grabbing the plastic arm and moving to leave, Rose looking at him with furrowed eyebrows and wide eyes.

"Hold on a minute, you can't just go swanning off!" She says as they leave the flat and descent down the flight of stairs to the ground.

"Yes, I can. Here I am, this is me, swanning off. See ya!" He says with a grin.

"That arm was moving! It tried to kill me!"

"Ten out of ten for observation." He mumbles which she doesn't hear.

"You can't just walk away! That's not fair! You've got to tell me what's going on."

"No, I don't." He says as they reach the bottom of the stairs and head outside, the Doctor heading down the route he took from the TARDIS.

"All right, then. I'll go the police, I'll tell everyone. You said if I did that, I'd get people killed, so your choice. Tell me or I'll start talking." She says bluntly.

"Is that supposed to sound tough?" He asks, not impressed.

"Sort of." She mumbles.

" _*Scoffs*_ Doesn't work."

"Who are you?"

"I told you; The Doctor."

"Yeah, but Doctor what?"

"Just 'The Doctor'."

"The Doctor?"

"Hello!"

"Is that supposed to sound impressive?"

"Sort of." He says smugly.

"Come on, then. You can tell me, I've seen enough. Are you the police?"

"No! I was…just passing through. I'm a long way from home."

"But what have I done wrong? How come those plastic things keep coming after me?"

"Oh, suddenly the entire world revolves around you! You were just an accident, got in the way. That's all."

"It tried to kill me!"

"It was after me, not you! Last night, in the shop, I was there. You blundered in, almost ruined the whole thing. This morning, I was tracking it down and it was tracking me down. The only reason it fixed on you is because you've met me."

"So, what you're saying is, the entire world revolves around you?"

"Sort of, yeah."

"You're full of it!"

"Sort of, yeah."

"But, all this plastic stuff, who else knows about it?"

"Clara knows. Clara always knows." He says with a fond smile.

"Oh, who's Clara?" She asks, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh, nobody! She's just a friend." He squeaks yet she notices his blush.

"So, where's Clara at?"

"Oh, she's resting. Been knackered lately."

"Oh, knackered?" Rose teased.

"Not like that!"

"Hold on a minute! Last night you were worried you'd be found out. Did you mean by her?"

"No!"

Rose laughs. "Entire world revolves around you? Sounds like you revolve around her."

"No, I don't!"

"You're blushing." She points out.

The Doctor stammers for a bit. "Shut up."

"So, is there anyone else who knows about the plastic?"

"Who else could there be? You lot, all you do is eat chips, go to bed and watch telly, when all the time underneath you, there's a war going on." He rambled.

"Hey, start from the beginning. I mean, if we're going to go with the living plastic, which I don't believe for a second, but how did you kill it?"

"The thing controlling it projects life into the arm. I cut off the signal, stone dead." He explained.

"So, like radio control?"

"Thought control." He corrects. He looks at her, noticing her faraway look. "You, all right?"

"Yeah. So, who's controlling it, then?"

"Long story."

"But, what's it all for? I mean, shop window dummies, what's that about? Is someone trying to take over Britain's shops?" They start laughing at this.

"No. It's not a price war." This makes them laugh harder before they revert to comfortable talking. "They want to overthrow humanity and destroy you. Do you believe me?"

"No." She shakes her head.

"But you're still listening." He points out, making her pause yet he keeps on moving, finally seeing the TARDIS on a corner sidewalk.

"Really though, Doctor. Tell me, who are you?"

The Doctor stops as he turns to look back at her. "Do you know like we were saying, about the Earth revolving?" He asks as he walks to stand next to her. "It's like when you're a kid. The first time they tell you that the world's turning, and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's standing still. But I can feel it." He then takes her hand as she looks at him in raptured confusion. "The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour and the entire planet is hurtling around the sun at sixty-seven thousand miles an hour and I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world and if we let go…" He trails off, not needing to finish as he lets go of her hand. "That's who I am. Now forget me, Rose Tyler. Go home." He says before walking away to the TARDIS with the plastic arm.

Rose slowly walks away, full of confusion at his words yet oddly enchanted by them. She stops as she hears the TARDIS engine, like rushing wind yet not feeling anything. She turns around to see the TARDIS disappear from the street, her eyes widening at this. She then gets an idea and heads off to Mickey's flat.

* * *

Knocking on the door, Rose waits until Mickey opens it, smiling to see her.

"Hey, hey! Here's my woman. Kit off." He slaps her arse playfully.

"Shut up." She teases before giving him a kiss.

"Coffee?" He offers.

"Yes, but only if you wash the mug. And I don't mean rinse, I mean wash. Can I use your computer?"

"Yeah, any excuse to get in the bedroom." He flirts as he heads into the kitchen, turning back as he realises. "Don't read my emails!" He calls, the only answer being a mumbled 'sure' and the door closing, making him shrug as he moved to make the coffee.

Inside the room, Rose sits at the computer, contemplating what to do before opening a search engine and typing in 'Doctor'. This brings up over 17 million results. She thinks before typing in 'Doctor Living Plastic'. This brings up over 55 thousand results. She thinks for another idea, before typing in 'Doctor Blue Box'. This brings up nearly 500 results with the first being a website called 'Doctor Who?'. She clicks on the link, bringing up a page with giant letters and a photo of the man she had conversed with not long before. 'Doctor Who? Have you seen this man? Contact Clive'.

* * *

"You're not coming in? He's safe, he's got a wife and kids." Rose says as Mickey pulls up to Clive's house.

"Yeah, but who told you that? He did. That's exactly what an internet lunatic murderer would say." He rambles in paranoia.

Rose shakes her head before exiting the car and heading to the front door of the house as a neighbour rolls out his bin to the side walk. Rose knocks on the door and a kid answers it. "Um, hello. I've come to see Clive, we've been emailing."

"Oh. Dad! It's one of your nutters!" He calls before heading back into the house as Rose raises one eyebrow at his words before shrugging as an adult man comes to the door.

"Oh, sorry, hello. You must be Rose, I'm Clive." He says warmly as he shakes her hand.

"I better tell you now, my boyfriend's waiting in the car just in case you're going to kill me." She says, her words making them laugh.

"Good point. Don't worry, no murders here."

"Who is it?" Clive's wife calls.

"Oh, it's something to do with the Doctor. She's been reading the website." He calls back, before turning back to Rose. "Please come through. I'm in the shed." He motions Rose inside as his wife comes down the stairs with a basket of washing.

"She? She's read a website about the Doctor? She's a she?" She mumbles incredulously as she closes the door.

* * *

"A lot of this stuff is quite sensitive, so I couldn't just send it to you. People might intercept, if you know what I mean."

Rose nods in understanding as he rummages through his findings in the shed.

"If you dig deep enough and keep a lively mind, this 'Doctor' keeps cropping up all over the place. Political diaries, conspiracy theories, even ghost stories. No first name, no last name, just 'The Doctor'. Always 'The Doctor'. The title seems to be passed down from father to son, like an inheritance, that's your Doctor there, eh?" He asks, pointing to the computer with the website.

"Yeah."

"I tracked it down to the Washington Public Archive, just last year. The online photo's enhanced, but if we look at the original…" He pulls out a photo, containing the Doctor standing in a crowd as they watch President Kennedy in a car, waving at them. "November 22nd, 1963: The assassination of President Kennedy."

"Must be his father."

"Going further back…" He puts down the photo to pick up another. "April 1912. This is a photograph of the Daniels family of Southampton and 'friend'." He points to the black and white picture, containing a family of six and the Doctor, standing by them in a suit. "This was taken the day before they were due to sail for the new world on the Titanic and for some unknown reason, they cancelled the trip and survived. Another one…" He picks up another photo, this time a drawing of the Doctor outside a barn with a volcano in the background. "1883, another doctor. See the same lineage? He's identical. This one washed up on the coast of Sumatra on the very night that Krakatoa exploded. The Doctor is a legend, woven throughout history. When disaster comes, he's there. He brings a storm in his wake and he has one constant companion."

"Who's that?"

"Death." He says bluntly. "If the Doctor's back, if you've seen him, Rose, then one thing's for certain; We're all in danger. If he's singled you out, if the Doctor's making house calls, then god help you." He says in warning.

"But, who is he? Who do you think he is?"

"I think he's the same man. I think he's immortal. I think he's an alien from another world."

* * *

Waiting in the car with patience, Mickey looks at a nearby trash bin in confusion as it starts to shudder and move towards him. He blinks for a moment before raising his eyebrows as it starts to move more smoothly. He gets out of his car and walks towards it cautiously before grabbing the lid and fining it open.

"Come on then!" He yells before pausing as he finds it empty. Shaking his head, he places the lid back down before going to move, except he can't. He finds his hands literally glued to the lid, so he tries to wrench the away, seeing silicon like plastic tethering him to the bin as it starts to growl and open its lid by itself. He looks at it in fear as he tries to wrench his hands away harder, causing him to spin so his back was to the bin before it flicks its lid, making him fly towards it with a yelp as he falls face first into the bin.

* * *

Rose returns from the house and enters the car, not noticing Mickey's face now paler with a complexity like someone sanded his skin and created fake hair, with him wearing a dreamy yet evil smile on his face.

"All right, he's a nutter, off his head, a complete, online conspiracy freak, you win." Rose rambles. "What are we going to do tonight? I fancy a pizza."

"Pizza. Puh-puh-puh-pizza." Mickey stutters.

"Or Chinese." Rose says, oblivious.

"Pizza." He then drives off, swerving as he nearly crashes into the street lamps and bins on his way.

* * *

Now sitting in a restaurant at night, Rose sat across from Mickey, still oblivious to his change in manner and behaviour.

"Do you think I should try the hospital? Suki said they had jobs going in the canteen. Is that it, then? Dishing out chips? I could do A-levels. I don't know. *Sigh* It's all Jimmy Stone's fault. I only left school because of him and look where he ended up. What do you think?" She rambles.

"So, where did you meet this Doctor?" Mickey asks, ignoring everything she said.

"I'm sorry, was I talking about me for a second?" Rose says, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Because I reckon it all started back at the shop, am I right? Was he something to do with that?"

"No."

"Come on." He fails his attempt at a soft smile, yet Rose doesn't notice.

"Sort of."

"What was he doing there?"

"I'm not going on about him, Mickey. Really, I'm not. Cause, I know it sounds daft, but I don't think he's safe. He's dangerous."

"But you can trust me, sweetheart. Babe, babe, sugar, babe, sugar. You can tell me anything. Tell me about the Doctor and what he's planning, and I can help you, Rose, cause that's all I really want to do, sweetheart. Babe, babe, sugar, sweetheart." He jerks every time he tries to say something endearing, causing his voice to change pitches, which makes Rose look at him in confusion.

The Doctor walks up to their table, holding a bottle of champagne. "Your champagne." He says to Mickey.

"We didn't order any champagne. Where's the Doctor?" He says, now getting much more serious as he reaches across the table to grasp at Rose's hand.

"Madam, your champagne." The Doctor says to Rose.

"It's not ours." Rose waves him off. "Mickey, what is it? What's wrong?"

"I need to find out how much he knows, so where is he?"

"Doesn't anybody want this champagne?" The Doctor asks, holding back his childish whine.

"Look, we didn't order it-" Mickey stops as he looks up to see the Doctor before an evil grin creeps across his face as the Doctor starts to shake the bottle violently. "Ah, gotcha."

"Don't mind me, I'm just toasting the happy couple. On the house!" He yells, attracting the attention of everyone else as he pops the cork, which fires directly to Mickey's forehead, yet it is absorbed like rocks falling into water. Mickey then chews around with the cork before spitting it out, the Doctor raising his eyebrows at this. "Huh, that was a bit clever."

Mickey shrugs. "Anyway, where was I?" He stands up and turns his hand into a paddle before striking the table, breaking it in half as Rose stands up and moves towards a nearby fire alarm. The Doctor leaps forward and grasps his hands onto Mickey's head, giving it a few wrenches before it pops off, causing him to stumble into a nearby table. Mickey's eyes open as he looks up at the Doctor. "Don't think that's going to stop me." This makes a man at the table scream while the Doctor laughs gleefully.

Rose smashes her hand on the fire alarm. "Everyone, out! Out now!" She yells and they all comply with her order immediately, leaving the restaurant as fast as they can. The Doctor leads Rose through the kitchen to a back exit. The headless Mickey follows them as he turns his other hand into a paddle, banging on the back door as the Doctor locks it with the sonic. Rose heads to a nearby gate, oblivious to the TARDIS sitting there. "Open the gate! Use that tube thing, come on!"

"Sonic screwdriver." He corrects as he heads over to the TARDIS.

"Use it!"

"Nah. Tell you what, let's go in here."

"We can't hide inside a wooden box!"

"Yes, we can!" He says as he unlocks it and enters. Closing the door behind him, he stops as he looks up. Standing by the console, wearing a black jacket over a red dress, with black tights and heeled boots, was Clara, her arms crossed as she looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Where the hell have you been?" She demands.

"I was just dealing with some plastic." The Doctor mumbles, shifting under her gaze.

"Oh yeah, by using an arm and failing, might I add?"

"Did the TARDIS tell you?"

"Yes, and she told me how you blew up a building." She then walks towards him.

"No, wait, Clara, please!" He pleads as she pulls him around and Gibbs slaps him across the head. "Oww! Why did you do that for?!" He whines.

"For being an idiot!" She says before looking down. "Next time, please don't do that, never again." She says softly.

"All right, I'm sorry." He opens his arms as she gives him a hug.

"Whose was that with you outside?"

"Girl called Rose. Found her about to die in the shop then with the arm I was tracking down." He mumbles.

"She sounds a bit oblivious." Clara notes.

"Oh, that isn't even the half of it." The Doctor quipped, making them chuckle as Rose opens the door and rushes inside, looking around with wide eyes at the interior of the ship before rushing outside. "This is the part where people say-"

"It's bigger on the inside, yeah."

"What did I say in Victorian London?"

The Doctor gulped sheepishly. "'It's smaller on the outside.'"

Clara laughed. "Pity, I would've said the same thing but, you know…" They glanced at each other. "Plane." They said in unison with a chuckle. "Now, hurry up with that head." She nudges him along to the console as he gets to work.

Rose rushes back inside. "He's going to follow us!" She slows as she looks around the ship in blinking confusion and awe.

"The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door and believe me, they've tried, now shut up a minute." Clara raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay, I'll tell you that story someday." He smiled at her before she grabs the sonic to give him a hand. "Maybe I should get you your own one sometime."

"Maybe. But where would be the fun of not snatching yours?" She says teasingly.

"Oi!"

"The arm was too simple then?" Clara asks.

"Yep. Head is much better. We can use it to trace back to the original source. But first…" He trails off as he nods in Rose's direction, making them both turn to her. "Now then, where do you want to start?"

"The inside is bigger than the outside."

"Yep." Clara nods.

"It's alien."

"Yep." The Doctor nods.

"Are you two aliens?"

"He is, I'm not." Clara says.

"Is that all right?" The Doctor asks.

"Yeah." Rose nods absentmindedly.

"She's called the TARDIS. T-A-R-D-I-S. That's Time and Relative Dimension in Space."

Rose places a hand over her mouth as she lets out a sob.

"It'll be all right, Rose." Clara reassures.

"Did they kill him, Mickey? Did they kill Mickey? Is he dead?"

"No." The Doctor shakes his head. "That was a duplicate. To maintain it, they would need Mickey alive."

"So, what's going to happen if you let him melt?!" Rose shrieks as she points to the head.

"Melt?" The Doctor mumbles incredulously before he and Clara noticed it. "Oh, no, no, no, no!" He says as he and Clara race around the TARDIS.

"What are you doing?" Rose asks.

"Following the signal, but it's fading." Clara answers. "Hold on, we might have it."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" The Doctor whines. "Come on, old girl! We're almost there!" The TARDIS lands as he rushes outside, Clara rolling her eyes at his back.

"He can't go out there, it's not safe." Rose mumbles.

"He's an overgrown child with an ego, of course he would." Clara says, placing her hand on Rose's shoulder, calming her a bit. "Come on, let's hope he doesn't embarrass himself." They follow him outside, Rose's eyes widening as they see their new location of the London waterfront.

"I lost the signal! I got so close!" He whined.

"Well then, we better start looking." Clara pointed out with a shake of her head.

"We've moved. Does it fly?" Rose asks.

"No. It's like teleporting." The Doctor says.

"Well, what about that headless thing? Is it still on the loose?" Rose asks.

"It would've melted with the head." Clara says.

"Well, if the duplicate is dead, then wouldn't Mickey be dead?" Rose asks.

"No, they'd be using him as bait now." The Doctor says, Rose relaxing at his words slightly.

"Wait a moment, if you are an alien, how come you sound like you're from the north?" Rose points out, her words making Clara laugh.

"Lots of planets have a north!" He defended.

Rose raises her eyebrows. "You were right, Clara. He is an overgrown child with an ego."

"I am not!"

"Oh yes, you are!" Clara says, her and Rose giggling into their hands.

"Okay, what's a 'Police Public Call Box'?" Rose asks.

The Doctor places a hand on the TARDIS in fondness. "They're telephone boxes, from the 1960's. It's a disguise."

"So, this living plastic, what's it got against us?"

"Nothing. It loves you. You got such a good planet, lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air, perfect. It's just what the Nestene consciousness needs, since it's food stock was destroyed in the war, rotting all its protein planets so Earth, dinner."

"Is there a way to stop it?"

The Doctor pulls out a vial full of blue liquid, but Clara beats him to it.

"Plasticide." She says.

The Doctor looks at her with raised eyebrows. "Plasticide?"

"Yeah. It's a chemical and it kills plastic."

"No, you don't get to name things. I'm the Doctor, I do the naming." He whines.

"Oh, really?" Clara raised her eyebrows. "What were you going to call it? Anti-plastic?"

The Doctor gains a sheepish blush. "What? No!"

Rose laughs at this. "I think Clara should handle the naming business."

"Aw, thanks Rose." Clara giggles.

"You two going to witter on all night?" He says with a damaged ego. "First, we have to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?" He starts to pace, Clara and Rose following him.

"The Nestene?" Rose asks.

"No, the transmitter." Clara corrects. "If the Nestene is smart enough, he'd be underground, we're looking for the transmitter. The Nestene can't control every single piece of plastic on a planet, it needs a transmitter to boost the signal."

"So, what's it look like?"

"Like a normal transmitter. Round, massive, like a dish or a wheel and slap-bang in the middle of London. It should be close to where we're standing, so it must be completely invisible." He rambles, coming in front of the London Eye, yet not noticing it, Clara biting her lip to hide her laughter. The Doctor looks at her in confusion. "What?" She nods behind him, making him look back for a split second. "What?" She nods behind him, her grin becoming harder to maintain. "What is it, what?"

Rose bursts out laughing, making Clara hold back her giggling with a hand. "You are an idiot."

The Doctor gets the idea, looking behind him to notice the Eye. "Oh. Fantastic!" He says with a grin, taking Clara's hand to race off with Rose to the Eye.

* * *

Arriving underneath the Eye, Rose stops to regain her breath while the Doctor and Clara look around.

"Think about it; Plastic, all over the world, just waiting to come alive."

"Shop window dummies, phones, wires, cables." Clara lists.

"The breast implants." Clara and the Doctor look at Rose with furrowed eyebrows. "What? I couldn't think of anything better."

"Still, we've found the transmitter, so there must be an entrance to go underneath it."

Clara looks around before heading to a nearby staircase, seeing a maintenance entrance. "How bout down here?" She calls, getting the Doctor and Rose to run over.

"Marvellous." The Doctor congratulates Clara, making her gain a smile as they race over to it and enter. Entering what could be a small cupboard, he opens the door to see a staircase inside, red light bathing them completely while they see a large vat at the bottom of the stairs. Inside the vat was a creature made of something eerily like lava, rolling around inside. "The Nestene consciousness. That's it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature."

"Well then, tip in your plasticide and let's go." Rose says.

"We're not here to kill it, Rose. We have to give it a chance." Clara says softly as the Doctor goes down the stairs slightly.

"I seek audience with the Nestene consciousness under peaceful contract, according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation."

 ***Growl***  (Request granted)

"Thank you. If I might have permission to approach?"

 ***Growl***  (You shall)

Rose notices a huddled and terrified Mickey near the bottom of the stairs. "Oh my god, Mickey." She rushes to his side. "Mickey, it's me, it's okay." She says as she reaches him.

"That thing down there, the liquid, Rose, it can talk." He murmurs in fear.

"You're stinking." Rose mumbles before turning to Clara. "You were right, they kept him alive."

"Told you he'd be fine." Clara says softly. The Doctor begins to walk downstairs. "Wait! You're not going down there."

"You're not either!"

"I can already guess what's going to happen, so you're not going down there." She warns.

"If you can already guess it, then why would it happening to you be any better?"

"Cause at least it's just little old me instead of you." She says softly. The Doctor looks at her in shock. "Doctor just do as you're told."

The Doctor then sighs before handing her the plastic. "Remember, only if you have to."

Clara nods before heading down, missing Rose's worried look at her back.

"She'll be fine, won't she?" Rose asks the Doctor.

"It's Clara, she'll always be fine." He says softly.

Clara walks down to the bottom of the stairs, before standing on a ledge overlooking the vat. "Am I addressing the consciousness?"

 ***Growl***  (Yes)

"If I might observe, you infiltrated this planet by means of warp shunt technology. So, may I ask with the greatest respect that you just shunt off?" She says with a giggle. If he was close enough, she would've heard the Doctor chuckling.

 ***Growl***  (This planet is owed to me! Why else would it have so much plastic?!"

"Oh, don't give me that constitutional rights talk! It's an invasion, plain and simple!" She huffs.

 ***Growl***  (All my planets are dead! Where else am I supposed to-)

"I am talking!" Clara shouts, shutting up the Nestene. The Doctor and Rose look on, surprised and impressed. "This planet is only just starting! We, stupid little apes have only just learnt how to walk, so what gives you the right to determine their fate?! I'm asking you, as a Human, please just go."

"Clara!" The Doctor shouts as three dummies come up from behind her, one restraining her while the other searchers her pockets. The third walks to the stairs and opens its hand to reveal a gun, pointing it at the Doctor. The dummy searching her pockets pulls out the plasticide.

 ***Growl***  (You pretend to be kind, yet you would kill me?!)

"I wasn't going to use it!" She denies. "I'm not here to kill you, I'm not your enemy, I'm just here to help you!"

 ***Growl***  (Then why did you bring a TARDIS?!")

"What do you mean?!" Clara asks, her answer being a storage door opening behind her to reveal the TARDIS. "No! She's just a ship, she's not a weapon!"

 ***Growl***  (The Time Lords condemned my planet to die!)

"That's not true! I should know, I was there!" The Doctor denied. "I fought in the war, it wasn't my fault!"

 ***Growl***  (You abandoned my people to die!)

"I couldn't save your world, I couldn't save any of them!"

"What's it doing?!" Rose shrieks.

"It's the TARDIS! The Nestene's identified its superior technology, and it's terrified! It's going to start the invasion!"

Rose immediately pulls out her phone to call Jackie. "Mum?!"

"Oh, there you are. I was just going to phone." Jackie's voice comes through the mobile. "You can get compensation, I said so. I've got this document thing off the police, so don't thank me."

"Where are you, Mum?!"

"I'm in town!"

"Look, go home! Just go home, right now!"

"Darling, you're breaking up! Listen, I'm just going to do a bit of late-night shopping. I'll see you later. Tra!"

The dial tone comes through. "Mum?! Mum!"

The Nestene begins to flare blue electricity, shooting up through the roof and the foundations of the Eye.

"It's the activation signal, it's transmitting!" The Doctor yells.

"Doctor just leg it! Just get out, now!" Clara yells.

"I can't leave you!"

"You have to!"

The Doctor shakes his head and moves forward, the dummy in front of him fires, missing his shoulder by inches and hitting the staircase connections, causing some of it to tumble away, leaving them trapped.

"The stairs have gone!" Rose says. She and Mickey rush to the box yet finding it locked. The Doctor moves to follow, but the dummy fires again, hitting his shoulder and making him gasp in pain.

Rose looks around before seeing a long pair of chains, locked to the wall and next to an emergency axe. She rushes to the chains, Mickey and the Doctor watching.

"What're you doing?!" Mickey yells.

"I've got no A-levels, no job and no future." She mumbles before grabbing the axe and smashing the lock away. "But I tell you what I've got. Jericho Street Junior school, under-7s gymnastics team." She rolls out the chains and grasps onto them hard. "I've got the bronze." She rushes forward and off the staircase towards the ledge. The armed dummy fires three shots but they miss her as she knocks over the dummy holding the plasticide into the Nestene, while Clara shakes off the dummy holding her. The armed dummy turns to aim at Clara, but the plasticide burns into the Nestene, causing it to roar in pain, making the dummy stumble as it fires, aiming instead at Clara's shoulder as she cries in pain. She ignores it to stop Rose, before clutching her shoulder with a wince.

"Now we're in trouble." Clara quips despite the pain towards the Nestene before they rush towards the TARDIS. The Doctor unlocks it, Mickey rushing in first, followed by Rose as the Doctor pulls Clara inside as they pilot away, the Nestene continuing to roar in pain as the electrical transmission goes haywire, causing the tunnel to shatter and fill with rubble as it dies.

* * *

The TARDIS lands on an empty street, Mickey rushing out in fear of the TARDIS interior, Rose walking outside and breathing heavily. The Doctor walks towards Clara with a worried look as they help each other patch up their wounds.

"Why did you have to be so stupid?" The Doctor murmurs.

"Better you than me. I'm only Human and you're a time lord." Clara mumbles.

The Doctor pulls her into a hug. "Don't do that ever again."

"I can't promise that if you haven't been holding to it either. Besides, you shouldn't worry about me." She says, looking at him softly.

"Rubbish, of course I worry about you." He says, reciprocating her look. They look down at their closeness with a small blush. "Perhaps we should see how they're doing." He nods to the open door.

"Yeah, we should." She nods as they move to the door, not noticing that they were still holding hands. Outside, they see Rose pull out her phone to dial her mother.

"Rose! Rose don't go out of the house, it's not safe! There were these things, and they were shooting and-"

Rose laughs in relief before hanging up, knowing she'll be fine despite her hysterical rambling. She turns towards Mickey who was huddled down by a wooden pallet. "Fat lot of good you were." She then turns to look at Clara and the Doctor.

"Nestene consciousness? Easy." Clara quips.

"You two were useless in there, you'd be dead if it wasn't for me." Rose teases.

"Yes, I would. Thank you." Clara says, giving a soft smile which Rose returns.

"Right then, we'll be off. Unless…you want to come with us?" The Doctor offers. "This box isn't just a London hopper, you know. She goes anywhere in the universe, free of charge."

"Don't. He's an alien, he's a thing!" Mickey mumbles hysterically. "They're both things!"

"Yes, and you're not invited, thank you." Clara says, not appreciating his words. The Doctor rubs his thumb on her hand, calming her.

"So, what do you think?" The Doctor asks. "You could stay here and fill your life with work, food and sleep or you could anywhere."

"Is it always this dangerous?" Rose asks.

"Yep." The Doctor nods.

Mickey hugs Rose's legs like a child. "Yeah, I can't, sorry. I've got to go and find my Mum, and someone's got to look after this stupid lump."

The Doctor and Clara look at her, Clara suppressing her disappointment better than the Doctor. "Okay." He mumbles. "See you around." He lets go of Clara's hand to move back to the console as Clara closes the door as the TARDIS dematerializes away.

"Come on, let's go." Rose says to Mickey, untangling his arms away from her legs to walk away. She looks back in shock as the TARDIS materializes again in the same spot, the door opening to reveal Clara with a smug smile.

"Did we mention that she also travels in time?" She asks, her words making Rose grin, so she steps aside, knowing her answer.

Rose turns to Mickey. "Thanks."

"Thanks for what?" Mickey asks.

"Exactly." Rose grins before kissing his cheek and rushing off into the TARDIS, closing the door behind her with after a moment, dematerializes again.


	11. The End of the World

**The End of the World**

**TARDIS**

Rose closed the TARDIS doors behind her with a grin as she raced up to the console, the Doctor and Clara waiting patiently for her.

"Right then, Rose Tyler. You tell us, when do you want to go? Backwards or forwards in time? Your choice." The Doctor offers.

"Uh…forwards." She said.

The Doctor motions Clara, who flicks a few switches. "How far?" She asked.

"One hundred years." Rose said.

Clara pilots the ship to their new destination, looking at the Doctor with a nod. "There you go. Step outside those doors, it's the 22nd century." The Doctor informed.

"You're kidding?" Rose raised her eyebrows.

"That's a bit boring though. Do you want to go further?"

"Fine by me." She said with a smirk.

The Doctor then pilots the ship to their new destination. "10,000 years in the future. Step outside, it's the year 12,005, the New Roman Empire."

"He thinks he's so impressive." Rose quipped to Clara who just giggled.

"I am so impressive!" He whined.

"You wish!" Clara retorted.

"Right then, you asked for it. I know exactly where to go." The Doctor said smugly before piloting the ship even further into the future, the shaking of the TARDIS causing Rose and Clara to grip the railing in slight surprise as the ship lands and the Doctor motions Rose to the door.

"Where are we?" Rose asked. The Doctor just nodded to the door. "What's out there?" Rose reiterated, now giggling in anticipation.

The Doctor just motions to the door again, making Rose sigh as she moves to step outside while Clara goes to the Doctor's side. "When are we?" She asked.

The Doctor smiled at her. ""5.5/Apple/26"."

"English, please?"

"Come on, slow poke." He teased. "Five billion years."

"Woah. We that far?" Clara asked.

"Yup. Want to see?" He offers his arm.

"You didn't even have to ask." She grinned before taking his arm as they walk out the door to join Rose. They find themselves in a beautiful, cream coloured room and a window, which outside was a view of the Earth, a massive sun near it and millions of stars seen all around it and Rose looked out in soft admiration.

"You lot. You spend all your time thinking about dying, whether you're going to get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids. But you never take the time to imagine the impossible that maybe you survive." The Doctor said proudly. "Currently, we are five billion years into your future and this is the day." The pair blinked and looked at him to continue. "Give it a mo." Almost as if on cue, the sun flared into a blinding glare, it's size expanding before their squinting eyes. "This is the day the sun expands. Welcome to the end of the world." He said, his words making Rose blink at the beauty and the sadness before them, unable to comprehend what exactly should she feel. Clara puts a hand on her shoulder and gives her a soft smile, putting Rose more at ease. "Come on. Let's have a look around." He said, leading them out a door into a series of hallways.

_"Shuttles 5 and 6 now docking. Guests are reminded that Platform One forbids the use of weapons, teleportation and religion. Earth death is scheduled for 15:39 followed by drinks in the Manchester suite."_  The computer reported in an automated female voice.

"So, when it says "Guests", does that mean people?" Rose asked.

"Depends what you mean by "People"." The Doctor said.

"I mean "People". What do you mean?"

"Aliens." Clara answered for him, making him send her an empty warning glare, which just made her wink at him.

"So, what're they doing on board this spaceship? What's it for?" Rose asked as they entered a large room with a massive window overlooking the Earth.

"It's not really a spaceship, it's more of an observation deck. The great and the good are gathering to watch the planet burn."

"What for?"

"Fun." The Doctor said simply.

"Mind you, when he says, "The great and the good", he really means "The rich"." Clara points out as they stand by the window.

"Hold on, they did this once on "Newsround Extra"; The Sun expanding. That takes hundreds of years." Rose reiterated.

"Millions." The Doctor corrected. "But the planet is now the property of the "National Trust", which they've been keeping preserved. See down there?" He points to the top of the planet as they see distant machines moving about in its orbit. "Those are gravity satellites, holding back the sun."

Rose frowned ever so slightly. "The planet looks the same as ever. Shouldn't the continents have shifted?"

"They did, but the Trust shifted them back, recreating a classic Earth. But now the money has run out, nature shall take over."

"How long has it got?"

The Doctor looked up into the distance, blinking twice before he nodded. "About half an hour, then the planet gets roasted." He said with a grin.

"Is that why we're here?" Rose asked. "I mean, is that what you two do; Jump in at the last minute and save the Earth?"

"We're not saving it. Time's up." He said simply.

"Doctor, what about the people?" Clara protested.

"They all moved off world. By the year 200,000, you lot colonised half the galaxy, now you're all over the universe. But today is the day that humanity lets their planet go."

"I guess, that makes us the ones that say farewell." Rose muttered.

"Who the hell are you?!" They turn around to see a blue man moving towards them with a look of fear on his face.

"Oh, that's nice. Thanks." The Doctor retorted sarcastically.

"But how did you get in? This is a maximum hospitality zone. The guests have disembarked. They're on their way any second now."

"No, that's us, we're guests too. See?" Clara quickly said, holding up the psychic paper and ignoring the Doctor's incredulous glare at her. "It's fine. "Clara plus Two". I'm Clara Oswald, this is the Doctor and Rose Tyler. They're my "Plus Two'. Is that alright?"

"Well…obviously." The man takes a breath of relief. "Apologies, et cetera." Clara nodded to him in agreement. "Since you're on board, we'd better start. Enjoy." He said with a smile before moving to a small podium at the front of the room.

Clara turns to Rose first. "The paper's slightly psychic. Shows them whatever we want them to see. It just saves a lot of time." Rose nodded before nudging her shoulder and pointing in the Doctor's direction. "What?"

"When did you get that from me, missy?" The Doctor asked.

"While you were talking." She teased.

"Oh, so you thought it was a good idea to nick my stuff then?"

"Well, you weren't using it."

"That doesn't mean you can start nicking my sonic."

"Oh, is that a dare?" She flirted.

"More of a challenge." He flirted.

"Children, please." Rose grumbled.

"Yes Mum." They said in unison, chuckling as they did while Rose shook her head.

"Who's he then?" Rose asked, pointing towards the blue man.

"He'd be the Steward of this event." The Doctor said, making Rose shrug slightly.

"We have in attendance: Clara, the Doctor and Rose Tyler." They waved at him and he nodded in return. "Thank you. All staff to their positions." The Steward said on a michrophone before clapping his hands and a horde of hobbit sized blue people came rushing through the room. "Thank you. Quick as we can. Come along, come along." He ushered.

Clara raised her eyebrows at them while Rose hid her giggling behind her mouth. "Oh my god, they're so cute." She cooed.

"Rose!" The Doctor and Clara admonished despite their grins.

"And now, might I introduce the next honoured guest." The Stewart said. "Representing the Forest of Cheem, we have…trees. Namely Jabe, Lute and Coffa." Three humanoid figures made of wood and clad in golden regal uniforms came into the room. "There will be an exchange of gifts representing peace." The Stewart quickly added.

"They're gorgeous." Rose awed.

"That they are." Clara agreed.

"If we could keep the room circulating, thank you. Next, from the solicitors Jolco and Jolco, we have the Moxx of Balhoon." A small, blue man with a large head and barely any clothes came into the room on a hovering charcoal chair. "And next, from Financial Family Seven, we have the Adherents of the Repeated Meme." A group of five black hooded figures came into the room. The Steward then began to list several more aliens that came into the room as they were called. "From the "Silver Devastation" and the sponsor of this event, the Face of Boe." A large, manoeuvring glass capsule, filled with steam came into the room, containing a large pale pink head, with massive eyes, lips, a nose, and hair that looked rather similar to dreads, just with large pink balls on the ends.

"The inventors of Hyposlip Travel Systems, the brothers Hop Pyleen, thank you. Cal "Spark Plug". Mr. and Mrs. Pakoo. The Ambassadors from the city-state of Binding Light."

The three trees led by Jabe walked up to the TARDIS trio, one of them holding a tray of dirt filled pots that had a small stick and a leaf in each one. "The gift of peace. I bring you a cutting of my grandfather." Jabe said, handing a pot over, which Rose took.

"Um, yes, gifts." The Doctor shifted through his pockets, finding nothing to give. "I give you in return, air from my lungs." He breathed out a sigh softly in her direction.

Jabe blinked and looked at him with surprised interest. "How…intimate."

"There's more where that came from." He flirted.

"I bet there is." Jabe flirted back before moving away with her two companions.

The Doctor looked at Clara, who had a dissatisfied look on her face. "It was all in fun." He reassured.

"Yeah, sure." Clara grumbled but the Doctor didn't hear it.

"The Moxx of Balhoon." The Doctor said warmly as said person came forth.

"My felicitations upon this historical happenstance." He said in a high-pitched voice. "I bring you the gift of bodily saliva's." He said before spitting, which landed just under Rose's left eye, making her shudder as she wiped it off.

"Thanks very much." The Doctor chuckled, which made Rose glare at him. "Sorry." Rose looked over at Clara to see she had a distant look in her eyes, which began to prickle with tears. Before she could ask what was wrong, the Doctor interrupted. "Ah! The Adherents of the Repeated Meme!" He beamed. "I bring you, air from my lungs." He said before gleefully breathing all over them.

The one in front held up a silver clawed hand, which showed a small grey ball.  **"A gift of peace in all good faith."** It said in a deep voice that sent shivers down Rose's spine, as the Doctor took it and passed it to Rose, who looked at it in confusion before putting it and the plant down on a nearby table.

"Last, but not least, our very special guest." The Steward said, silencing the room and drawing everyone's attention to him. "Ladies and gentlemen, consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying world, we call forth the last Human. The lady Cassandra O'Brian.Δ17!" He motioned a hand to the door, which opened to reveal two men dressed in full white and carrying…some form of moisture sprayer. What was with them was a moving, upright stretcher, holding skin with flaring veins. In the centre was a pair of eyes and a mouth that moved just like any Human and underneath it all was a glass jar filled with blue liquid, containing a brain. Rose looked at her in bewilderment and slight disgust, while the Doctor simply grinned. Clara just continued staring blankly, her mind racing at a thousand miles an hour.

"Oh now, don't stare." Cassandra said in a dignified British accent. "I know, I know, it's shocking, isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away and look at the difference. Look how thin I am. Thin and dainty. I don't look a day over two thousand." She beamed before blinking. "Moisturize me, moisturize me." She muttered, one of her helpers conveying the order silently, while Clara moved around, pretending to look at her closely but was really aiming for the door. "Truly, I am the last Human." Cassandra continued. "My father was a Texan. My mother was from the Arctic Desert. They were born on the Earth and they were the last to be buried in its soil. I have come to honour them and to say…goodbye." She tried to hold back a few tears, which made some of the people present look at her with sad smiles as one of her helpers pulled out a tissue. "Oh, no tears. No tears. I'm sorry." She sniffed and quickly returned to her sweet smile. "But behold, I bring gifts." She said as the door opened, with one of the blue workers came through. "From Earth itself, the last remaining ostrich egg." The people awed at it, which made Rose look at them with slight confusion. "Legend says it had a wingspan of fifty feet and blew fire from its nostrils. Or was that my third husband?" This made everyone except Clara chuckle. "Oh no. Oh, don't laugh. I'll get laughter lines." Cassandra chuckled before clearing her throat slightly as the door opened again, two more blue workers wheeling in the next gift, a large classical music player. "And here, another rarity. According to the archives, this was called an iPod." The Doctor blinked at her, furrowing his eyebrows at her information. "It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers. Play on." She said, as one of its songs was inserted and started playing.

"Refreshments will now be served." The Stewart informed. "Earth death in thirty minutes."

The Doctor and Rose exchanged a look at the choice of song before he started to unconsciously bob his head.

_Sometimes I feel I've got to_

_Run away, I've got to_

_Get away from the pain you drive into the heart of me_

_The love we share_

_Seems to go nowhere_

_And I've lost my light_

_For I toss and turn, I can't sleep at night_

"Doctor. Where's Clara?" Rose asked. He looked around, his eyes widening as he couldn't find her, before they saw the door open, with Clara walking out, making them move over to follow.

"Doctor?" Jabe called, making them stop briefly as she walked up and took a scan of him. "Thank you." She said. He looked at her in confusion before shrugging and moving out of the room with Rose.

Jabe moved off to a silent corner while the Repeated Meme approached the Steward.  **"A gift of peace in all good faith."**  One of them said, holding up another identical ball.

"No, you're very kind, but I'm just the Steward." He protested.

**"A gift of peace in all good faith."**  It repeated calmly.

"Oh yes, thank you. Of course." He quickly said in defeat before taking the ball.

In a corner of the room, Jabe held up her device, which was doing a diagnosis of the Doctor's scan. "Identify species." She pressed a button, making it chirp.

_*Chirp*_  (Species unknown)

"Please identify species." Jabe said with a small groan and a roll of her eyes.

_*Chirp*_  (Species cannot be-)

"Now, stop it!" She snapped before quickly taking a breath to calm herself. "Identify his race. Where is he from?"

_*Chirp*_  (Home planet: Gallifrey)

"That's impossible." Jabe muttered with wide eyes.

* * *

"So, what do you think?" The Doctor asked Rose as they looked for Clara. "Of…all of this." He motioned to their surroundings and their current situation.

"It's great." She said before frowning slightly. "Once you get past the "Slightly psychic paper"." He chuckled at her words. "They're just so alien." He looked at her in utter bewilderment. "I mean, the aliens are so…alien." She reiterated but it still wasn't helping. "You look at them…and they're alien."

"Good thing I didn't take you to the Deep South." He quipped.

"How are they all speaking English?" She asked.

"Well, by now English is a popular language. For those that don't know English in there, it's just a gift of the TARDIS. She generates a telepathic field and translates for you."

"I'll be sure to give her my thanks when we leave." Rose smiled. "Where are you from?"

He smiled but it was a sad smile. "Oh, all over the place. My home was called "Gallifrey", but like everybody else, I wanted to leave. But it was mainly to see the universe."

Rose just smiled.  _Clara's a lucky girl then. Good on her._

* * *

The Steward entered his office, placing down the grey ball onto a nearby table before sitting at his desk. The computer blipped at him, drawing his attention.

_*Blip*_  (There's a blue box)

"What's that?" He asked.

_*Blip*_  (In private gallery 15. How did it get there?)

"Well, how should I know?" He shrugged before pressing a button on the microphone, not noticing the ball open, showing a grey spider drone crawling out and away from sight. "Would the owner of the blue box in private gallery 15 please report to the Stewards office immediately? Guests are reminded that the use of teleportation devices is strictly forbidden under peace treaty 5.4/Cup/16, thank you." He finished before pressing a button to switch off the microphone.

* * *

The Doctor and Rose walked into a hallway, seeing the blue workers moving the TARDIS. "Oi! Park it properly and no scratches!" He called, one of them walking over and handing him a piece of paper, squeaking as it does before walking back. He and Rose looked at it, which said "Have a nice day". They shrugged at each other as he chucked it aside before walking away.

_"Earth death in twenty-five minutes. Earth death in twenty-five minutes."_

"Oh thanks." Rose said sarcastically, earning a chuckle from the Doctor. They came to a closed door, which he proceeded to open with the sonic.

"Clara? Are you in there?" They entered into a small room, with Clara standing by the window in silence. "Ah! There you are. Was wondering where you got to." The Doctor grinned. "Rose has takin' a liking to the workers." He quipped teasingly.

"No, I haven't!" She denied with a giggle.

He was about to continue speaking until he turned to see Clara. She was looking out upon the Earth in distant bitterness with tears running down her cheeks. "Clara? What's wrong?" He asked.

"Do you remember, Doctor?" She asked, her croaking voice causing the Doctor's chest to clench as she began her tale. "The date on their graves?" And indeed, he did.

_**Queen's Arcade, London  
** _ _March 5th, 2005_

_"I mean, there's no point creating a spreadsheet if you're going to spend summer money in winter months." Danny argued as he, Dave, Ellie and Clara walked into the shopping mall._

_"Thank you! See, he gets it!" Dave chuckled._

_"I swear, you two are bloody awful." Ellie sighed._

_"You get a couple of guys talking, they'll talk about anything." Clara teased._

_"That they will, dear." Ellie giggled._

_"You two can talk." Dave retorted._

_"Oi!" They said in unison, making Dave and Danny chuckle. They walked past a shop window, Ellie gasping as she saw the dummies turn to look at them._

_"Jesus! I thought they were dummies." Ellie breathed._

_"No, I think they are." Clara assessed with squinting eyes. The dummies walked up to the window and raised their hands before smashing through, breaking the glass all over the floor as many other dummies smashed through theirs, causing the people in the mall to back away in fear. One dummy walked up to them before raising its arm, popping its hand to reveal a gun, aiming straight at Ellie._

_"No! Ellie!" Dave yelled. The dummy fired twice, hitting Dave square in the chest, sending him falling to the floor, completely lifeless._

_"Dave!" Ellie yelled before the dummy fired again, hitting her forehead, causing her to collapse broken to the ground._

_"Mum! Dad!" Clara yelled, tears in her eyes as Danny grabbed her._

_"We've got to run, Clara! Now!" He said, holding onto her waist tight as he quite literally dragged her away and out of the mall as other people around them started getting scream as their loved ones dropped dead in front of their eyes._

_"No! Mum!" She shrieked. They ran onto the street to find crashed cars in flames, people running and screaming in terror while some of them were shot dead by the dummies. Danny and Clara found themselves being followed by a group of them, who backed them against a wrecked, turned over bus. Clara grasped onto Danny as he held her, still looking around yet failing for a way to escape. "I love you, Danny!" She cried._

_"I love you too, Clara." He said sadly. They closed their eyes, waiting for the inevitable yet it never came. They opened their eyes to see the dummies stumbling to the ground, before going limp and motionless. The silence that followed was filled by Clara's crying, which only intensified at what happened to her parents. "Come on, Clara. Let's get out of here." He said sadly, to which she nodded weakly before he led her away._

* * *

The Doctor and Rose just stared at her in sadness as she finished her tale.

"I never realised, but that was the day it happened. Now I wonder-"

"Don't Clara." He warned bitterly.

"Would they be alive if I just killed it?" She asked.

The Doctor looked down. "Clara, there's no way of knowing if they would've lived. Or if they would've died anyway -"

"Will you just shut up?! I am so sick of listening to you!" She roared, silencing the Doctor, who gave her a very hurtful look. "Do you have some music playing in your head when you're trying to tell people rubbish like that?! Telling people that everything will be fine?! Telling them that it isn't their fucking fault when it bloody well is?!"

"Language." He said simply.

"Oh, don't you dare tell me to mind my language! Don't you dare tell me that it wasn't my fault because it was! My parents and all those people that died would've been alive if I just killed it! But no, I had to give it a chance when I shouldn't have!"

"Don't ever say that!" The Doctor yelled.

"Why?! You'd never do any different! You wouldn't just outright kill it even if it could save so many lives when you bloody well should have!'

"Then why did you want to go down there in the first place?!"

"To make sure you wouldn't die! One bloody Human is barely anything to you, but the entire race is so much more, so who would even care if I died?!"

"I would!" His simple words quickly placed Clara into silence as she stares at him, blinking despite the tears flowing out of her eyes. "Clara, I care if even a single person dies when I can't save them, so you are no different! Never think that about yourself and never think that it's better to live as a murderer because trust me, it isn't!"

"You're not a murderer, Doctor!"

"Oh yes, I am." He said calmly with a clenched jaw. "I have killed many people before I even fought in the War and I have loathed myself every time I did, because no one deserves that! Why do you think I didn't want you going down there?! So you wouldn't blame yourself if anybody died! It was my fault they died, Clara and it was my fault that they should've lived!" He quickly stops and takes a deep breath before stepping forward and placing his hands on her shoulders. "Please, Clara, never think this about yourself. Never again. Trust me, it doesn't end well. You hear me?"

Clara sniffed, making him move his hands to cup her face. "I'm  _*Sniffs*_  I'm sorry." She whimpered.

"I know." He said softly before drawing her into a hug as she sobbed into his chest. He kissed her forehead as he repeatedly whispered "It's okay" until she was breathing steadily. He looked over at Rose, who had been watching them in silent sadness. "You all right?"

"Yeah. You two all right now?" She asked.

"Yeah. Clara?" He asked, stroking her cheek with his thumb.

" _*Sniff*_ Yeah, we're all right. I'm sorry you had to listen, Rose." She said.

"Not your fault."

"What did I just say?" She teased as her voice slowly improved from its croakiness.

"You said that to the Doctor, and last time I checked I'm not a man, so you can't count me." Her words made them laugh, finally letting the tension drain out of the room into a comfortable silence. Rose got up and walked over to them. "Come here you two." She said, making them pull her into the hug. "I just realised, how can I be taller than you?" She teased Clara.

"Shut up!" She admonished.

"I think her height makes her look adorable." The Doctor grinned.

"I said shut it!" She blushed, making Rose laugh. They pulled away and the Doctor quickly got an idea.

"Tell you what, you have your phones?" He asked. Clara and Rose pulled them out, Rose looking at Clara's with interest.

"At least the technology gets better with age." Rose commented.

"Not all of it does." The Doctor warned lightly.

"Huh?" They asked in unison.

"Spoilers." He grinned before holding out his hand, making them give their mobiles to him. He pulled out his sonic and went to work. "With a little jiggery pokery…" He muttered under his breath.

"Is that even a term? "Jiggery pokery"?" Clara teased.

"Of course. I came first in jiggery pokery. What about you?" He teased.

"Nah. Never even applied. You?" She asked Rose with a chuckle.

"Nah., I failed hullaballoo."

"Aww." He mocked cooed with a grin before putting away his sonic and handing them each back their phones.

Rose held hers up. "No signal. Guess we're out of range by a tiny bit." She teased.

"Give it a try." He said. Clara quickly gained an idea before holding up her phone and dialling a number.

" _Would the owner of the blue box please sort the issue with its ringing audio equipment? Thanking you."_  The voice of the Stewart said, making Clara and the Doctor chuckle as she hung up.

"You have his phone number?" Rose raised an eyebrow with a knowing grin.

"That's how we met. I phoned him up, asking for the internet."

"And I was in 1207, Cumbria."

"Really?" Clara asked in surprise.

"Yep."

"I really was phoning a different time zone." Her words made them laugh. "How about you?" She asked Rose, pointing to her phone. Rose racked her brain before coming up with an idea and dialling Jackie.

_"Hello?"_

"Mum?" Rose asked, hiding back her bewilderment.

_"Oh, what is it? What's wrong? What have I done now? Oh, Rosie, you tart!"_  She grumbled.  _"You need to stop buying these red tops, they're falling to bits! You should go and demand for your money back. Go on, there must be something. You never phone in the middle of the day."_  Her words made Rose chuckle as she failed to hold back her grin.  _"What's so funny?"_

"Nothing. You all right, though?"

_"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"_

"What day is it?" Rose asked, deciding to avoid what could become a rather complicated question.

_"Wednesday, all day. You got a hangover? You and Mickey should stop going to the pub. I mean, I know he likes watching those games of his, but you two should calm down on the bourbon you drink. Oh, by the way, I put a quid in that lottery syndicate. Got 75 quid from them. Bloody rip-off! Anyway, I'll pay you back later. Give that money something to do."_

"Yeah…um…I was just calling because I might be late home." Rose said, holding back her giggling.

_"Why? Is there something wrong?"_ Jackie asked with obvious concern.

"No, I'm fine. Top of the world." The Doctor and Clara chuckled at her pun. She heard Jackie give a sigh of "Really?" before hanging up.

"Think that's amazing? You'll want to see the bill." The Doctor said.

"How much?" Clara asked, remembering their first meeting.

The Doctor gained a sheepish blush as if he read her mind. "Oh, it's nothing! It's fine!"

"That was five billion years ago." Rose muttered. "Five billion years later, my mum's dead."

"After what we talked about, you're a right bundle of laughs." Clara scoffed, making Rose smile. Suddenly they felt the station rumble like a small earthquake, making them look at each other in confusion.

"That's not supposed to happen." The Doctor blinked.

* * *

"Well, what was it?" The Steward asked the computer. "I'm just getting green lights at this end." He pressed the microphone button. "Honoured guests may be reassured that gravity pockets may cause slight turbulence, thanking you." Taking his hand off the microphone, he wiped his brow which began to sweat from his growing paranoia. "The whole place shook! I felt it! I've hosted all sorts of events on platforms 3, 6, 12, 15 and I've never felt the slightest tremor! I warn you, if this lot decide to sue…" He grumbled under his breath. "I'm going to scan the infrastructure." Pressing a few keys on his computer, he looked at it as it showed its findings. "What's that? Control, I don't want to worry you, but I'm picking up readings."

_*Blips*_  (What kind?)

"I have no idea. Well, they're small and the scan says they're metal."

_*Blips*_  (What species?)

"Ugh, I don't know what they look like!" He groaned in frustration before noticing a small, spider drone climb up the legs of the desk to stand beside the computer, fixing its singular red eye on him. "Actually, I think they rather look like that." He said as the spider inched closer to him. "You're not on the guest list. How did you get on board?" He thought for a few moments before looking up with wide eyes, glancing at the other table to see the opened ball.

_*Click*_

He looked back to see the spider drone taking one of its legs off a computer key before scuttling away. "No!"

_"Sun filter deactivated."_

"No!"

_"Sun filter descending."_

Beams of intense, yellow light began to shine through the top of the window, moving downwards towards him, burning each part of the room to a charcoal black scheme as it went. "No! Sun filter up!" He pressed random keys on the computer, his horror growing as it did nothing.

_"Sun filter descending. Internal temperature 4,000 degrees."_

"Control! Sun filter up! Sun filter up!" He gave a scream of agony as the filter burned him alive until there was nothing left but ash and dust in the room.

* * *

The Doctor, Clara and Rose re-entered the main room where all the guests were conversing, except for Jabe who was quickly walking over to them. "That wasn't a gravity pocket. I know gravity pockets and they don't feel like that." The Doctor said. "What do you think?" He asked the three of them.

"The engines." Clara deducted.

"Yes. They've pitched up about thirty hertz. Jabe, is that dodgy or what?" He asked.

Jabe shrugged. "It's the sound of metal. It doesn't make any sense to me."

"Where's the engine room?" Clara asked.

"I don't know." She shrugged. "But the maintenance duct is just behind our guest's suite, I can show you and…your husband."

"He's/I'm not my/her husband!" They said in unison with a blush.

"Partner?"

"No!"

"Concubine?"

"No!"

"Prostitute?" Jabe asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Whatever he is, he must be invisible." Rose giggled at his bewildered expression. "Tell you what, you three go and pollinate or whatever. I'll go have a quick word with Michael Jackson." She said as she walked in Cassandra's direction.

"Don't start a fight." The Doctor warned as he held up an arm for Clara. "Let's go have a look then, eh?"

"Why not?" She grinned as they walked to the door with Jabe.

"And I want you two back home by midnight!" Rose called.

"Yes Mum!" They called back in unison, making Rose shake her head.

"You sure you two aren't together?" Jabe asked.

"No! What makes you think that?" The Doctor denied.

"One: You're blushing. Two: She got jealous of me flirting with you."

"No, I didn't!" Clara denied.

"Yes, you did." Jabe corrected with a smile.

_"Earth death in fifteen minutes. Earth death in fifteen minutes."_

* * *

The Doctor, Clara and Jabe entered a long maintenance corridor, lit by dim yellow lights. "Who's in charge of Platform One? Has it got a captain?" Clara asked.

"There's just the Steward and the staff." Jabe shrugged. "All the rest is controlled by the metal mind."

"So, who controls the computer?" The Doctor asked.

"The Corporation. They move every platform from one artistic event to another."

"But, there's no one from the Corporation on board? Are they not needed?" Clara deducted.

"No. This facility is purely automatic. It's the height of the alpha class. Nothing can go wrong." Jabe said proudly.

"Unsinkable?" The Doctor said, exchanging a small glance with Clara in remembrance of the submarine.

"If you like. The nautical metaphor is appropriate."

"You're telling me. I was on board another ship once. They said that was unsinkable. I ended up clinging to an iceberg. It wasn't half cold. So, what you're saying is, if we get in trouble, there's no one to help us out?" The Doctor reiterated.

"I'm afraid not."

"Fantastic." The Doctor beamed. Clara rolled her eyes while Jabe looked utterly bewildered.

"I don't understand. In what way is that fantastic?"

"That's just how he is. He's an overgrown child. Just give him a tug on his elephant ears and he'll grow up a bit." Clara teased.

"Oi! Leave them alone!" He said defensively.

* * *

"Soon, the Sun will blossom into a red giant and my home will die. That's where I used to live, when I was a little boy, down there. Mummy and Daddy had a house built into the side of the Los Angeles crevasse.  _*Sigh*_  I'd have such fun." Cassandra said nostalgically.

"What happened to everyone else? The Human race? Where did they go?" Rose asked.

"They say mankind has touched every star in the sky."

"So, you're not the last Human?" Rose reiterated.

"I am the last PURE Human. The others…mingled. Oh, they call themselves "New Humans", "Proto-Humans", "Digi-Humans" even "Humanish", but do you know what I call them? "Mongrels"." She growled in disgust.

"Right. And you stayed behind." Rose said sarcastically.

"I kept myself pure." Cassandra said proudly, not seeing the silver lining.

"How many operations have you had?" Rose asked.

"708. Next week its 709, I'm having my blood bleached. Is that why you wanted a word?" Cassandra asked with a smirk. "You could be flatter, Rose. You have a little bit of a chin poking out."

"I'd rather die." Rose said bluntly.

Cassandra rolled her eyes. "Honestly, it doesn't hurt."

"No, I mean it. I'd rather die. It's better to die than live like you, a whining, bitching trampoline."

"Oh well. What do you know?" Cassandra grumbled.

Rose clenched her jaw. "I was born on that planet. So was my mum and dad, so that makes ME, officially, the last Human being in this room, because you're not Human. You've had it all nipped, tucked and flattened till there's nothing left. Anything Human got chucked in the bin. You're just skin, Cassandra. Lipstick and skin. Thanks for the word." Rose ranted before storming off.

If Cassandra had a jaw, it would've clenched with a scowl, making the Repeated Meme move to follow Rose. They found her wandering aimlessly in a series of corridors. Walking up to her, as Rose gave them a kind smile, the first raised its clawed hand and struck her hard across the face, sending her crashing into the wall and the floor, completely unconscious. They picked her body up and proceeded silently and swiftly out of the room.

* * *

"So, tell me, Jabe. What're you doing in a place like this?" Clara asked.

"Respect for the Earth." Jabe answered.

"Oh, come on. Everyone on this platform's worth zillions." The Doctor huffed.

"Well, perhaps it's a case of having to be seen at the right occasions." Jabe said cunningly.

"In case your share prices drop?" The Doctor retorted bluntly. "I know you lot. You've got massive forests everywhere, roots everywhere and there's always money in land."

"All the same, we respect the Earth as family. So many species evolved from that planet. Mankind is one, I'm another. My ancestors were transplanted from the planet down below, making me a direct descendant of the tropical rainforest." Jabe said proudly.

"Has it been a good life for you then?" Clara asked.

"Well, there were some hurtles to overcome for us. Some more serious than others, even taking hundreds of years for us to evolve properly, but I think we got there in the end." Jabe smiled.

"Excuse me." The Doctor said as he moved to a small console panel and using the sonic to scan it.

"So, what about your ancestry, Clara?" Jabe asked.

"Oh, there's nothing much there." She shrugged. "I mean, at school I was called "Young Victoria" but I never really understood it."

"You do act like her back in the day." The Doctor said honestly, and she raised her eyebrows at him. "Okay, maybe not that much." He backtracked, making her smirk.

"What about you, Doctor?" Those words made them fall silent. "Perhaps you could tell a story or two. Perhaps a man only enjoys trouble when there's nothing else left. I scanned you earlier. My machine had trouble identifying your species, it refused to admit your existence. And even when it named you, I wouldn't believe it. But it was right. I know where you're from. Forgive me for intruding, but it's remarkable you even exist. I just wanted to say…how sorry I am." She said softly, putting a hand on his arm. He glanced at her, some tears prickling his eyes as he placed his hand on hers, giving her a soft smile before moving it off and going back to his work on the panel, which caused a nearby door to slide open. Jabe looked at Clara, who gave her a sad smile before they followed him, entering through the door. They found themselves in a large, dark grey room, with a bridge over a deep chasm. Over the bridge was three, large fans, rotating slowly and causing a chill to flow through the room.

"Is it me or is it a bit nippy?" Clara asked.

"Nah, it's just you." He teased.

"Doctor are you seriously wanting a smack, right now?"

"I don't know. You haven't followed up on it yet."

"Is that a dare?"

"Would you two please keep the flirting down for a moment?" Jabe asked with a groan.

"Sorry." They said in unison before performing a "I'm watching you" motion to each other.

"That's a great bit of air-conditioning. It's sort of nice and old-fashioned. Bet they call it retro." He moved over to a console with a switch, using the sonic to scan underneath. "Gotcha." He said, ripping off part of the console, which made a spider drone scuttle out and up the wall. "What the hell's that?" He asked.

"Is it part of the retro?" Clara teased.

"Watch it, missy. Hold on." He said, pointing the sonic up to the drone. However, Jabe beat him to it, throwing out a liana which caught the spider and brought it down into their grasp.

"Nice liana." Clara commented.

"Thank you. We're not supposed to show them in public." Jabe blushed slightly.

"Not a word then." The Doctor smiled before inspecting the drone. "So, who's been bringing their pets on board?" He wondered.

"What does it do?" Jabe asked.

"Sabotage." Clara deducted.

"How would you know?"

_"Earth death in ten minutes."_

"Because the temperature is about to rocket. We should head back." Clara said, making them rush from the room.

* * *

"The planet's end. Come gather! Come gather!" Cassandra ushered, making the people present move into a group. "Bid farewell to the cradle of civilization. Let us mourn her with a traditional ballad."

Another song was inserted, this one making everyone look at each other in complete confusion.

_Baby, can't you see_

_I'm callin'_

_A guy like you should wear a warnin'_

_It's dangerous_

_I'm fallin'_

* * *

The door to the Stewards office was surrounded by blue workers, who were whining and crying as they tried to open the door as the Doctor, Clara and Jabe came rushing in. "Get back!" Clara ordered, making them move out of the way as the Doctor used his sonic on the door panel.

_"Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising."_

"Is the Steward in there?" Jabe asked in horror.

"You can smell him." The Doctor said. "Hold on. There's another sun filter programmed to descend. Clara, with me!" He said, the two of them rushing out of the room as Jabe helped the workers.

* * *

Rose groaned as she shook the sudden drowsiness from her head, moving to stand up and holding a hand to her forehead, which was throbbing slightly in agony.

_"Sun filter deactivated. Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending."_

Blinding light began to shine in at the roof of the room, making Rose hurry to the door. She tried to wrench it open, but found it locked. "Anyone there?! Let me out!" She demanded.

_"Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending."_

"Let me out! Please, let me out!"

_"Sun filter descending."_

Rose heard a hurrying pair of footsteps come to the door. She breathed in relief slightly, figuring out who they were as she heard the sonic.

_"Is anyone in there?"_  The Doctor asked.

"Let me out!"

_"Oh, it would be you."_  The Doctor grumbled.

_"Not now!"_  Clara admonished.

"Just open the door!"

_"Give us two ticks!"_  The Doctor said.

_"Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending."_  Rose heard a small beeping noise outside as the light stopped moving for a moment.  _"Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising. Sun filter descending."_

The Doctor groaned, as Rose heard Clara rip open the door console.  _"Just what we need. The computer is trying to get clever."_ He said.

"Well, stop mucking about!"

_"We're not mucking about! It's fighting back!"_  Clara said.

Rose quickly moved to lie down flat on the floor as the light inched closer, burning through the door. "The lock's melted!"

_"Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending. Sun filter rising."_  This made Rose give a sigh of relief as the light moved upwards and disappeared from the room, leaving only a thin haze of steam as she got up to the door.

"The whole thing's jammed! We can't get through. Look, just stay there, Rose." The Doctor said.

"Where am I going to go? Ipswich?" She quipped.

"We'll be back, Rose, okay?" Clara asked.

"Okay. Just don't take too long, all right?"

"All right." Clara said as she and the Doctor raced away.

_"Earth death in five minutes."_

* * *

"The machine confirms: The spider devices have infiltrated the whole of Platform One." Jabe said in front of all the guests and the Doctor and Clara came into the room and her words made them all gasp.

"How is that possible? Our private rooms are protected by a code wall. Moisturize me, moisturize me." Cassandra muttered.

"Summon the Steward." The Moxx said.

"I'm afraid the Steward is dead." Jabe said grimly as she handed Clara the drone, the room gasping collectively as the news was delivered.

"Who killed him?" The Moxx asked.

"This whole event was sponsored by the Face of Boe. He invited us. Talk to the face, talk to the face." Cassandra said, making said Face shake his head.

"There's an easy way of finding out." Clara inputted, making everyone go into silence. "Somebody brought their pet here, so let's send him back." She placed the drone down, which began to waddle through the room, and flickered an eye briefly to Cassandra. Clara looked at the Doctor, who just squinted his eye as the drone moved towards the Repeated Meme.

"The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. J'accuse!" Cassandra growled.

"That's all very well, and quite obvious, but if you stop to think about it…" The Doctor said as he approached the group. The first one threw a fist to strike him, but he caught it and wrenched its arm out, making it gasp in pain. The arm was made up of metal covering white liquid and wires. "A repeated meme is just an idea. And that's all they are, an idea." He said, pulling one of the wires out which made the group collapse onto the ground, twitching for a moment before laying stone dead as he threw the arm back at them. "Remote-control droids. Just a little cover for the real troublemaker. Go on, Jimbo! Go home!" He said, nudging the drone with his foot who waddled over to Cassandra, making many in the room gasp.

"I bet you were the school swot and never got kissed. At arms!" Cassandra snarled.

"Oh, what're going to do, moisturize us?" The Doctor mocked.

"With acid." Cassandra said bluntly, making Clara clench her jaw. "Oh, you're too late anyway. My spiders have complete control of the mainframe." Everyone in the room just scowled at her and she scoffed. "Don't look at me like that, you all carried them as gifts, tax-free past every code wall. I'm not just a pretty face." She smirked.

"Sabotaging a ship while you're still inside it. How stupid's that?" The Doctor asked.

"I'd hoped to manufacture a hostage situation with myself as one of the victims. The compensation would've been enormous." Cassandra explained.

"Five billion years and it still comes down to money. How pathetic." Clara growled.

"Do you think it's cheap, looking like this? Flatness costs a fortune." Cassandra retorted. "I am the last Human, Clara. Me, not you or that freaky little kid of yours." The Doctor clenched his fists at her words.

"Arrest her, the infidel!" The Moxx said.

"Oh, shut it, pixie! I've still got my final option."

_"Earth death in three minutes."_

"And here it comes." Cassandra sighed dreamily. "You're just as useful dead, all of you. I have shares in your rival companies and they'll triple in price as soon as you're dead. My spiders are primed and ready to destroy the safety systems. How did that old Earth song go? "Burn, baby, burn."" She growled.

"Then you'll burn with us." Jabe retorted.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." She pity mocked. "I know the use of teleportation is strictly forbidden, but…I'm such a naughty thing. Spiders activate!" The station shook and rocked about as many ducts in the walls burst out with smoke and the alarm went off.

_"Alert. Forcefields are deactivated. Safety systems failing."_

"Oh dear, force fields gone, and the planet is about to explode. At least it'll be quick, just like my fifth husband.  _*Chuckle*_  Oh, shame on me. Bye-bye, darlings! Bye-bye, my darlings!" She called mockingly as she and her two workers disappeared in a flash of blue light.

_"Heat levels rising."_

"Reset the computer." The Moxx said fearfully.

"Only the Steward would know how." Jabe denied.

"No, we can do it by hand. There must be a system-restore switch. Clara, come on! You lot, just chill." He quipped as he moved out of the room, Clara going to follow.

"Let me help." Jabe offered.

"No, you can't. Jabe, don't protest, please. You're made of wood, you'll burn in there. Just stay here and make sure everyone is fine."

"All right then. But you two keep safe." Jabe said softly.

"Oh, don't worry. We killed a sun with a leaf." Clara quipped, moving out as she giggled at Jabe's bewildered look.

* * *

_"Heat levels critical. Heat levels critical."_

The Doctor and Clara arrived back in the engine room, the fans moving at a faster rate, while he gave a groan as he saw the switch on the other side of the bridge. "Oh, and guess where the switch is." He grumbled. He moved over to the nearby console, ripped the guard off and lowered the switch, causing the fans to slow down tremendously. Letting go, the switch flicked back up, causing the fans to return to their new speed.

_"External temperature: Five thousand degrees."_

Clara moved over the switch and lowered it, making him look at her with wide eyes. "No, Clara, please! The heat is going to vent through this place!

"I'll be fine!" She said, her breathing starting to get heavy from the heat.

"Clara, your hands are going to burn in here!" He pleaded.

"Then stop wasting time, Time Lord." She quipped, making him give her a soft smile before he rushed over to the first fan.

_"_ _Heat levels rising. Heat levels hazardous."_ The Doctor let the blades pass by five times before rushing through, stopping at the next fan.  _"_ _Shields, disabled. Shields disabled."_  The Doctor looked back at Clara, who had already started to sweat heavily, and her palms started to redden. He turned back, letting the blades pass three times before rushing through.  _"Heat levels critical. Heat levels critical."_ The Doctor heard a scream of pain, making him look back to see Clara collapse to the ground, unconscious. His eyes widened, and his face dropped, hoping that she wasn't dead. He turned back to the fan, which without Clara's help started to spin so fast the blades became a blur, making the Doctor grip his feet into the bridge as his eyes struggled to stay open against the onrushing wind." _Planet explodes in…10._ _9."_ The Doctor closed his eyes and started to breathe calmly. _"_ _8\. 7. 6. 5."_ He took a calm step forward, before standing straight. He opened his eyes to see the switch in front of him as he felt the fan inches from his back." _4."_

He rushed towards it, ripped off its guard and lowered the switch. "Raise shields!"

_"3. 2. 1. Heat levels, normalised. Exo glass repairing. Shields enabled."_

The Doctor rushed back through the now slowly moving fans to Clara's unconscious body. "Clara?" He asked with his hearts in his throat. Placing his fingers on her throat, he could feel her pulse, making him sigh in relief as he grasped her hands, which were blistered and torn on both sides. He placed a kiss on her forehead before picking her up and carrying her out of the room.

* * *

Rose walked back into the ruined and cracked guest room, looking around in sadness as she saw only a third of the workers helping the guests. Jabe and her friends were helping pass out medical supplies to those that were injured while some merely cried over their dead family. A few of the workers were huddled around the smoking chair that once belonged to the Moxx, now a pile of ash. She walked over to Jabe, who stood up to greet her. "You all right?" She asked.

"Yeah, I think so." Rose breathed shakily. "Where are they?" Before Jabe could answer, the Doctor came in through the door, carrying the unconscious Clara and a look of contained rage on his face. "Oh, my god. Is she all right?" Rose asked, as he placed Clara down with them.

"She'll be fine." He muttered. "She better be."

"Here, let me." Jabe offered, bringing a few supplies over as she began to patch up Clara's hands.

"Thank you." He said softly before getting up, his frame trembling as he began to pace the room.

"You all right?" Rose asked in worried fear.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them." He growled. "Idea number one: Teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed. Idea number two: This feed must be hidden nearby and in plain sight." He walked over to a nearby table, which held the ostrich egg. Picking it up, he smashed it, finding it only to be made of glass and containing a small device which he caught as it fell out, before he moved to the centre of the room. "Idea number three: If you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed." Flicking the switch on the side, he and Rose looked as a blue light shined into the room.

"Oh, you should've seen their little alien faces." Cassandra laughed until she noticed her new surroundings, making what was left of her face tremble in fear. "Oh."

"The last Human." He growled.

"So, you passed my little test. Bravo. This makes you eligible to join the…um…the Human club." She stuttered.

"People died here, Cassandra. You murdered them, you tried to murder my friend and you're going to witter on like that?" He snarled.

"Oh, it depends on your definition of "People', and that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries. Take me to court then, Doctor. Watch me smile and cry and flutter-"

"And creak?"

"And what?"

"Creak." The Doctor reiterated. "You're creaking."

"What?" Cassandra stopped as she felt herself began to tear and wilt, becoming more inhumanly pale by the second, causing a loud noise like old, groaning wood to echo through the room. "I'm drying out!" She gasped out as pain began to burn through her. "Oh, sweet heavens! Moisturize me! Moisturize me! Where are my surgeons?! My lovely boys, it's too hot!"

"You raised the temperature." He mocked.

"Have pity! Please, Doctor! Moisturize me! Please!"

"Help her." Rose muttered softly as she looked at Cassandra with fearful pity.

The Doctor didn't turn to look at Rose. "Everything has its time, and everything dies." He said coldly.

"I'm…too…young!" She gasped as she suddenly burst apart, parts of her skin flew through the room, making Rose gasp while the Doctor took a breath as he moved to join Clara's side.

"Will you be all right?" He asked Jabe, who finished patching up Clara.

"Yes, we'll just return home. Have a hell of a story to tell." She said softly. "Just, do me a favour. Look after her."

The Doctor smiled as he gently stroked Clara's hair. "Oh, it's more like she looks after me."

Jabe chuckled. "Despite that, do look after her. She's good for you, and you're good for her." She got up and walked over to Rose, who had a distant look on her face. "Will you be all right?" She asked.

Rose failed to find words for a moment as tears started to come into her eyes. "The end of the Earth. It's gone. We were too busy saving ourselves and no one saw it go. All those years, all that history, and no one was even looking. It's just…" She held back a sob as Jabe placed a hand on her arm.

"We didn't need to see it go to say farewell. We already did." She said softly. "Nowadays, most people's planets are dying and they're seeking new worlds. But they don't need to see it die to consider it a farewell. They said it when they left." Rose mumbled thanks as they gave each other a small hug. "Take care of them. They may be good for each other, but they need a parent to hold them back." She quipped softly, making Rose smile. "Well then, we'll have to leave. I guess this is goodbye."

"Goodbye, Jabe. It was nice meeting you." She said softly as Jabe and her accomplices left the room with the other guests. Rose looked over to see Clara gasp softly as she woke up.

"Clara? Are you all right?" The Doctor asked.

"I feel bloody fantastic. Next stupid question." She quipped, making them chuckle softly. "What did I miss?" The Doctor looked at her sadly. "Doctor, it wasn't your fault. Whatever happened, it wasn't your fault."

He looked at her with slight surprise. "How did you know?"

"Those big, sad eyes." She smiled softly.

"Ah." He muttered as he helped her up, blinking as she leant forward to kiss his cheek.

"I always know." She said before moving over to Rose. "You all right?"

"Yeah, I think so." Rose said, yet it was not entirely earnest.

Clara gave her a sad look, which was echoed by the Doctor who came over to them. "Come with us." He said, as he wrapped an arm around Clara and lead them slowly out of the room.

**London  
** 2005

Rose exited the TARDIS to see a busy street, full of people moving about, conversing together and completely unaware of what would happen to their planet. The Doctor and Clara came out and joined her side. "You think it'll last forever. People, cars, homes, pets and concrete, but it won't. One day, it's all gone, even the sky." After a small moment, he gave a sigh. "My planet's gone." Rose looked at him with shocked sadness, Clara carefully placing her wounded hand in his to rub her thumb on the back of his hand. "It's dead. Gallifrey burned like the Earth, now it's just rocks and dust. Long before its time."

"What happened?" Rose asked.

"There was a war, against a race called the Daleks. But we lost. Even the Daleks lost. Their planet is a ruin now. Barren and empty."

"What about your people?"

"I'm a Time Lord. But I'm the last of the Time Lords, cause they're all gone. I'm the only survivor. I was left on my own for a while, sulking but then…" He trailed off, which Rose already figured out the answer, looking at Clara who gave her a soft smile. "You've seen how dangerous it is. Do you want to go home?" He asked.

"I don't know." She muttered. "I want…" She blinked, glanced around the street with a small sniff. "Oh, can you smell chips?" She asked.

Clara burst out laughing, which made the Doctor grin as he smelt it too. "Yeah!"

"I want chips." She chuckled.

"Me too." Clara said.

"Right then, before we go back in that box, chips it is, and you can pay." Rose said to him.

"I've got no money." He shrugged.

"Well, I am not making Clara pay. What sort of friend are you?" She groaned with a laugh. "Come on then, tightwad, chips are on me. We've only got five billion years till the shops close." She quipped, making them laugh as they walked off.

**AN: That was a roller coaster, but then again, so is the episode. Anyway, thanks for reading and leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	12. The Unquiet Dead

**December 24** **th** **, 1869, Cardiff**

Inside a small room at night, an old, balding man with white haired sideburns is taking matches and lighting the gas lamps, creating a faint, hissing noise throughout the room. A younger man stands by a coffin with an old lady inside, looking at her in distant sadness.

"Sneed and Company offer their sincerest condolences, sir, in this most trying hour." The old man said as he extinguished the match and walked over to him.

"Grandmother has a good innings, Mr. Sneed. She was so full of life. I can't believe she's gone." He mumbled.

"Not gone, Mr. Redpath, sir. Merely sleeping." Sneed said softly.

Redpath gave him a soft smile. "Can I have a moment, please?"

"Yes, of course. I shall be in the next room if you need anything." Sneed said, patting him on the back softly before leaving the man alone. Redpath looked at her with a sad smile, sniffing as he tried to hold back his tears, making him reach into his coat pocket for his handkerchief to dab his eyes. As he looked down at her, he jumped in shock as she stared up at him with wide, emotionless eyes as she shot her hand out and grasped hard onto his neck. He struggled to break free to breathe, causing him to knock over a nearby vase on the floor, smashing it and alerting Sneed into the room. Sneed looked on with a roll of his eyes. "Oh no." He groaned, moving over to help Redpath out of her grasp, yet only succeeded in snapping the man's neck, making him fall to the ground, stone dead. Sneed looked at his body with wide eyes, before grabbing the coffin lid and shoving it down onto the old woman, who held up both hands and stopped its path with surprising strength. "Gwyneth! Get down here now! We've got another one!" He shouted, as the woman shoved the lid into his face hard, making him fall to the ground unconscious while she broke the side of her coffin and went to stand up. She walked out of the house, wailing as she did before deciding to go to the nearby theatre, to see the man coming to visit town.

* * *

"Are you holding that one down?!" The Doctor said.

"Of course, I am!" Rose admonished.

"You hold both of them down, Rose!" Clara said.

"This isn't going to work!" Rose protested.

"Oi! I promised you a time machine and that's what you're getting! Now, you've seen the future, let's have a look into the past! 1860! How does 1860 sound?!"

"What happens in 1860?!"

"I don't know! Let's find out!" He said with a grin. "Hold on!" He pulled a lever, making them land with a thud, causing them to stumble to the floor of the TARDIS as it finally stabilised. The trio then started laughing, releasing the adrenaline they had just built up as they move to stand.

"Blimey!" Rose laughed.

"You're telling us. You two all right?" The Doctor asked.

"Yeah, all fine here." Clara said.

"I think so. Nothing broken." Rose said, as the Doctor checked the monitor. "Did we make it? Where are we?"

"I did it! Give the man a medal!" The Doctor grinned. "Earth, Naples, December 24th, 1860."

"That's so weird. It's Christmas."

"I know." Clara grinned.

"Like, think about it. Christmas, 1860. It happens once and then it's gone. It'll never happened again. Except for you two. You can go back and see days that are dead and gone, a hundred thousand sunsets ago." Rose rambled.

"We can see Shakespeare as he's writing Macbeth, or Freddie Mercury as they record Bohemian Rhapsody. Hell, we can meet Queen Victoria and make her say stuff that would've never happen then. It's not a bad life, eh?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"It's better with her. Consider me joining." Rose grinned as Clara went to open the door.

"Woah! Woah! Hold on! Where do you think you're going?" The Doctor asked.

Clara looked at him in confusion. "Out there, where the action is."

"Look, you…um…" He trailed off.

"What?"

"Clara, I like adventures as much as the next man, if the next man is a man who likes adventures. Even so, don't get reckless."

"What do you mean? I'm not." Clara chuckled.

"Clara, there's a whole dimension in this box, but there's only room for one…me."

Clara's jaw dropped incredulously. "Wait a second! You just raved about meeting people long dead like a history teacher on ecstasy."

"Do you know what you need? You need a hobby."

"I really don't." She laughed.

"Better yet, another relationship. Come on, you lot, you go bananas over relationships. You're always writing songs about them or going to war or getting tattooed. Why do you even get tattooed? What's the point of getting tattooed-"

"Doctor." She stopped his rambling with a shake of her head. "I'm fine."

"I just…felt…I, I had to…say something." He stuttered with a blush.

"I know, and I appreciated it."

"Because I worry if something happens to you, Clara."

"I know. I feel the same too."

He blinked. "So, can I stop now?"

"Please do." She giggled.

He looked down in embarrassment. "I was just going to say that going out there dressed like that may be a bad idea."

"What, and you going out with that is a good idea?" She teased.

"Is there something wrong with my jumper?" He asked.

"Mmm." She squinted her eyes and shrugged at him.

He raised his eyebrows. "Watch it, missy."

"Excuse me?" She asked in warning.

"Okay, pipe down children."

"Sorry." They said in unison.

Rose shook her head. "Do you have a wardrobe or something in here?"

"Yeah. First left, second right, third on the left, go straight ahead, under the stairs, past the bins, fifth door on your left."

"Huh?" Rose blinked.

"I know. He's trying to be impressive." Clara winked before moving to the console.

"I am impressive!" He whined.

"If only. Dear, could you point us to the wardrobe, please?" She asked the TARDIS.

 _*Beeps*_  (Sure)

Hologram arrows then appeared, pointing a path out of the room.

"Even the TARDIS is a better guide than you." Clara teased.

"Stop it." He warned.

"Make me." She flirted.

"Is that a dare-"

"Stop it, you two! I swear, you're worse than a couple of horny teenagers." Rose mumbled as she literally pushed Clara out of the room.

"No, we're not!" They blushed in unison.

* * *

Sneed was nursing the cut on his head with a damp cloth as he looked through the house.

"Gwyneth! Where are you, girl?! Gwyneth?!" A young woman in her mid-twenties, with black hair and dressed in maid clothing came into the room, confused worry across her face. "Where've you been? I was shouting."

"I've been in the stables, sir, breaking the ice for old Sampson."

"Well, get back in there and harness him up."

"Whatever for, sir?"

"The stiffs are getting lively again. Mr. Redpath's grandmother; she's up on her feet and out there somewhere, on the streets. We've got to find her."

"Mr. Sneed, for shame. How many more times? It's ungodly."

"Don't look at me like it's my fault." He said defensively. "Now, come on and hurry up. She was 86, so she couldn't have gotten far."

"What about Mr. Redpath? Did you deal with him?"

He looked down. "No. She did." He said grimly.

"That's awful, sir." She said sadly. "I know it's not my place and please, forgive me for speaking out of turn, sir, but this is getting beyond now. Something terrible is happening in this house, and we've got to get help."

"And we will, dear." He said softly. "But first, we need to that the old lady back here where she can't terrify anyone. Now, stop worrying so much. Get the hearse ready. We're going body snatching." He said, as they walked to the stables.

* * *

Sneed gave a worried sigh as he and Gwyneth looked through the streets on their hearse. "Not a sign. Where is she?"

"She's vanished into the ether, sir. Where can she be?"

Sneed gained an idea, making him stop the hearse as Gwyneth looked at him in confusion. "You tell me." He said simply.

"What do you mean?"

"Gwyneth, you know full well." He implored.

"No, sir, I can't." She said uncomfortably.

"Use the sight."

"It's not right, sir." She protested.

"Gwyneth don't make me dismiss you." He said sadly. "We just need to find her."

Gwyneth nodded weakly before closing her eyes and breathing, putting herself in a calm state. "She's lost, sir. Oh, my lord, she's so alone, with so many strange things in her head. But she was excited, about tonight. Before she passed on, she was going to see him."

"Who?"

"A great man. All the way from London, the great, great man."

Sneed furrowed his eyebrows before recognition came across his face. "Of course." He mumbled.

* * *

Inside a small, dressing room, an old man sits at a chair in front of a mirror, massaging his pounding head in vain. A helper comes to knock on the open door politely.

"Mr. Dickens. Mr. Dickens, sir. This is your call." He says, his eyebrows furrowing in worry as Charles doesn't speak. "Are you quite well, sir?"

"Splendid, splendid. Sorry." Charles mumbles in exhaustion.

"It's your time to go on, sir."

"Ah, yes. Absolutely. I was just brooding." The helper blinks. "It's Christmas Eve. Not a very good time to be alone." Charles said sadly.

"Did no one travel with you, sir? A lady wife waiting out front?"

"Afraid not."

"You can have mine if you want." The helper jokes.

Charles laughs at this. "Oh, I wouldn't dare. I've been rather, let's say clumsy, with family matters. But thank god that I'm too old to cause any more trouble.'

"You speak as if it's all over, sir."

"Oh, no, it's never over. On and on I go, with the same old show. I'm like a ghost, condemned to repeat myself for all eternity."

"It's never too late, sir. You could always think up some new stories."

Charles looked at him sadly. "No, I can't. Even my imagination grows stale. I'm an old man. I've already thought of everything I could ever think. Still, the lure of the limelight is as potent as a pipe, eh?" He chuckles lightly as he rises from his chair. "On with the motley." He clicks his tongue with a wink before moving from the room.

* * *

The Doctor was underneath the console, performing minute repairs with his sonic as Rose came into the room, wearing a black frock over a red dress, topped with a black coat and her hair pinned up.

"Blimey!" He teased with a laugh.

"You had to laugh!" She giggled.

"Still, it's look good." He nods. "Considering…" He trailed off.

"Considering what?"

"That you're Human." He says like it's obvious.

Rose blinked. "I think that's a compliment. Aren't you going to change?"

"I've changed my jumper." He said.

"Well, it doesn't look any different then the last jumper. Do you have multiple copies of the same jumper?" She admonished.

"No!" He denied before blinking. "I think I've got a navy blue one somewhere…"

Rose shook her head before she and the Doctor looked to see Clara come into the room. She was wearing a black, bowknot gothic dress and a small, black hat with matching roses.

"Okay, it might be a little much, but what do you reckon?" She asked Rose, twirling the dress around.

"You look great!" She complimented. "But I don't think you should be asking me." She said slyly, nodding in the Doctor's direction.

Said man was looking at her with the softest yet the kindliest smile she'd seen on him, making her blush.

"You look beautiful." He said softly.

"Thank you." She smiled, before frowning at him. "Are you seriously not going to change?"

"I just said that I've changed my jumper!" He whined.

"It doesn't look like you have." She giggled.

"Thank you!" Rose said, high fiving her.

The Doctor groaned, before standing up. "Come on."

"You two, stay there! You've done this before, so this is mine." Rose said, rushing to the door.

The Doctor looked at they as they shrugged in unison, before he held out his arm for her. "Come along, Clara."

"Sure thing, Doctor." She smiled, taking his arm.

"I tell you what, though. Your dress looks more Victorian than Rose's."

"Hey, watch it!" She warned despite her giggle. "It may not be Victorian, but she looks good in it."

"Yeah." He said, almost dismissively.

"So, why aren't you paying attention?" She asked in confusion.

"Well…I mean…you know…" He stuttered with a blush.

Clara smiled at him softly. "Whoever said you couldn't be sweet?" She questioned rhetorically, kissing his cheek.

"Will you hurry up?!" Rose called impatiently, making them blush.

"Sorry!" They said, hurrying out the door, seeing Rose pressing her shoes into the snow with a dreamy giggle.

"Here we go. History." He said as Rose almost rushed in a faster pace before them as they walked out of a small alleyway into the streets, slightly shivering yet looking in awe at the falling snow. They walked down the street, seeing many people either walking about or riding in coaches, while some were singing Christmas carols. The Doctor walked over to a man selling newspapers and gives him a few coins to grab one. He looked at it before a worried expression came over his face. "I got the flight a bit wrong."

Clara raised her eyebrows at him while Rose just shrugged. "I don't care."

"It's not 1860. It's 1869."

"I don't care."

"It's not Naples."

"I don't care."

"It's Cardiff."

Rose stopped walking, gaining a disappointed face as she blinked. "Right." She mumbled.

Clara leaned into him. "At least this is better than a Russian submarine instead of Vegas." She nearly growled.

"I said I was sorry." He whined, making her giggle. They heard a loud wailing, making them look at the theatre nearby with wide eyes before the Doctor and Clara gained a grin. "Now that's more like it!" He said gleefully as they rushed to the theatre.

* * *

Charles stood in front of a large audience, not noticing the dead woman sitting among them as he was telling one of his many stories to their raptured faces.

"Now, it is a fact that there was nothing particular at all about the knocker on the door of this house. But let any man explain to me, if he can, how it happened that Scrooge, having his key in the lock of the door, saw in the knocker, without its undergoing any intermediate process of change, not a knocker but Marley's face." The audience gasped. "Marley's face. It looked at Scrooge as Marley used to look. It looked like…" He trailed off as he saw the dead woman beginning to shine a hazy, blue light. "Oh, my lord, it looked like that!" He said, pointing to the woman, which made the audience turn before they gasped at her. "What phantasmagoria is this?!" He demanded fearfully. The woman then stood up to look at him, then gasped out a breath making blue mist flow out of her which then wailed like a phantom, making everyone in the audience scream and rush out of the theatre in terror. "Stay in your seats, I beg you! It's just a lantern show!" Charles pleaded vainly.

Sneed and Gwyneth rushed into the theatre before looking upon the woman as the blue ghost that began to fly in haste around the large room.

"There she is, sir!" She pointed.

"I can see that. The whole bloody world can see that!" He said with wide eyes as they rushed to the old lady.

The Doctor, Clara and Rose came into the theatre, looking at the ghost with wide eyes. "Fantastic." He mumbled before he and Clara rushed to Charles. "Did you see where it came from?"

"Ah, the wag reveals himself, does he? I trust your satisfied, sir!" Charles grumbled.

"Oi! Leave her alone! I'll get them!" Rose said, rushing after Sneed and Gwyneth, who were now carrying the woman out of the theatre.

"Be careful!" Clara called back.

"Did it say anything? Can it speak? I'm the Doctor and this is Clara, by the way." He said to Charles.

" _*Scoff*_ Doctor? You look more like a navy."

"What's wrong with this jumper?!" He whined. They watched as the ghost flew into a gas lamp and disappeared. "Gas. It's made of gas." He said in awe.

"Doctor. Rose." Clara said, making them exchange looks as they rushed out of the theatre.

* * *

Rose rushed over to Sneed's hearse as he and Gwyneth were laying the woman inside.

"What're you doing?!" She demanded, making Gwyneth step in front to block the sight inside.

"Oh, it's a tragedy, Miss. Don't worry yourself, me and the master will deal with it. The fact is, this poor lady's been taken with the brain fever. We have to get her to the infirmary-"

Rose cuts her off by pushing past her, looking down at the woman with confused pity as she places a hand on her forehead.

"She's cold. She's dead. Oh my god, what'd you do to her?" Rose asks.

Sneed comes up behind her with a tissue, placing it down firmly on Rose's mouth as she struggles before the drug takes her into unconsciousness.

"What'd you do that for?" Gwyneth asks in shock.

"She's seen too much. Get her in the hearse." Sneed orders, making Gwyneth move to pick up her legs. They place her inside and close the door, missing Clara looking at them in worried anger.

"Rose!" She yells, as her and the Doctor rush over but the hearse is already moving down the street.

"You're not escaping me. Both of you." Charles says. "What do you know about that hobgoblin, hmm? Project on glass, I suppose. Who put you up to it?"

"Not now." The Doctor says sternly as he and Clara move to a nearby carriage. "Oi, you! Follow that hearse!" Him and Clara get inside, Charles rushing behind them.

"You can't do that, sir." The Driver says.

"Why not?"

"I'll tell you why not, I'll give you a very good reason why not because this is my coach!" Charles says in frustration.

"Well, get in then!" Clara retorts, making Charles get in with slight shock. "Hurry up!" She says, making the Driver move the coach after the hearse.

"Come on, you're losing them!" The Doctor says.

"Everything in order, Mr. Dickens?" The Driver asks.

"No, it's not!"

"What'd he say?" The Doctor asks with wide eyes.

"Let me say this first, I'm not without a sense of humour-"

"Dickens?" He asks, a grin spreading across his face which makes Clara roll her eyes.

"Yes?" Charles asks in confusion.

"Charles Dickens? THE Charles Dickens?"

"Should I remove the gentleman and the lady, sir?"

"Charles Dickens, you're brilliant, you are. Completely, 100% brilliant. I've read them all; Great Expectations, Oliver Twist and what's the other one, the one with the ghost?"

"A Christmas Carol?"

"No, the one with the trains. The Signal Man, that's it, terrifying. The best short story ever written. You're a genius."

"You want me to get rid of them, sir?"

"Uh, no, I think they can stay." He says with a slight blush.

"Honestly, Charles, can I call you Charles? I'm such a big fan."

"A what?"

"Fan, number one fan, that's me."

"How exactly are you a fan? In what way do you resemble a means of keeping oneself cool?" Clara snorts at his words, earning a 'Shut up' look from the Doctor.

"No, it means 'Fanatic', 'Devoted to'. Mind you, I've got to say, that American bit in Martin Chuzzlewit, what's that about? Was that just padding, or what? I mean, it's rubbish, that bit."

"I thought you said you were my fan." Charles mumbles.

"Ah, well, if you can't take criticism. Go on, do the death of Little Nell, it cracks me up-"

"Doctor!"

"What?" Clara glares at him, making him shrink slightly with an embarrassed blush. "No, sorry, forget about that. Come on, faster!"

"Who exactly is in that hearse?"

"Our friend." Clara speaks finally. "She's only 19, she was in our care and now she's in danger."

"Why are we wasting my time talking about dry old books? This is much more important. Driver be swift! The chase is on!"

"Yes sir!"

"Attaboy, Charlie!" The Doctor says gleefully.

"Nobody calls me Charlie."

"The ladies do."

"The ladies don't." Clara chuckles.

"Yes, they do."

"No, they don't."

"Yes, they do. And I know it because-"

"You're his number one fan." Clara rolls her eyes.

* * *

Sneed and Gwyneth were carrying Rose into the same room from which Redpath died in, laying her on a cloth covered table, beside two open coffins containing said man and his grandmother.

"The poor girl's still alive, sir. What're we going to do with her?"

"I don't know. I didn't plan any of this, did I? Isn't my fault if the dead won't stay dead."

"Then whose fault is it, sir? Why is this happening to us?" She mumbles as she leaves, Sneed following her and locking the door.

"I did the bishop a favour once. Made his nephew look like a cherub even though he'd been a fortnight in the weir. Hey, perhaps he'll do us an exorcism on the cheap." A loud knock is heard on the front door. "Say I'm not in. Tell them we're closed, just…just get rid of them." He then wanders off as Gwyneth goes to the door.

"I'm sorry, sir. We're closed." She says to Charles, along with the Doctor and Clara who were standing behind him.

"Nonsense! Since when did an undertaker keep office hours? The dead don't die on schedule. I demand to see your master."

"He's not in, sir." Gwyneth says before moving to close the door, only to have Charles block it.

"Don't lie to me, child! Summon him at once!" He says sternly.

"I'm awfully sorry, Mr. Dickens, but the master's indisposed."

Clara looks to see a lamp flare on the wall. "Having trouble with your gas?" She asks.

"What the Shakespeare is going on?" Charles mumbled.

Clara looked at the Doctor with confusion. "Did he just-"

"Yes." The Doctor said simply as he moved past Charles and Gwyneth to press up against the wall, under the flaring gas lamp, furrowing his eyebrows as he did.

"You're not allowed inside, sir." Gwyneth protested.

"There's something inside the walls." He says, ignoring her. "Something's living inside the gas."

" _Let me out! Open the door! Please, let me out!"_

Clara marches past with a stern look. "That's her." She says, containing her anger as she and the Doctor raced through the house and past Sneed.

"How dare you, sir?! This is my house!" Sneed protests.

"Shut up!" Clara yells, silencing him.

" _Let me out! Somebody open the door!"_

The Doctor arrives at the door where the screaming was coming from, kicking it down to see Rose standing there, struggling against the corpse of Redpath who had a hand grasped over her mouth as his dead grandmother stood by him.

"Let her go!" He says sternly, pulling her out of the corpse's grasp and towards Clara who came rushing in with the other three behind them.

"It's a prank. It must be. We're under some mesmeric influence." Charles says with shocked fear.

"No, we're not. The dead are walking." Clara says before looking at Rose, rubbing her shoulder to calm her. "You alright?"

"Yeah, thank you." Rose says softly. "Who's your friend?" She nods to Charles.

"Charles Dickens."

"Okay." Rose shrugs.

"My name's the Doctor. Who are you, then? What do you want?"

"We're failing. Open the rift, we're dying." The bodies say in unison, with ghastly and echoing voices despite the small room. "Trapped in this form. Cannot sustain. Help us." They give a loud gasp accompanied by wailing as two blue spectres exit their bodies and hide away into the gas lamps, while the bodies crumble to the ground.

* * *

Sitting in a room, Gwyneth was handing out five cups of tea, while Rose stood in front of Sneed with a look of bitterness.

"First of all, you drugged me then kidnapped me and don't think I didn't feel your hands having a quick wander, you dirty old man!" She growls

The Doctor chuckles before receiving a painful elbow from Clara, who shakes her head at him. "Sorry." He whispers, while nursing his rib.

"I won't be spoken to like this!" Sneed says in shock.

"Then you stuck me in a room full of zombies. And if that isn't enough, you swan off and leave me to die! So, come on! Talk!"

"It's not my fault, it's this house!" He says in frustration, making Rose take a breath to calm herself. "It's always had a reputation, being haunted. But I never had much bother until about three months back, and then the stiffs…" He pauses as he sees Charles looking uncomfortable by his choice of words. "The…um…the dear departed started getting restless."

" _*Scoff*_ Tommyrot." Charles denies.

"You witnessed it! I can't keep the beggars down, sir. They walk. And it's the queerest thing, but they hang onto scraps of their memories. One old fella used to be a sexton, almost walked into his own memorial service. Just like the old lady going to your performance, sir, just as she planned."

Charles shakes his head. "Morbid fancy."

"Oh Charles, you were there." Clara says.

"I saw nothing but an illusion."

"If you're going to deny it, don't waste my time, just shut up." Charles blinks at her before lowering his head to leave the room. Clara gains a slightly guilty look and moves to follow.

"What about the gas?" The Doctor asks, looking at Clara's back with a concerned look.

"That's new, sir. Never seen anything like that." Sneed admits.

"Means it's getting stronger, the rift's getting wider and something's sneaking through."

"What's the rift?" Rose asks.

"A weak point in time and space, a connection between this place and another. That's the cause of ghost stories, most of the time."

"That's how I got the house so cheap." Sneed agrees. "Stories going back generations, like echoes in the dark or queer songs in the air and this feeling like a shadow passing over your soul. Mind you, it's been good for the business. It's just what people expect from a gloomy old trade like mine." Sneed jokes, making the Doctor chuckle and Rose crack a smile.

* * *

Walking through the house, Charles paused by a flaring gas lamp as he felt like he could hear voices, whispering indistinctly inside. He went to lean into the wall before he stopped himself and shook his head. "Impossible." He muttered. Walking into the coffin room, he took off one lid to see Redpath's body, lying completely still. He started messy about and waving his hand above his head as if to feel for wires. Clara stood unnoticed by the door, looking at him with a smirk.

"Checking for strings?" She asked, making Charles jump.

"Wires, perhaps. There must be some mechanism behind this fraud."

"Come on, Charles. Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you to shut up. But you've got one of the best minds in the world. You saw those gas ghosts."

"I can't accept that."

"What does the Human body do when it decomposes?" Clara asks, going into 'Teacher' mode. "It breaks down and produces gas. It's the perfect home for these gas things. They can just slip inside and use it as a vehicle, just like your driver and his coach."

"Please, stop it." Charles says, wiping the sweat of his forehead. "Can it be, Clara, that I have the world entirely wrong? I've always railed against the fantasists. I mean, I loved an illusion as much as the next man, revelled in them, but that's exactly what they were, illusions. But the real world is something else. I dedicated myself to that; Injustices, the great social causes, I hoped that I was a force for good. But now, you tell me that the real world is a realm of spectres and jack-o'-lanterns. In which case, have I wasted my brief span here, Clara? Has it all been for nothing?" He asked.

Clara looked at him kindly. "No, it hasn't. There's just more to learn. Look at it like this; Gas ghosts were people once, and now they want to become people again. Gas is just the road to travel through. Everything has a story behind it, Charles, even illusions. Okay?"

Charles nodded with a shrug. "I guess so."

"Come on, then. Let's get back." She says, leading them out of the room.

* * *

Gwyneth lights a gas lamp before moving to dry the used cups and pots, Rose moving behind her to help.

"Please, Miss. You shouldn't be helping, it's not right!" Gwyneth protested.

"Don't be daft. That Sneed works you to death." Rose mumbled, yet Gwyneth held out her hand, making her give over the cloth. "How much do you get paid?"

"Eight pound a year, Miss."

"How much?" Rose asks in bewilderment.

"I know. I would've been happy with six."

"So, did you go to school, or what?"

"Of course, I did. What do you think I am, an urchin? I went every Sunday, nice and proper."

"What, once a week?"

"We did sums and everything. To be honest, I hated every second."

"Me too." Rose says, making them giggle.

"Don't tell anyone, but one week, I didn't go, and I ran down the heath all on my own."

"I did plenty of that. I used to go around the shops with my mate Shareen and we used to look at boys." She said with a tongue in her teeth.

Gwyneth looks at her with a blush. "Well, I don't know much about that, Miss."

"Come on, times haven't changed that much." Rose said with a sly smirk. "I bet you've done the same."

"I don't think so, Miss."

"Gwyneth, you can tell me. I bet you've got your eye on someone."

"I suppose…there is one lad." Gwyneth says with a shy smile, making Rose giggle. "The butcher's boy. He comes by every Tuesday. Such a lovely smile on him."

"I love a nice smile. Good smile, nice bum."

Gwyneth looks at her with an intensified blush. "Well, I've never heard the like."

"Ask him out. Give him a cup of tea or something, now that's a start."

"I swear, it's the strangest thing, Miss. You've got all the clothes and the breeding, but you talk like some sort of wild thing."

"Maybe I am." Rose crooks an eyebrow. "Maybe that's a good thing. You need a bit more in your life than Mr. Sneed."

"Oh, that's not fair." Gwyneth mumbles. "He's not so bad, old Sneed. He was very kind to me to take me in, since I lost my Mum and Dad to the flu when I was twelve."

"I'm sorry."

"Thank you, Miss. But I'll be with them again, one day, sitting with them in paradise. I shall be so blessed." She smiles softly. "Maybe your Dad's up there waiting for you too, Miss."

"Maybe." Rose smiles softly, before gaining a frown. "Who told you he was dead?"

"I don't know. Must've been the Doctor." She says shyly.

"My father died years back."

"You've been thinking about him lately, more than ever."

"I suppose so. How do you know all this?"

"Mr. Sneed says I think too much. I'm all alone down here. I bet you've got dozens of servants, haven't you, Miss?"

" _*Scoff*_ No, no servants where I'm from."

"And you've come such a long way."

"What makes you think so?"

Gwyneth looks at her, yet its more distantly as if she could see through her, sending a few chills up Rose's spine. "You're from London. I've seen London in drawings, but never like that. All those people rushing about, half naked, for shame and the noise. The metal boxes racing past and the birds in the sky…no. No, they're metal as well. Metal birds with people in them. People are flying? And you, you've flown so far, further than anyone. The things you've seen. The darkness. The Big Bad Wolf." Gwyneth gasps in fear, backing away into the wall, making Rose gain a guilty look. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Miss."

"It's alright."

"I can't help it. Ever since I was a little girl, my Mum said I had the sight. She told me to hide it."

"But it's getting stronger and more powerful, is that right?" The Doctor asks, making them jump to see him standing in the doorway.

"All the time, sir. Every night, voices in my head."

"You grew up on top of the rift. You're part of it. You're the key."

"I've tried to make sense of it, sir. I consulted with spiritualists, table rappers, all sorts."

"Well, that should help. You can show us what to do."

"What to do where, sir?"

"We're going to have a séance." He says with a grin.

* * *

The whole group sat at a big, round table. The Doctor and Clara sat next to each other, with Rose on her side followed by Gwyneth, Sneed and Charles.

"This is how Madam Mortlock summons those from the land of mists down in Butetown. Come, we must all join hands." Gwyneth says, grasping Sneed's and going for Charles, who stands up.

"I can't take part in this."

"Humbug?" Clara calls, making him turn back. "Come on, open mind."

"This is precisely the sort of cheap mummery I strive to unmask. Séances? Nothing but luminous tambourines and a squeeze-box concealed between the knees. This girl knows nothing."

"Now, don't antagonize her. I love a happy medium." The Doctor says gleefully.

"I can't believe you just said that." Clara mumbles. "Come on, Charles, we might need you."

Charles takes a sigh before sitting down and grasping the hands next to his.

"Good man." The Doctor says. "Now, Gwyneth, reach out."

Gwyneth takes a breath before gazing upwards, yet not really looking at the ceiling. "Speak to us. Are you there? Spirits, come. Speak to us that we may relieve your burden."

Small, indistinct voices whispering begins to flow through the room.

"Can you hear that?" Rose asks.

"Nothing can happen. This is sheer folly." Charles mumbles in denial.

"Look at her." Rose says, making Charles look at Gwyneth to see her gazing upwards.

"I see them. I feel them." Gwyneth breathes. They all gaze upwards to see a thin haze of blue mist hanging above them.

"They can't get through the rift. Gwyneth, it's not controlling you, you're controlling it. Now look deep. Allow them through." The Doctor said.

"I can't!"

"Yes, you can. Just believe it. I have faith in you, Gwyneth. Make the link."

Gwyneth closes her eyes before lowering her head to gaze at the group. "Yes." She says. After a moment, a blue ghost appears behind her, making everyone look at it in awe.

"Great god. Spirits from the other side." Sneed breathes with wide eyes.

"The other side of the universe." The Doctor says.

" **Pity us. Pity the Gelth."**  It says in unison with Gwyneth.  **"There is so little time. Help us."**

"What do you want us to do?"

" **The rift. Take the girl to the rift. Make the bridge."**

"What for?"

" **We are so very few. The last of our kind, we face extinction."**

"Why, what happened?"

" **Once, we had a physical form like you. But then the war came."**

"War? What war?" Charles asks.

" **The Time War."**  Rose looks at the Doctor, who gives her a sullen look. She looks to Clara, who's looking between the ghost and Gwyneth with squinting eyes.  **"The whole universe convulsed. The Time War raged, invisible to smaller species but devastating to higher forms. Our bodies wasted away. We're trapped in this gaseous state."**

"So that's why you need the corpses." The Doctor concludes.

" **We want to stand tall, to feel the sunlight, to live again. We need a physical form and your dead are abandoned. They're going to waste. Give them to us."**

"But we can't." Rose mumbles.

"Why not?" The Doctor asks.

"It's not…I mean, it's not-"

"Not decent? Not polite? It could save their lives."

" **Open the rift. Let the Gelth through. We're dying. Help us. Pity the Gelth."**  The ghost disappears into a lamp, making Gwyneth collapse into her seat, breathing hard.

"Oh, my god, Gwyneth." Rose says, rushing out of her seat to help her.

"All true. It's all true." Charles mumbles to himself.

Clara gives him a hint of a smile, despite her mind being already occupied.

* * *

Rose was tending to a sleeping Gwyneth on a couch, while Sneed and Charles nursed themselves drinks. The Doctor stood watching Rose while Clara was gazing out of the window distantly. Gwyneth breaths softly, making everyone but Clara look at her.

"It's all right. You just sleep." Rose says softly.

"But my angels, Miss. They came, didn't they? They need me."

"They do need you, Gwyneth. You're their only chance of survival." The Doctor says.

"I've told you, leave her alone. She's exhausted and she's not fighting your battles." Rose almost growls, making the Doctor roll his eyes. "Drink this." She says, handing her a glass of water.

"What did you say, Doctor? Explain it again. What are they?" Sneed asks.

"Aliens." He says bluntly.

"Like, foreigners?"

"Pretty foreign, yeah. From up there." He points to the ceiling.

"Brecon?"

The Doctor holds back a chuckle. "Close, and they've been trying to get through from Brecon to Cardiff, but the road's blocked. Only a few can get through, even then, they're weak. They can only test drive the bodies for so long, then they have to revert to gas and hide in the pipes."

"Which is why they need the girl." Charles concludes.

"They're not having her." Rose protests.

"But she can help. Living on the rift, she's become part of it. She can open it up, make a bridge, and let them through."

"Incredible. Ghosts that are not ghosts but beings from another world who can only exist in our realm by inhabiting cadavers." Charles sniggers.

"Good system. It might work." The Doctor shrugs.

"You can't let them run around inside of dead people." Rose protests, standing up to face the Doctor.

"Why not? It's like recycling."

"Seriously, though, you can't."

"Seriously, though, I can."

"It's just…wrong. Those bodies were living people. We should respect them, even in death."

"Do you carry a donor card?"

"That's different. That's-"

"It's different, yeah. It's a different morality. You can get used to it or go home-"

"Shut it!" Clara roars, silencing them, making everyone turn to her, who bore a hardened look. "If Gwyneth is going to be the one to help them, then why have you not given her a chance to speak?" She chastises, making the Doctor and Rose look down in guilt.

"Thank you, Miss." Gwyneth mumbles.

"So, what do you want to do, Gwyneth?"

"I've already figured out my own mind, and the angels need me. What do I have to do?"

"You don't have to do anything." The Doctor says softly.

"They've been singing to me since I was a child, sent by my Mum on a holy mission. So, tell me."

"We need to find the rift. This house is on a weak spot, so there must be a spot that's weaker than any other. Mr. Sneed, what's the weakest part of this house, the place where the ghosts are seen mostly?"

"That would be the morgue." He shrugs.

"No chance you were going to say 'Gazebo', is there?" Rose quips, making the Doctor chuckle and Clara smile while everyone else looks at her in confusion.

* * *

They all arrive into the morgue, a dark and grey room with an ice-cold chill, making them shiver and Rose hug herself for warmth.

"Talk about a bleak house." The Doctor mumbles.

"The thing is, Doctor, the Gelth don't succeed. Cause I know they don't. I know for a fact that corpses weren't walking around in 1869." Rose says.

"Time's in flux, changing every second. Your cosy little world could be rewritten like that." He says as he clicks his fingers. "Nothing is safe, remember that. Nothing." He turns to Clara to see she still has that distant look on her. "What's wrong, Clara?" Clara looks at him but doesn't say anything. "You've noticed something, haven't you?"

"There's something about them that doesn't feel right."

"The bodies?" The Doctor asks, getting ready to roll his eyes at her answer.

"No. Gwyneth." This makes him look at her in confusion. "I don't know what, but they just seem to…unconcerned with her helping them. I just…" She looks down with a sad face, making him place his hand under her chin to bring her gaze back up.

"Clara." He says kindly. "You don't have to worry, okay?"

"Just please, be careful." She says softly.

"I'll try to be." He says, placing a kiss on her forehead but before they could embrace in a hug, Charles interjects.

"Doctor, I think the room is getting colder." He says, which was true as it now felt like they stepped into a freezer, the cold starting to burn their nerves. The same voices from the séance came back, indistinctly whispering and growing louder by the second.

"Here they come." Rose says. A lamp flares before a blue ghost flies out of it and into the archway in the room.

" **You've come to help. Praise the Doctor, praise him."**

"Promise you won't hurt her!" Rose says.

" **Hurry, please. So little time. Pity the Gelth."**

The Doctor exchanges a look with Clara, now understanding her words as he moves forward. "I'll take you somewhere else after the transfer. Somewhere you can build proper bodies. This isn't a permanent solution, all right?"

"My angels. I can help them live." Gwyneth says softly.

"Okay, where's the weak point?"

" **Here, beneath the arch."**

"Beneath the arch." Gwyneth says, moving underneath it and Rose rushing towards her.

"You don't have to do this!" She protests.

"My angels." She says with a soft smile.

" **Establish the bridge. Reach out to the void. Let us through."**

Gwyneth stares ahead distantly. "Yes. I can see you. I can see you. Come."

" **Bridgehead establishing."**

"Come to me. Come to this world, poor lost souls."

" **It has begun. The bridge is made."**  On this, Gwyneth's mouth opens wide, showing a bright light as more blue spectres fly out and around the room.  **"She has given herself to the Gelth."**

"Rather a lot of them, eh?" Charles mumbles.

" **The bridge is open. We descend."**  The ghost now turns a sinister orange and its voice distorts.  **"The Gelth shall come through in force."**

"You said that you were few in number!" Charles says.

" **A few billion and all of us in need of corpses."**  Unknown the group, a spectre flies into one of the corpses, which rises out of its bed.

"Oh, Gwyneth. Stop this! Listen to your master, this has gone far enough! Stop dabbling, child and leave these things alone, I beg of you!" Sneed orders, moving closer to Gwyneth.

"Mr. Sneed look out!" Rose says but too late. The corpse comes up behind him and grasps tightly onto his neck and snaps it. Another spectre then flies into Sneed's body, who now looks at them with the same cold expression as the corpse.

"I have joined the legions of the Gelth. Come. March with us. We need bodies. All of you, dead. Humanity, dead." Sneed says, his voice now ghastly and echoing.

"Gwyneth, stop them! Send them back now!" The Doctor yells fruitlessly as she does nothing.

" **Three more bodies convert them. Make them vessels for the Gelth."**  The ghost says in unison with the two corpses as more spectres inhabited the rest of the bodies in the room.

"Clara, I…I can't." Charles says shakily. "I…I'm sorry. This new world of yours is too much for me." A wailing spectre flies after him, making him rush from the room as the TARDIS trio rush past a small cell gate and lock it behind them.

" **Give yourself to glory. Sacrifice your lives to the Gelth."**  The corpses now grasp onto the cell door, trying to reach their hands through to grab at them.

"I trusted you. I pitied you!" The Doctor spats.

" **We don't want your pity. We want this world and all its flesh."**

"Not while I'm alive."

" **Then live no more."**

"I can't die. Tell me I can't. I haven't even been born yet. It's impossible for me to die. Isn't it?" Rose asks fearfully.

"I'm sorry." The Doctor says sadly.

"But it's 1869. How can I die now?"

"Time isn't a straight line, it can twist and turn into any shape. You can be born in the 20th century and die in the 19th and it's all my fault. I brought you here."

"It's not your fault. I wanted to come."

"What about me? I saw the fall of Troy, World War Five. I pushed boxes at the Boston Tea Party and now I'm going to die in a dungeon…in Cardiff." He adds with disgust.

"It's not just dying. We're going to become one of them." Clara says, making them both look at her. "We'll go down fighting, yeah?"

"Yeah." The Doctor says with a smile.

"Sure." Rose says, also with a smile.

"Together?"

"Oh yeah."

"What better way to go?" Rose quips.

The Doctor takes Rose's hand and looks at her. "I'm glad to have met you." He says kindly.

"Me too." Clara says.

"Me three." Rose says.

The Doctor looks at Clara before taking her hand. "I don't deserve you, Clara." He says softly.

"I'm sorry, Doctor. But I'm exactly what you deserve." Clara says with a smirk, making them chuckle.

* * *

Charles rushes through the house and out of the front door, panting as he does before jumping as a blue spectre flies out of the knocker, before it wails, making him look at it in confusion.

" **Failing! Atmosphere hostile!"**  It then flew into a street lamp, making Charles' eyes widen.

"Gas. Gas!" He says gleefully, heading back into the house and towards the morgue, turning off all the gas lamps yet turning up the gas output. As the house becomes more flooded, he takes out his handkerchief and places it over his mouth to cover his coughing. He shoves the door to the morgue open, drawing the attention of the trio. "Clara! Turn off the flame, turn up the gas! Now fill the room, all of it, now!"

"What're you doing?!" The Doctor asks.

"Turn it all on! Flood the place!"

"Oh, brilliant!" Clara says gleefully.

"What, so we choke to death instead?" Rose asks sarcastically.

"Am I correct, Clara? These creatures are gaseous." Charles says.

"Fill the room with gas, it'll draw them out of the host. Suck them into the air like poison from a wound." Clara says like a proud teacher.

The corpses all turn towards Charles, who looks at them in terror. "Oh lord. I hope this theory will be validated soon, if not immediately."

"Plenty more!" The Doctor says with a grin as he rips a gas pipe of the wall, making the corpses wail as the spectres are forced to leave and fly around the roof of the room.

"Thank god." Charles breathes before coughing due to the sudden intake of gas.

The Doctor unlocks and shoves the door open, rushing forward towards Gwyneth. "Gwyneth, send them back! They lied, they're not angels."

"Liars?" She asked in confusion, Clara noticing her emotionless voice.

"Look at me. If your mother and father could look down and see this, they'd tell you the same. They'd give you the strength, now send them back!"

"I can't breathe." Rose says, holding her hand to her mouth.

"Charles, get them out."

Charles moves to grab Rose and Clara's hands, but they rip away. "I'm not leaving her!" Rose protests.

"They're too strong." Gwyneth says softly.

"Remember that world you saw, Rose's world? All those people, none of it will exist unless you send them back through the rift."

"I can't send them back. But I can hold them. Hold them in this place, hold them here. Get out." She says pulling out a box of matches.

"You can't!" Rose rushes forward but the Doctor stops her.

"Rose, get out! I won't leave her while she's still in danger, now go!" He says, making her and Charles rush from the room. "Clara, you too! You need to go!"

"No, don't you see?!" Clara asks, making him pause. She rushes to Gwyneth and places a hand on her neck, her motions makes the Doctor's eyes widen in realisation as he moves forward slowly.

"I'm sorry." He says softly to Gwyneth, placing a kiss on her forehead. "Thank you." He grabs Clara's hand and leads her out, rushing through the house and out of the front door, just as the house explodes in flames and cinder. The explosion sends them stumbling to the ground, making Rose and Charles rush back towards them. Rose helps her up while the Doctor stands up with a groan as Charles looks at the building with sadness.

"She didn't make it." Rose mumbles.

"I'm sorry. She closed the rift." The Doctor says.

"At such a cost. The poor child." Charles softly.

"Rose, we did try, but Gwyneth was already dead." Clara says. "She had been for at least five minutes.

"What do you mean?"

"I think she was dead the moment she stood in the arch."

"But she can't have. She spoke to us. She helped us, she saved us. How could she have done that?"

"'There are more things in heaven and Earth than are dreamed of in your philosophy.'" Charles quotes. "Even for you, Clara."

Clara nods weakly, the Doctor pulling her into a hug.

"She saved the world. A servant girl and no one will ever know." Rose mumbles.

"We will, Rose." The Doctor says. "We will remember."

* * *

Walking back to the TARDIS, the Doctor pulls out his key and unlocks it.

"Right then, Charlie boy, we've just got to go into my…um…shed. Won't be long."

"What're you going to do now?" Rose asks Charles.

"I shall take the mail coach back to London. Quite literally post-haste. This is no time for me to be on my own. I shall spend Christmas with my family and make amends to them. After all I've learned tonight, there can be nothing more vital."

"You've cheered up." Clara says proudly.

"Exceedingly!" He exclaims gleefully. "This morning, I thought I knew everything in the world. Now I know I've just started. All these huge and wonderful notions, Clara. I'm inspired, I must write about them."

"Do you think that's wise?" Rose asks.

"I shall be subtle, at first. The Mystery of Edwin Drood still lacks an ending. Perhaps the killer was not the boy's uncle. Perhaps he was not of this Earth. The Mystery of Edwin Drood and the Blue Elementals. I can spread the word, tell the truth!"

"Good luck with it. It was nice meeting you." Clara says, pulling him into a hug.

"Fantastic meeting you." The Doctor says, shaking his hand.

"Bye, then and thanks." Rose says, shaking his hand and kissing his cheek, making him blush slightly, while the Doctor and Clara crook an eyebrow at her.

"Oh, my dear. How modern. Thank you, but…I don't understand, in what way is this goodbye? Where are you going?"

"You'll see, in the shed." The Doctor points inside.

"Oh, my soul. Doctor, it's one riddle after another with you. But after all these revelations, there's one mystery you still haven't explained. Answer me this: Who are you?"

"I'm just a friend, passing through." He says with a smile.

"But you have such a knowledge of the future. I don't wish to impose on you, but I must ask you; My books. Doctor, do they last?"

"Oh yes." He says with a grin.

"For how long?"

"Forever." Charles looks down, giving a small smile. "Right then, shed. Come on, Rose."

"In…in the box? All…all three of you?" Charles stammers.

"Down, boy. Goodbye." Clara says with a wink. They all walk inside and up to the console.

"Doesn't that change history, if he writes about blue ghosts?" Rose asks, as they look at the monitor to see Charles standing there, looking at the TARDIS doors in confusion.

"In a week's time, it's 1870 and that's the year he dies. I'm sorry, but he'll never get to tell his story." The Doctor says sadly.

"Oh, no. He was so nice, even in the end." Clara mumbles.

"In your time, he was already dead. You brought him back to life, Clara. It seems you're getting quite good at it." He says with a kind smile, which makes Clara give him a hug. "Let's give him one last surprise, eh?" He flicks a few switches to pilot the TARDIS away, the three of them laughing at Charles' bewildered expression.

Charles looks on at the disappearing TARDIS before bursting into joyful laughter as he heads back into the busy street.

"Merry Christmas, sir." A man calls.

"Merry Christmas to you." He says back with a beaming grin. "God bless us, everyone!" He yells joyfully, erupting in laughter as he walks down the street.


	13. Aliens of London

**Powell Estate, London**

The TARDIS landed outside Rose's flat as said person walks out, with the Doctor and Clara behind her. Rose was now dressed back in her normal clothes while Clara was dressed in a leather jacket over a grey sweater and a green polka dot shirtdress with tights.

"How long have I been gone?" Rose asks.

"About twelve hours." The Doctor says.

Rose gives a laugh, making the Doctor and Clara snigger. "Right, I won't be long. I just want to see my Mum."

"What're you going to tell her?" Clara asks.

"I don't know." She shrugs. "I've been to the year five billion and 1869, met a talking trampoline and Charles Dickens and I've only been gone, what twelve hours? Nah, I'll just tell her I've spent the night at Shareen's. See you two later." She calls. "Oh, don't you two disappear."

They nod at her, making her run to the stairs and up to her flat. The Doctor paces for a moment before seeing something pinned to a nearby pillar, making his face fall.

"Doctor, what's wrong?" Clara asks.

He simply motions her over to a piece of paper, which was a missing person's paper, but on Rose. His eyes widened in shock.

"Oh dear. I think we went too far forward." He says, making him and Clara rush towards Rose's flat. Rushing inside, they see a bewildered Rose being hugged fiercely by Jackie, surrounded by large bundles of missing person's papers, which all had Rose's picture. "It's not twelve hours, its's twelve months. You've been gone a whole year. Sorry." He says sheepishly, him and Clara catching their breath while Jackie looks at them with clenched anger.

* * *

Rose slouched in a sofa in guilt, while the Doctor and Clara stood awkwardly by her side as Jackie ranted at them with a bewildered police officer in the room.

"The hours I've sat here, days and weeks and months, all on my own! I thought you were dead and, where were you?! 'Traveling'! What the hell does that mean, 'Traveling'?! That's no sort of answer!" She turns to the police officer. "You ask her. She won't tell me. That's all she says, 'Traveling'."

"That's what I was doing." Rose mumbled.

"With your passport still in the drawer?! It's just one lie after another!"

"I meant to phone, I really did, I just…I forgot."

"What, for a year?! You forgot for a year?! And I am left sitting here?! I just don't believe you." She throws her arms up in a huff. "Why won't you tell me where you've been?!"

"Actually, it's our fault. We sort of employed Rose as our companion." The Doctor interjected, Clara nodding with him.

"When you say 'Companion', is this a sexual relationship?" The officer asked.

"What on Earth makes you think that?" Clara scolded, making him gulp as he looked down at the floor.

"What else could it be?!" Jackie shrieked, moving closer to the Doctor. "You waltz in here, all charm and smiles and the next thing I know, she vanishes off the face of the Earth. How old are you then, 40? 45? Did you find her on the internet? Did you go online and pretend you're a doctor?"

"I am a Doctor." He shrugged innocently.

"Prove it. Stitch this, mate." She growled before slapping him hard across the face, making Clara snigger at his moan of pain, before Jackie turned to look at her. "What about you then? You wouldn't be more than ten years older than her, so how did this come about? Does your parents even know where you are?" Jackie admonished.

"My parents died in front of me when I was 19, thank you very much." Clara growled, making everyone look at her in shock. "What me and the Doctor are to Rose is friends, nothing more. But don't you dare talk about my parents like that ever again." She then pushed past her and stormed out of the room, slamming the front door as she headed up to the roof. The Doctor hurried after her with a concerned expression, closing the door behind him but more gently than she did. Jackie went into the kitchen with a slightly guilty look on her face, making Rose follow her before they enveloped each other in a hug, Rose starting to get tears in her eyes.

"Did you think about me at all?" Jackie asked softly.

"I did. All the time, but…" Rose said, her voice cracking.

"One phone call. Just to know that you were alive."

"I'm sorry. I really am."

"Do you know what terrifies me is that you still can't say. What happened to you, Rose? What can be so bad that you can't tell me, sweetheart? Where were you?" Jackie said, she now getting tears.

"You'd never believe me, Mum. And you'd never forgive me."

"Do you really believe that? I could never forgive you? I'm your Mum, Rosie. It's part of the job." Jackie quipped weakly, before enveloping her in a hug. "You going to see those friends of yours later?"

"Yeah."

"Can you tell Clara that I'm sorry for what I said?" Rose nodded against Jackie's shoulder, making her relax slightly.

* * *

The Doctor came up the top of the stairs to the roof of the building, where Clara leaned against the wall, breathing deeply to calm herself.

"You alright?" He asked. Clara looked at him but didn't answer, making him move over and softly wrap her in a hug. "It wasn't her fault, she just didn't know." He mumbled.

"I know." Clara said softly, her face buried in his chest. "It's still…"

"And it wasn't your fault that they died, okay? Do we have to go through this again?" He admonished lightly.

"I may go through all that just to see you get slapped again." She teased.

"It hurt!" He whined, yet he smiled at her giggling, seeing her mood improve.

"Well then, if she can't do it, then I might." She flirted.

"Watch it, missy."

"I'm sorry?" She said innocently.

"Will you two please stop?" Rose groaned, making them jump and her giggle. "Seriously, when you two are 'In the Zone' it's like everything else ceases to exist. It would be cute if it wasn't so bloody annoying."

"Language!" They admonished.

"You two can talk!" She poked back, making them laugh. They fell into a comfortable silence for a moment.

"How did your mother take it all then?" The Doctor asked.

"She didn't. I couldn't tell her. I can't even begin, otherwise she won't ever forgive me, if she'd believe me."

"She'll forgive you." Clara disagreed. "The believing? No idea." She teased lightly.

"She did mean to say-"

"It's not her fault." Clara dismissed, making Rose nod slightly.

"So, I missed a year? Was it good?"

"Middling." The Doctor dismissed.

"You're so useless." Rose groaned slightly.

"If it's going to be a lot of trouble, would you stay?" He asked.

"I don't know. I don't want to, but I can't do that again to my Mum."

"Well, she's not coming with us." He grumbled, making them chuckle. "I don't do families."

"She slapped you."

"Nine hundred years of time and space and I've never been slapped by someone's mother."

"Did you see his face?" She giggled to Clara.

"Oh yeah." Clara said, struggling to stand from her giggling.

"It hurt!" He whined, holding a hand to his stung cheek.

"You're so gay!" Rose admonished. "Hold on, when you say nine hundred years…"

"That's my age."

"Damn, Clara. I didn't know you were into older men." Rose giggled.

"I'm not!" Clara blushed.

"Even then, nine hundred years is one hell of an age gap." Rose then stretched with a groan as she looked at she looked distantly. "Every conversation with you two just goes mental. There's no one else I can talk to. I've seen all that stuff up there, the size of it and I can't say a word. Aliens, spaceships, time travel and…I'm the only person on planet Earth who knows they exist."

***BURRR***

They looked up behind them to see a large, grey spaceship with smoke flowing out of its engines hurtling down over London, watching as it tried to maintain balance before it's right wing tore a large chunk out of Big Ben and crashed down into the river Thames, making Rose groan.

"That's just not fair." She whined. Clara smirked before they looked at the Doctor in confusion as he burst into gleeful laughter, before he grabbed their hands and rushed off to follow the ship.

* * *

Ending up in a crowded street, filled with unmoving cars and an army vehicle blocking the road, Clara and Rose gave a groan while the Doctor stood with a childlike grin.

"It's blocked off." Rose mumbled.

"We're miles from the centre, so the scene must be gridlocked." Clara deducted. "Could even be closing down the whole of London."

"I know. I can't believe I'm here to see this. This is fantastic!"

"Did you know this was going to happen?" Clara asked.

"Nope."

"Do you recognize the ship?"

"Nope."

"Do you know why it crashed?"

"Nope."

"Oh, fat lot of good you are."

"Oi! Clara, this is what I travel for, to see history happening right in front of us!" He whined.

"Well, let's go see it. Never mind the traffic, we've got the TARDIS." Rose pointed out.

The Doctor and Clara winced in unison. "Better not. They've already got one spaceship, you don't want to shove another on top. There'll be all kinds of people watching." Clara said.

"So, history's happening, and we're stuck here."

"Afraid so." The Doctor mumbled.

"We could always do what everybody else does. We could watch it on TV." Rose said. Clara shrugged slightly while the Doctor shifted awkwardly.

* * *

" _Big Ben destroyed as a UFO crash lands in Central London. Police reinforcements are drafted in from across the country to control widespread panic, looting and civil disturbance. A state of national emergency has been declared. Tom Hitchinson is at the scene."_

" _The police urge the public not to panic. There's a helpline number on-screen right now if you're worried about friends of family. The army is sending divers into the wreck of the spaceship. No one knows what they're going to find._

"I'd rather be in the action than watching it." Clara groaned.

"Me too." The Doctor mumbled as they sat together in the couch of Rose's flat in front of the TV. Rose sat on the sofa while Jackie's friends gathered round the table, conversing indistinctly.

"I've got no choice." Jackie said, entering the room. "Either I make them welcome, or I run the risk of never seeing you again."

"Oi, we're trying to listen, please!" The Doctor said, making everyone grumble slightly before lowering their voices.

 _"News is just coming in. They've found a body."_  The Doctor and Clara looked at each other with raised eyebrows.  _"It's unconfirmed, but I'm being told that a body has been found in the wreckage, a body of non-terrestrial origins. It's being brought ashore."_

"Oh, guess who asked me out? Billy Croot." Jackie said to her friends, making Clara roll her eyes and the Doctor chuckled slightly, allowing her to punch him in the shoulder.

"Ow. That hurt." He whined, drawing some raised eyebrows at him.

"Aww, you big baby." Clara mocked cooed, making Rose laugh.

" _Unconfirmed reports say that the body is of extra-terrestrial origin. It's an extraordinary event here in London, the body is now being transferred to a secure U.N.I.T mortuary, whose whereabouts are unknown. Roads in Central London-"_

" _And when you've stuck your fins on, you can cover the whole lot."_

Clara burst out in laughter as the Doctor tried to wrestle the remote from a giggling toddler, looking at her every so often for help. Calming herself down, she reached over and picked up the toddler to place him in her lap.

"Come on, hand it over." She cooed, making him giggle before placing the remote in her grasp, which she handed to the Doctor, before returning to briefly play with the kid. The Doctor looked at her with a soft smile before he flicked the channel back again.

" _Albian Hospital. We still don't know whether it's alive or dead. Whitehall is denying everything. But the body has been brought here to Albian Hospital. With the roads closed off, it's the closest to the river. I'm being told that General Asquith is now entering the hospital. The building has been evacuated and the patients moved out onto the streets. The police still won't confirm the presence of an alien body contained inside those walls."_

* * *

Asquith, a middle aged, somewhat overweight man, walks into a small room with a covered body on a metal table. A Japanese woman in her 30's and a lab coat is waiting.

"Let's have a look, then." Asquith says, making her peel back the top of the cloth, allowing him to see the body's face. "Good god. And that's real? It's not a hoax or a dummy or…"

She shook her head. "I've x-rayed the skull. It's wired up inside like nothing I've ever seen before. No one could make this up."

He took of his hat to wipe the sweat from his brow. "We've got experts being flown in. Until they arrive, keep that out of sight." He then moves to leave the room.

"Excuse me, sir. I know it's a state of emergency and there's a lot of rumour flying around, but is it true, what they're saying about the Prime Minister?"

He looked down in sadness before leaving the room, his silence being his confirmation.

* * *

"I'll be right back, I'm going to the bathroom." Clara says as she stands up.

"Okay." The Doctor said as she left.

 _"Mystery still surrounds the whereabouts of the Prime Minister. He's not been seen since the emergency began. The opposition is criticizing his lack of leadership and…hold on."_  On the tv, a car pulls up outside of 10 Downing Street, where an overweight man steps out of the car and into the building. _"Oh, that's Joseph Green, MP for Hartley Dale. He's Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on the monitoring of sugar standards in exported confectionery. With respect, hardly the most important person right now."_

Rose chuckled at this, making the Doctor raise his eyebrows at her. "Sorry." She mumbled.

* * *

Joseph steps into the cream and pink coloured building, being immediately met by a man with a red case.

"Indra Ganesh, sir. Junior Secretary with the M.O.D. I'll be your liaison." He says, shaking his hand before motioning to follow him out of the room.

"Where the hell is he?" Joseph asks in concern.

"If we could talk in private, sir, follow me upstairs." They arrive to the foot of said stairs.

"Excuse me." Turning around, they see a middle-aged woman standing there, who immediately pulls out an I.D card. "Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North."

"I'm sorry, but can it wait?"

"I did have an appointment at 3:15." Harriet said.

"Yes, and then a spaceship crashed in the middle of London. Priorities changed." Indra shrugged with a slightly apologetic look before moving Joseph up the stairs with him. "You've heard about the alien body, sir?"

"Never mind that. Where is the Prime Minister?"

"No one knows, sir. He's disappeared. I have to inform you that with the city gridlocked and the cabinet stranded outside London, that makes you Acting Prime Minister, with immediate effect."

"Oh, dear lord." He mumbled in shock, before letting out a rather loud fart, making Indra look at him in bewilderment. "I'm so sorry, it's just a nervous stomach."

Indra shrugged slightly before moving to the top of the stairs and into another room, where an overweight, blonde woman awaited them.

"Margaret Blaine. She's with MI5." Indra introduced.

"There's no more information, sir. I personally escorted the Prime Minister from the cabinet room to his car. This is Oliver Charles, transport liaison." She motioned to another overweight man beside her.

"The car's disappeared. There's no record of it, sir, it literally vanished."

"Right…uh…inside, tell me everything. Better not let it all get leaked out, eh?" Joseph clicked his tongue with a wink, making them nod in agreement as they moved into the cabinet room.

"Sir?" Indra called, making them turn back slightly as he held up the red case. "The emergency protocols; Detailing the actions to be taken by the government of Great Britain in the event of an alien incursion."

"Right, sorry." Joseph mumbled, before taking the case from him as he let out another loud fart. "Blimey! Pardon me. Shall we get to work, eh?" He said, before moving into the room and closing the door, missing Indra waving his arms up in bewilderment. Inside the large room, filled with curtains, chandeliers, paintings along with a long table with glasses and alcohol adjoined with a small cupboard, he placed the case on the table, before looking at the two before him. They started to laugh amongst themselves in gleeful satisfaction.

* * *

Stepping out of Rose's flat silently, the Doctor moved to the stairs in haste.

"And where do you think you're going?" Rose called, making him turn around to see her standing with her arms crossed.

"Nowhere." He squeaked, giving a cough and hoping she didn't notice. "It's just that…uh…a little too Human in there for me. I mean…history just happened, and they're talking about where you can buy dodgy top-up cards for half-price. I'm off on a wander, that's all."

"Right, there's a spaceship on the Thames, and you're just 'wandering', without Clara, might I add."

"Oh, she won't notice that I've been gone. Besides, this is nothing to do with me, it's not an invasion. That was a genuine crash landing. Angle of descent, colour of smoke, everything. It's perfect."

"So…"

"So, maybe this is it: First contact, the day mankind officially encounters an alien race. I'm not interfering because you've got to handle this on your own. That's when humanity finally grows up. Just this morning, you were all tiny, small and made of clay, now you can expand!" He said gleefully. "You don't need me, Rose. Go spend some time with your Mum and celebrate history."

"Promise you won't disappear?"

He glanced around a bit before padding his pockets to find the right one, taking out a TARDIS key and handing it over. "Tell you what. TARDIS key, it's about time you had one. See you later." He said with a grin before moving away, leaving Rose to look at the key softly as she moves back into her flat. Heading out of the building, he moved towards the TARDIS, ignoring the loud rock music blaring out on people's speakers.

"Oi, gorgeous! Come back and join the party!" A woman called, but he ignored her as he got to the TARDIS, looking up in surprise to find it unlocked as he opened the door, seeing Clara sitting by the console, fixing some of the controls with-

"When did you get my sonic, missy?!" He called, making Clara jump and drop what she was working on.

"Jesus! Don't do that!" She said with a slight blush, making him laugh. "I will kill you, Doctor, if you breathe a word of that to anyone, you hear?"

"Scouts honour." He said with a laugh, as he moved up to the console. "But you didn't answer my question."

"I took it when you were too busy gawping at the spaceship." Clara said with a sly smile.

"You could rival Robin Hood in his level of pickpocketing." He complimented.

"Is he real?" She asked in childlike excitement.

"No, he isn't!" He denied as he moved about the console to pilot the TARDIS away.

* * *

Outside, Mickey was running towards the TARDIS. "Oi, Clara! Doctor!" He yelled, before slamming into the wall as the TARDIS left, standing up with a cough and looking around to see if anyone noticed, before walking off to Rose's flat.

* * *

Harriet walked up to Indra's desk with a cup of coffee, placing it down which made him look at her in surprise.

"I bet no one's bought you a coffee."

"Thank you." He smiled. Taking a sip, he placed it down before shaking his head knowingly at her. "I'm sorry, but you still can't go in."

"Damn, you've seen through my cunning plan." She quipped, making them chuckle.

"It's just impossible."

"Not even for two minutes?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Look, I don't get many chances to walk these corridors. I'm hardly one of the babes, just a faithful back-bencher. And I know we've had a brave new world land right on our doorstep, and that's wonderful. I think that's probably wonderful, but nevertheless, ordinary life keeps ticking away. I just need to enter this paper-Oh." On this, the door opened with Joseph stepping out. "Mr. Green, sir. I know you're busy, but could you put this on the next cabinet agenda?" She said, pulling out a file.

"What is it?" He said, feigning interest.

"Cottage hospitals. I've worked out a system whereby cottage hospitals don't have to be excluded from centres of excellence. You see, my mother's in the Flydale infirmary. That's my constituency, it's a tiny, little place. You wouldn't know it, but it's given me a chance to-"

"By all the saints! Get some perspective, woman! I'm busy!" Joseph groaned impatiently, moving away with the two behind him and an apologetic Indra, missing Harriet's hurt look. She glances into the empty cabinet room, moving hastily into it, looking ahead of her for watches before closing the door silently. Moving to the red case, she opens it to place the file inside, before pulling out a red folder with files inside entitled 'Emergency Protocols'.

* * *

"Rose not coming?" Clara asked as they paced around the console, flicking the switches to maintain flight.

"Oh, we won't be long. Besides, after all that debacle, she should spend some time with her Mum."

"So, Albian Hospital, is it?" She asked.

He smiled at her fondly. "You were paying attention, despite all the…humanness in that room." He added with slightly shudder.

Clara sniggered. "Is it bad to say that even I wanted to get out of there?"

"I don't know. Are you Human?" He teased.

"Shut it." She warned, making them laugh. "So, where do you think that ship came from?"

"Not sure."

She raised her eyebrows at him. "You seriously don't know?"

"Well, I can't know everything, can I?"

"Yes, like how you can shave without cutting yourself."

"Shut it." He warned.

"Excuse me?"

"I said, shut it, missy." He grabbed a mallet and went to whack the console.

"Make me." She said, grabbing the mallet and stepping closer, making them invade each other's space.

"Be careful what you wish for, Clara."

"You haven't done anything yet. You too scared?"

"No. Are you?"

"I think you are scared."

"I am not scared. Are you scared or impatient?"

Before she could retort, the TARDIS landed, making them move towards the door.

"This isn't over." She said, making a 'I'm watching you' motion, which he reciprocated before they moved to the door and found themselves in a small, packed cupboard. They moved to exit, repeatedly bumping into each other thanks to the lack of room. "Watch it."

"Sorry." He mumbled.

"Seriously, watch it." She said as he bumped into her again.

"I said I'm sorry." As he went to the door- "Ow!" He winced as he felt her foot slam on his.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I hit something?" She said innocently.

"Was that the payback you had in mind?"

"I think you should be glad, because I could do worse." She said boldly.

"I don't believe you." He said, pulling out his sonic to unlock the door, which made a noise louder than normal. "Shhh!" He reprimanded, making Clara giggle. "Shhh!" He said to her, making her giggle harder.

"You seriously are a…dolt." She finished hesitantly as he opened the door to find a room full of soldiers staring at them incredulously, before they rushed to grab their rifles and aimed at them. "I will smack you if you laugh at our situation." She growled to him.

"Yes, ma'am." He said, trying to stifle a snigger.

" _AHHHH!"_

They looked up upon hearing the shriek, before moving from the room in haste.

"Defence plan Delta. Come on, move! Move!" He ordered, making the soldiers follow his instructions as they raced from the room, through a long corridor into a small lab. They found a Japanese woman huddled in the corner in fear, as they looked upon a series of body lockers, with one opened and empty.

"It's alive!" She cried in fear.

"Spread out. Tell the perimeter it's a lockdown." He said, moving to the woman, missing the confused looks on the soldiers.

"My god, it's still alive."

"Do it! Now! " Clara orders to the soldiers.

"Yes ma'am!" They said in unison before moving from the room.

The Doctor looked at her with an impressed look, making her shrug at him before she knelt beside the woman, who was nursing a cut on her forehead with a cloth.

"I swear, it was dead."

"Coma, shock, hibernation, anything. What does it look like?" He asked. His answer was a rattling noise from behind the table, making them look to the other side of the room. "It's still here." Clara got up to investigate. "Careful." He said softly.

"When am I not?" She quipped, making him grin. She moved around the table and knelt to see a wide-eyed pig in a typical, grey spacesuit who was snorting quietly. "Hello." She said softly despite her confusion. The pig then squealed as it raced from the room, making the soldier at the door cock his rifle.

"Don't shoot!" Clara said as she moved to follow the pig who ran down the hallway towards a group of soldiers, screaming as it did. This attracted their attention who looked at it in confused fear, which grew to terror as it got closer, making one raise his rifle and fire a single shot into the pig, who fell to the ground instantly.

"What did you do that for?! It was scared!" Clara growled as she knelt beside the pig, cooing softly as it died. The Doctor came rushing to her side, placing a hand on the pig's head to close its eyes with a sad look on his face. Clara stood up, facing the soldier with a blazing glare. "You, fucking idiot! It was scared! It had no idea where it was, and you murdered it!" The soldier looked down in shame as the Doctor moved by her side, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Clara, please don't." He said softly, rubbing her shoulder to calm her down. "Come on." He said, the two of them moving away as he picked up the pig's body and returned it to the lab table, where the woman looked at them in quiet sadness.

"What is it?" She asked.

"It's a pig, from Earth." He said simply.

"I almost assumed that this is what aliens looked like, but do you mean it? Its just an ordinary pig, from Earth?"

"Like a mermaid." Clara and the woman looked at him in confusion. "Victorian showmen used to draw the crowds by taking the skull of a cat, gluing it to a fish and calling it a mermaid. Now someone's taken a pig, opened its brain and stuck bits inside. Then they strap it inside the ship and made it dive bomb. It would've been terrified."

"They took an innocent animal and turned it into a joke." Clara growled, the Doctor wrapping an arm around her for comfort.

"So, it's a fake, a pretend like the mermaid. But the technology augmenting its brain, it's like nothing on Earth. It's alien, it must be. But why would aliens be faking aliens?" The woman asked, turning around to see the Doctor and Clara no longer standing there. She moved from the room to find them, before stopping in bewilderment as she heard the TARDIS dematerialising.

* * *

"I've got the White House phoning me direct because Downing Street won't answer their calls. This is outrageous!" Asquith said in admonishing anger, making Harriet place the papers back inside the case and move into the cupboard to hide. She heard the door open and a few figures enter the room, but she could only see Margaret and Asquith through the crack in the barely open door. "We haven't even started the vaccination program. This is appalling. The nations of the world are watching the United Kingdom."

"Well, it has all been a bit of a shock." Joseph defended.

"This is the greatest crisis in modern history and you've done nothing! Your behaviour has been shameful, sir. You're supposed to be in charge and we need positive leadership. The capital has been ground to a halt. Furthermore, we can only assume that the Prime Minister's disappearance is the direct result of hostile alien action and what've you been doing? Nothing!"

"Sorry, sorry. I thought I was Prime Minister now." Joseph said, dropping his attitude into smug satisfaction.

"Only by default."

"Oh, that's not fair. I've been having such fun."

"You think this is fun?" Asquith asked incredulously.

"It's a hoot, this job." Joseph said gleefully, making Margaret and Oliver chuckle to themselves.

"Honestly, it's super." Margaret said.

Oliver drew attention to himself as he let out a few loud farts. "Oh, excuse me." He mocked.

"What is going on here? Where's the rest of the cabinet? Why haven't they been airlifted in?"

"I cancelled it. They'd only get in the way." Joseph said dismissively.

"Sir, under section 5 of the emergency protocols, it is my duty to relieve you of command. And by god, I'll put this country under martial law if I have to."

"Oh, I'm scared. I mean, that's hair-raising." Joseph said sarcastically. "No, I meant it literally. Look."

Harriet frowned in confusion as a blue light filled the room, before glancing at Asquith who looked at Joseph in terror while Margaret and Oliver laughed evilly. A large, green arm with three claws suddenly stabbed into Asquith, making him yell in pain as Harriet turned away to hide her horror before she heard a crunching followed by a sound like rushing water as a body collapsed to the ground.

* * *

"Here's to the Martians." Jackie said, holding up a glass while Rose reclined in the sofa in boredom.

"The Martians!" Everyone exclaimed in unison before utter silence fell into the room, making Rose look to see the cause, which was Mickey standing in the doorway, looking at her with wide eyes.

"I was going to come and see you." Rose said hurriedly.

"Someone owes Mickey an apology." One of Jackie's friends says.

"I'm sorry." Rose mumbled.

"Not you, dear." Everyone turned to look at Jackie.

"Well, it's not my fault. Be fair. What was I supposed to think?" Jackie said, motioning Rose and Mickey into the kitchen as everyone returned to their gleeful attitude.

"You disappear, who do they turn to? Your boyfriend. Five times I was taken in for questioning, five times. No evidence, of course, there couldn't be could there? And then I get her, your own mother, whispering around the estate, pointing the finger, putting stuff through my letterbox and all because of you." Mickey ranted.

"I didn't think I'd be gone for so long."

"And I waited for you, Rose. Twelve months waiting for you, the Doctor and Clara to come back."

"Hold on. You knew about them two?" Jackie asked suddenly. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Yeah, why not Rose? How could I tell her where you went? But we might as well tell her cause you're stuck here. The Doctor's gone. Just now, that box thing faded away."

"What do you mean?"

"He's left you. Some boyfriend he turned out to be."

Rose rushed out of the flat and down to the ground floor, finding Mickey to be correct that the TARDIS was indeed not there.

"He wouldn't just go. He promised me."

"Oh, he's dumped you, Rose, sailed off into space. How does it fell, huh? Now you're left behind with the rest of us Earthlings. Get used to it."

"He would've said. And he wouldn't leave Clara."

"What you two chimps going on about? What's going on? What's this Doctor done now?" Jackie asked.

" _*Chuckle*_ He's vamoosed."

"He's not, because he gave me this." Rose said, pulling out the TARDIS key. "He's not my boyfriend, Mickey, he's my friend. And he wouldn't leave Clara behind. He wouldn't do that to her, not after all they've been through." She looked down suddenly to see the key glowing a golden light before they heard the TARDIS materialising back where it had left, only with the words 'Bad Wolf' graffitied on the side. "I said so." She shrugged before gaining a look of shock. "Mum! Go inside! Don't stand there, just go inside!" It proved fruitless as she just stood still, looking in wide eyes as the TARDIS materialised in front of them.

"How'd you do that, then?" Jackie asked incredulously.

Rose simply bit her lip sheepishly before rushing inside, Mickey and Jackie following her.

"Alright, so we lied. I didn't go to the bathroom and he wasn't going for a wander. But you see, the whole crash landing's a fake. Even he thought so, it's just too perfect."

"Yeah, hitting Big Ben, come on." The Doctor rolled his eyes. "So, I thought 'Let's go and have a look'-"

"My Mum's here." Rose interrupted, making them turn to see their new guests.

"Oh, that's just what we need." The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Don't you dare make this place domestic."

"You ruined my life, you two. They thought she was dead. I was a murder suspect because of the both of you." Mickey glared.

"See what I mean? Domestic."

"I bet you don't even remember my name."

"Rickey."

"It's Mickey."

"No, it's Rickey."

"I think I know my own name."

"You THINK you know your own name? How stupid are you?" Clara giggled into her mouth, making the Doctor grin at her.

Jackie then rushed out of the doors, Rose moving to follow her.

"Don't start a fight, you three." Rose said. "Mum! It's not like that! He's not…" She looked outside to see Jackie already at the stairs of the flat. "I'll be up in a minute, hold on." She mumbled to herself before closing the door. "That was a real spaceship?"

"Yep."

"Why the pack of lies? Are they invading or something?"

"It's a funny way to invade, putting the world on red alert." Mickey pointed out.

"Good point. So, what would they be up to?" Clara asked.

* * *

Jackie sat on her bed with her face in her hands as she racked her brain while her personal TV was going.

"As the crisis continues and the government shows a remarkable lack of leadership, paranoia sweeps the country. There have been at least three reports of public assaults on people falsely identified as aliens. Now back to Tom Hitchinson."

"Are there more ships to come? And what is their intention? The authorities are now asking if anyone knows anything. If any previous sighting has been made, then call this number. We need your help."

Jackie looked at the TV before grabbing her phone and inputting the number. She waited before rolling her eyes and pressing a few numbers to get through voicemail, jumping as she did.

"Yes, I've seen one. I really have, an alien and she's with him. My daughter, she's with him and she's not safe. Oh my god, she's not safe. I've seen an alien and I know his name. He's called 'The Doctor'. He lives in a box, a blue box. She called it a TARDIS."

* * *

"So, what're you doing down there?" Mickey asked as the Doctor lay underneath the console fixing wires.

"Rickey." He said, his mouth currently holding his sonic.

"Mickey."

"Rickey," he pulled the sonic out and looked at him, "If I was to tell you what I was doing to the controls of my frankly magnificent time and space ship, would you even begin to understand?"

"I suppose not-"

"Well, shut it then." He said with a grin.

Mickey rolled his eyes at him before moving over to Rose. "Some friends you've got."

"He's winding you up. Look, I am sorry."

"Okay." He said absentmindedly.

"I am though."

"Every day I looked. On every street corner, wherever I went looking for a blue box, for a whole year."

"It was only a few days for me. I don't know, it's hard to tell inside this thing, but I swear it's just a few days since I left you."

"Not enough time to miss me, then?" He quipped.

"I did miss you." She smirked. "So, in twelve months, have you been seeing anyone else?"

"No. Well, mainly because everyone thinks I murdered you, so…yeah."

"Right."

Clara, who stood at the monitor with her arms crossed, exchanged a glance with the Doctor that screamed 'Awkward', forcing them to contain their sniggers.

"So, now that you've come back, are you going to stay?"

Before Rose could answer, electricity crackled at the console making them jump.

"Got it! Haha." The Doctor said proudly.

"Took you long enough." Clara fake yawned.

"Oi! You can have a go fixing this ship if you want."

"Well, some of those were unnecessary."

"And how would you know, missy?"

"Because old girl told me so." Clara smiled slyly.

 _*Beeps*_  (Waaay too long)

"Don't you both go ganging up on me!" He whined, making Clara laugh. Mickey mouthed to Rose 'Did the ship just-' and she interrupted with a hasty nod. "So, patched in the radar and looped it back twelve hours so it followed the flight of that spaceship and…Oh come on." He mumbled, going to whack the monitor as Clara slapped his hand. "Ow! What'd you do that for?"

"Give it a moment." She breathed as a video of the Earth from space appeared. "There you go, that's the spaceship on its way to Earth." She said, going into teacher mode as on the monitor the same ship in the Thames that was flying perfectly. "Now, give it a mo." Then a clock appeared as the ship reappeared again, which cycled through twelve hours as the ship looped in space before heading down to Earth in a crash landing. "The spaceship did a slingshot around the Earth before landing again, this time in the Thames."

"What does that mean?" Rose asked.

"The ship was already here on Earth for three days before another twelve hours passed and it appeared before the world. So, whoever these boys and girls are, they haven't just arrived. They've been here for a while."

"Now, the question is what they have been doing?" The Doctor asked.

"No." Clara shook her head.

"What?" The Doctor asked incredulously as Rose and Mickey raised their eyebrows at each other.

"Wrong question, Doctor."

"Alright then, Miss Oswald, what is the real question?"

"Why are they here?" She said, making him furrow his eyebrows. "They've been here already for a while, then just twelve hours later appeared as if they're crash landing in front of the world, putting it on red alert. So, they want something that either humanity must give up or fight for. We answer why they're here, that gives the answer to what they've been doing and what they want."

Rose and Mickey look at her with an impressed face while the Doctor gave a defeated sigh. "Alright then, why are they here?" He grumbled yet flashing her a soft smile, making her wink cheekily.

* * *

Harriet watched in terror filled confusion as Asquith stood up, placing the loose skin of Oliver on the table, complete with clothes and a zip in his forehead.

"What do you think?" Asquith said, holding up his arms as Margaret straightened his clothes while Joseph shrugged. "I think I've got too much ballast around the middle." He let out a loud fart, making him cough in surprise. "Sorry about that."

"We've really got to fix the gas exchange, its getting ridiculous." Margaret grumbled.

"I don't know. It seems rather Human to me." Joseph quipped.

"Yes, and it gives us away." Margaret growled, making him look sheepish.

"Sorry, sister."

Harriet didn't need to see her rolling her eyes. "Let's just fix it when this is all over. Now, we should get rid of Oliver's skin."

Asquith picked up said skin and went over to the cupboard, Harriet moving into a dark corner to hide. "It's a shame, I rather enjoyed being Oliver. He had a wife, a mistress and a young farmer. God I was busy." He said with a sly smile, making Joseph and Margaret chuckle. "Now, back to work eh? I have an army to command-"

"Not yet." Margaret correct.

"Alright, I will have an army to command soon." Asquith said with a nod as they left the room, only to nearly bump into a racing Indra.

"General Asquith, sir. We've had a priority alarm. It's Code 9, a confirmed Code 9." Harriet moved to the barely open door, being careful not to nudge it.

"Remind me again, please?" He said sheepishly.

"Well, in the event of the emergency protocols being activated, we've got software which automatically searches all communications for key words and one of those is 'Doctor'. I think we've found him, sir."

"What sort of 'Doctor'?" Margaret asked.

"Evidently, he's some sort of expert in extra-terrestrial affairs, in fact THE ultimate expert. And we need him, sir. We need him here right now."

"Well, if all the experts are being brought in, be sure he comes then." Asquith said.

"Sir." Indra said with a nod as they left the room, Harriet moving silently back downstairs.

* * *

"How many channels do you get?" Mickey asked as the Doctor flicked through them on the monitor.

"All the basic packages." He said simply.

"You get sports channels?"

"Yes, I get the football." He rolled his eyes, making Clara crook an eyebrow at him which he merely shrugged at. "Hold on, I know that lot." He said, seeing on the monitor a group of soldiers with familiar uniforms. "U.N.I.T: United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. Good people they are."

"How do you know them?" Rose asked.

"Because he's worked for them." Everyone looked at Mickey. "Don't think I sat on my backside for twelve months. I read up on you, Doctor. You look deep enough on the internet or in the history books and there's his name, followed by a list of the dead."

"Yeah, good boy Rickey. You did your homework; now can we return to work?" Clara grumbled sarcastically, making him look down slightly and the Doctor snigger at her choice of name.

"If you know them, why don't you go and help?" Rose asked.

"They wouldn't recognise me. I've changed a lot since the old days. There are aliens and fake aliens out there, I want to keep this alien out of the mix. Currently, the world's standing on the edge of a knife-"

"Stray but a little and it will fail to the ruin of all." Clara finished with a soft smile, making him furrow his eyebrows. "What?"

"Nothing." He said, now gaining her smile. "Good movies, they are."

"And good books." She added.

"That too. We should meet old Tolkien some time."

"That would be nice." She said dreamily.

The Doctor flicked a few switches, turning down the TARDIS' power. "Let's just keep her out of sight. Rickey, you've got a car. You can do some driving." He said, leading them to the doors.

"Where to?" He asked.

"The roads are clearing. Let's go and have a look at that spaceship." The Doctor opened the doors as they were met with the spotlight of a helicopter and racing police cars with army vehicles encircling them.

" **Do not move. Step away from the box and raise your hands above your heads. You are under arrest. Do not move."**

Mickey then raced away before the officers could get out of their cars.

"Oi! Get after him! Get after him!" One of them called, sending a small squad to follow Mickey as he disappeared.

"Rose!" They looked to see Jackie rushing out, only to be held back a few soldiers. "Rose! That's my daughter!"

" **Raise your hands above your heads. You are under arrest."**

"You ready, Clara?" He asked with a beaming grin.

"Sure." She said with the same look as they glanced up at the helicopter.

"Take us to your leader." They said in unison before high fiving each other, making Rose literally face palm herself.

"I'm in the company of children." She grumbled as they complied and raised their hands above their heads, before being lead into a rather clean and black car, almost like a small limo.

"This is a bit posh." Rose said with an impressed smirk. "If I'd known being arrested was like this, I would've done it years ago." She quipped, making them laugh.

"We're not being arrested. We're being escorted." The Doctor corrected.

"Where to?" Clara asked.

"Where do you think? Downing Street." He said laughing.

"You're kidding?!" Rose said with a childish grin.

"I'm not!"

"10 Downing Street?!" Clara said, mimicking their manner.

"That's the one!"

"Oh, my god. We're going to 10 Downing Street?!"

"Yup!" They coughed and took a breath to calm themselves despite their grins.

"How come?" Rose asked.

"I hate to say it, but Mickey was right. Over the years that I've been around this planet, I've been…uh…noticed."

"Now they need you?"

"Like it said on the news, they're gathering experts in alien knowledge. And who's the biggest expert of the lot?" He asked with a wide, smug smile.

"Patrick Moore?" Rose teased.

"Apart from him." His smile deflating slightly.

"The Men in Black?" Clara teased.

"Come on! They're not even real!" He whined.

"You and your ego must love this kind of attention, eh?"

"I'm telling you. Lloyd George used to drink me under the table. Hold on, who's the Prime Minister now?" He asked.

"How should any of us know? We skipped a year." Clara poked.

"Oi!"

They pulled up at Downing Street, currently being photographed by reporters who were indistinctly exclaiming for questions and attention. The Doctor and Clara grinned and waved, earning many responders while Rose looked starstruck by it all as they moved into the building.

* * *

"So, she's all right then? She's not in any trouble?" Jackie asked as a few officers stood in her flat, one of them was another overweight man who sat on her sofa.

"All I can say is that your daughter and her companions might be in a position to help the country. We'll still need to know how she contacted them." His stomach gave a loud grumble, making him glare distantly, trying to withhold a growl. "Right, off you go. I'll need to talk to Mrs. Tyler on my own., thank you."

* * *

The Doctor, Clara and Rose stood awkwardly in a crowded room as Indra entered.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if we can convene, thank you." Indra said, silencing the room. "It's this way on the right." He said, motioning his hand through the door he just walked through. "And can I remind you that I.D cards are to be worn always, please? Thank you." The people filtered through the door slowly as he walked over to the trio. "Indra Ganesh, sir. Here's your I.D card." He handed it over to the Doctor. "Now, I'm sorry, but your companions don't have clearance."

"I don't go anywhere without either of them." He said simply as he put the card around his neck.

"You're the Code 9, not them. I'm sorry, Doctor, but they must stay outside. Even I don't have clearance into that room."

"They're staying with me." He protested.

Clara placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. We'll be fine." He exchanged a soft glance with her before kissing her palm. "You be careful, okay?"

"Yes boss." He said with a smile.

"Excuse me. Are you the Doctor?" Harriet interrupted.

"Not now, we're busy." Indra said with a roll of his eyes.

"I just need a word in private."

"It'll be fine." Clara interrupted. "She can be with us."

Indra sighed before nodding. "This way, sir." He motioned the Doctor out of the room, who kept exchanging worried glances with Clara as he left.

"Come on, walk with me. Harriet Jones, MP, Flydale North." She said, leading the two into a quiet and empty room. "This friend of yours, he's an expert, is that right? He knows about aliens?"

"Why do you want to know?" Rose asked before they looked at each other with soft confusion as Harriet started to cry, making Rose rub her shoulders in comfort.

"Sorry. It was in the cabinet room, this way." Harriet said, leading them up the stairs into said room as she pulled the skin out of the cupboard, Clara and Rose look at it with wide eyes. "They turned his body inside out. A disguise for the thing inside." Harriet said, trying to hold back her tears.

"It's alright. I believe you." Clara said, Rose nodding beside her. "But why would they need suits?" Clara looked closely at the skin before gaining an idea. "This man was a bit…let's say loose. That must mean that these aliens are rather big, needing…similarly sized Humans to fit inside. But what if they had rejects? People they wanted but couldn't use?" Clara asked, motioning for Rose to help her rummage through the room until they got to a large wardrobe, which when opened revealed the dead body of a middle-aged man, making Rose gasp in shock.

"Oh my god." Rose breathed.

"Harriet, for god's sake!" Indra said with a groan, moving into the room. "This has gone beyond a joke. You can't just wander…" He trailed off upon noticing the body. "Oh, dear lord. That's the Prime Minister."

"Ohhh. Has someone been naughty?" They turned to the door, seeing Margaret enter with an evil smirk.

"That's not possible. He left his afternoon. The Prime Minister left Downing Street, he was driven away." Indra protested.

"And…who told you that?" Margaret asked as she placed her hand bag down. "Me." She said with fake innocence before moving her hand to her forehead.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention, please?" Asquith called in the packed room. The Doctor held a red slip with a handful of files inside which he flicked through quickly before rolling his eyes and setting it down. "As you can see from the summaries in front of you, the ship had one porcine pilot."

"Never mind that." The Doctor interrupted as he stood up and started to pace the room, drawing everyone's raptured yet confused attention. "The really interesting bit happened about three days ago. Filed away under any other business: In the North Sea, a satellite detected a signal, a small blip of radiation at one hundred fathoms like something was down there. You were just about to investigate but the next thing you know, this happens; Spaceships, pigs, all creating a massive diversion, but why? If aliens fake an alien crash and an alien pilot, what do they get?" After a moment, a look of dreadful realization crawled onto his face as his posture stiffened. "Us. They get us. It's not a diversion, it's a trap. It's all about us, the alien experts. The only people with the knowledge of how to fight them, all gathered together in one room." A loud fart from Joseph makes him turn around with an offended glare. "Excuse me, do you mind not farting while I'm saving the world?"

"Would you rather silent but deadly?" Joseph said before bursting into maniacal laughter. Asquith chuckled darkly with him before removing his hat then rubbing a thumb on his forehead, causing a small, blue blur to appear which revealed a zip straight across his forehead. He then pulled it back, gleaming a bright, blue light into the room as he fully unzipped his head, pulling the top back to show a dark, green head inside, with the suit crackling with electricity. Grabbing onto the suit, he tugged hard which pulled it down, revealing a large, 8ft tall creature with eyes as black as night and large, sharp claws on its three fingered hands. 'Asquith' gave a deep, menacing growl, sending shivers down the Doctor's spine as he looked on with wide, blinking eyes. He glanced towards its long neck which wore a black collar with a variety of buttons and tech, making his eyebrows furrow slightly.

"We are the Slitheen." 'Asquith' said with a growling, animalistic voice.

* * *

"It was bigger on the inside. I don't know. What do I know about spaceships?" Jackie said, moving into the kitchen, missing the officer's hardened look.

"That's what worries me. You see, this man is classified as trouble. Which means that anyone associated with him is the same." He said, hiding his gleeful growl as he moved to unzip his forehead. As he removed his skin suit, Jackie came out of the kitchen and looked upon him before screaming in horror as he moved in a predatorily manner towards her.

* * *

"Well then, it has been a pleasure." 'Margaret' mocked before she pounced on Indra, shoving her claws through his chest before pushing him far up the wall as he screamed in agony, the three looking on with horrified faces.

* * *

"Thank you all for wearing your I.D cards. They'll help to identify the bodies." Joseph taunted darkly as he pulled a small, black switch out of his pocket and pressed the button, causing said cards to burst with electricity, making everyone except for the Doctor to collapse in agony and even he struggled to stand against the onslaught of pain, clenching his teeth hard as he did. 'Asquith' and Joseph looked on with maniac laughter, missing the Doctor's face turning into stern rage.


	14. World War Three

**10 Downing Street, 2006**

"Thank you all for wearing your I.D cards. They'll help to identify the bodies." Joseph taunted darkly as he pulled a small, black switch out of his pocket and pressed the button, causing said cards to burst with electricity, making everyone except for the Doctor to collapse in agony and even he struggled to stand against the onslaught of pain, clenching his teeth hard as he did. 'Asquith' and Joseph looked on with maniac laughter, missing the Doctor's face turning into stern rage. He grabbed onto his I.D card and yanked it hard, snapping the chain and causing the electricity to be contained within his arm but slowly spreading again. He struggled to get to his feet, giving loud breaths as he did before moving in a predatorial manner to 'Asquith' while they looked on with horrified eyes.

"Deadly to Humans, maybe." He taunted before inserting the card into 'Asquith's collar, causing the electricity to arc within him and Joseph through their linked collars, making them cry in agony and allowing the Doctor to race from the room. Rushing through the large building, he found a group of soldiers and clapped his hands. "Oi! You want aliens?! Well, they're inside Downing Street, now chop-chop!" His words moved the soldiers into action as they followed him out.

* * *

Jackie looked at the Slitheen with wide yet blinking eyes as it collapsed on its knees in agony, before the front door slammed open and Mickey came rushing into the flat.

"Jackie!" He pulled out his phone to photograph it before grabbing a chair and slamming it hard onto the Slitheen, making it fall to the ground as he grabbed Jackie's hand and led her hastily out of the flat.

* * *

"Go!" Clara said, making Rose and Harriet follow her out of the room as 'Margaret' dropped Indra's body to the ground.

* * *

Despite the literally electrifying agony, Joseph reached towards 'Asquith' and pulled out the card from its collar and throwing it on the ground, ending the arc and making them breathe a sigh of relief before letting out a loud groan from the pain.

"Quickly! Reinstate my disguise! Hurry!" 'Asquith' growled, making Joseph grab its skin and rush to place it back on. As they finished, the Doctor and a group of soldiers entered the room, making Joseph turn his face into fearful disdain.

"Where've you been?! I called for help, I sounded the alarm! There was this lightning and they all collapsed in front of me."

The head soldier moved to check. "I think they're all dead, sir."

"That's what I'm saying. He did it!" He said, pointing to the Doctor. "That man there!"

"I think you'll find that the Prime Minister is an alien in disguise…" He trailed off, realising how ridiculous he sounded. "That's never going to work, is it?" He asked a soldier.

"Sorry, no."

"Fair enough." He shrugged before racing from the room, being followed by the soldiers until he was cornered against a wall, raising his hands in surrender despite his grin.

"Under the jurisdiction of the emergency protocols, I authorize you to execute this man!" Asquith commands.

"Well, now, yes. You see…uh…the thing is, if I was you and I was going to execute someone by backing them against the wall, a little word of advice between you and me."

 _*Ding*_  The elevator opened behind him, making him back inside with his sonic out.

"Don't stand them against the lift." He taunted gleefully, using the sonic to close the door and send it up one level.

* * *

"No, wait! They're still in there, the emergency protocols!" Harriet called, making them stop to turn yet jump at the sight of 'Margaret'.

"Never mind that, now go!" Clara called, making them rush through a corridor, closing a door behind them so they could go through another route, jumping as they heard the door be destroyed by 'Margaret'. Running past the elevator, they wrench open the door as Clara sends the Doctor a smile which made him wink back.

"Hello!" He grinned cheerfully, distracting 'Margaret' before closing the door again, sending it up to the second floor.

"Hide." Clara whispered, making Harriet hide behind a changer and Rose a curtain, with Clara behind a long drawer beside the sofa. 'Margaret' then enters the room, growling in a sniggering manner as she does.

"Oh, such fun.  _Little Human children, where are you?_ " She singed. "Sweet little Humans come to me. Let me kiss you better, with my big green lips."

* * *

"I repeat, the upper floors are under quarantine. You will stay where you are, you will disregard all previous instructions and you will take your orders directly from me." Asquith orders as the elevator returns, him and Joseph stepping inside.

"Mr. Green, sir. I'm sorry but you've got to come with me. We should evacuate the entire building." The leader protested.

Joseph restrained his urge to roll his eyes. "Sergeant, have you read the emergency protocols?"

"No, sir."

"Then don't question me. Seal off Downing Street, secure the ground floor and if the Doctor makes it downstairs, shoot on sight!" He then pressed the button to proceed to floor 2, hearing the muffled voices of the Sergeant giving orders and the men shuffling about.

"Let the sport begin." Asquith said with a smirk.

Joseph winced as he let out a fart. "I'm getting poisoned by the gas exchange. I need to be naked."

"Rejoice in it." Joseph crooks an eyebrow at him. "Your body is…magnificent." They proceeded to unzip themselves out of their suits as the lift arrived, before proceeding to leave.

"It does us good to hunt, purifies the blood." 'Joseph' said.

"We'll keep this floor quarantined as our last hunting ground before the final phase." 'Asquith' said as they moved into the room where 'Margaret' prowled, neither of them noticing the Doctor watching in a corner.

"My brothers." 'Margaret' greeted.

"Happy hunting, sister?" 'Joseph' asked.

"It's been wonderful. The more you prolong it, the more they stink of sweat and fear."

'Asquith' breathed deeply. "I can smell an old girl, a stale bird made of brittle bones." Harriet gained a look of shocked offense. "And two ripe youngsters, filled with hormones and adrenaline. Fresh enough to bend before they snap."

"One of them has that sweet smell, of a girl infatuated with a man. Her meal shall be ravishing." 'Margaret' growled as she pulled back a curtain to find a squealing Rose. "Oh no, it's the wrong one." She whined slightly.

"No! Take me first! Take me!" Harriet yelled, attracting their attention. However, the door slammed open as the Doctor raced in with a fire extinguisher, before firing in 'Joseph' and 'Asquith's faces, making them cry.

"With me, now!" He ordered.

Harriet raced over to the Doctor while Rose ran around 'Margaret', who sneered as she got ready to pounce.

"Don't you dare." Clara growled as she grabbed a chair and slammed it across 'Margaret's face, making her fall into the window and break some of the glass, cutting her skin and making her cry in pain.

"Clara, come on!" Rose said, pulling her over to the Doctor.

"You two alright?" He asked.

"Yeah." They said in unison.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked Harriet.

"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North."

"Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." They sprinted out of the room, only having little time before the Slitheen caught up.

"We need to get to the cabinet rooms!" The Doctor said.

"The emergency protocols are in there!" Harriet said.

"Harriet Jones, I like you!"

"I think I like you too!"

Pushing open the door to said room, they rushed inside as the Doctor pulled out his sonic and grabbed a glass of whiskey before heading to the door as the Slitheen came closer.

"Oi! One more move and my sonic device shall triplicate the flammability of this alcohol. Woof! We all go up, so back off!" To their surprise, the bluff worked as the Slitheen stood awkwardly. "Right then, question time. Who exactly are the Slitheen?"

"They're aliens." Harriet said.

"Yes, I got that, thanks." He rolled his eyes.

"Who are you if not Human?" 'Asquith' asked.

"Who's not Human?" Harriet mumbled.

"He's not Human." Rose said.

"He's not Human?" Harriet raised her eyebrows.

"Can I have a bit of hush?"

"Sorry."

"So, what's the plan?"

"But he's got a northern accent."

"Lots of planets have a north." Rose quoted.

"I said hush. Come on, you've got a spaceship hidden in the North Sea. It's transmitting a signal and you've murdered your way to the top of government, but why? Invasion?"

"Why would we invade this godforsaken rock?" 'Joseph' grumbled.

"Then why is the Slitheen race here?" The three exchanged looks of bewilderment.

"The Slitheen race? Slitheen isn't our species, it's our surname. Jocrassa Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen at your service." Jocrassa bowed.

"So, your family?" The Doctor mumbled.

"It's a family business."

Clara looked at them with crossed eyebrows. "Then you're out to make a profit. What would this 'Godforsaken rock' give to you?" The three blinked before 'Margaret' raised her clawed hand.

"Excuse me." 'Margaret' said. "Your device will do what? Triplicate the flammability?"

"Is that what I said?" The Doctor asked with a snigger.

"You're making it up."

"Ah well. It did fool you, so haha." He taunted, making Clara giggle as he passed the drink behind him. "Harriet, have a drink. You're going to need it."

"You pass it to the left first."

"Sorry." He said, giving it to Clara, who handed it to Rose then to Harriet.

"Now we can end this hunt with a slaughter." 'Asquith' said, grinding his claws together.

"There's a fascinating history here with Downing Street. Two thousand years ago, this was marshland. 1730, it was occupied by a Mr. Chicken.  _*Chuckles*_  He was a nice man. 1796, this was the cabinet room. Now if the cabinet's in session and in danger, these are the four safest walls in all Great Britain. End of lesson." The Doctor taunted as he lifted a latch by the door and pressed a button, causing steel to slide up in the door frame and closing it off along with every window in the room. "They were installed in 1991. That's three inches of steel lining every wall, window and door. They'll never get in."

Clara crossed her arms and crooked an eyebrow. "But we won't get out."

The Doctor bit his lip as she sniggered at his embarrassed blush. "Ah."

* * *

"He's safely contained. Now cut off communications inside that room, then summon the family. It's time we finished with this waste of a planet for good." Jocrassa ordered as the three left the room.

* * *

Asquith approached the Sergeant. "Sergeant. Now that the Doctor's been neutralized, the upper levels are out of bounds to everyone."

"Then, who are they?" He asked, pointing to the stairs where Margaret was motioning a large group of overweight people upstairs.

"Need to know, Sergeant. Need to know. I want you to liaise with communications. The Acting Prime Minister will be making a public address. He will speak to the nations of the world."

"Yes sir." They walked off. Upstairs, Joseph approached Margaret who was ticking off all the present family.

"Is that all of us?"

"All the family except for Sip Fel-Fotch. He's found a hunt of his own."

"Ah." They exchanged a knowing smile.

* * *

"You got anything stronger?" Jackie asked weakly as Mickey prepared a cup of tea.

"No chance. I've seen you when you've had a few and this isn't time for a conga."

"We've got to tell someone."

"But who do we trust? For all we know, they've all got those big bog monsters inside of them. This is what he does, Jacks, that Doctor bloke. Everywhere he goes, there's death and destruction and now he's got Rose in the middle of it."

"Has he got a great big green thing inside of him?"

"I wouldn't put it past him."

"No. You see the way him and Clara act? I don't think he'd do that to her."

"Well like it or not, he's the only person who knows how to fight these things."

"I thought I was going to die." Jackie mumbled, tears of fear coming into her eyes as she began to sob silently.

Mickey blinked as he started to feel tears in his own. "Come on, Jacks. If anyone's going to cry it's me. Now you're safe in my flat okay? No one's going to look for you in here, especially since you hate me so much."

"But you saved my life. God, that's embarrassing."

"You're telling me." They exchanged a small chuckle.

"I'm sorry, Mickey. I didn't mean to put you through all of that."

"It's not your fault." He said as they gave a small hug.

* * *

The Doctor carried Indra's body into the cupboard before placing a hand on his forehead to close his eyes. "Sorry." He mumbled before standing up to pace about the room. "Right, what've we got?"

"Nothing. This place is completely antique." Rose said. "What I don't get is when they killed the Prime Minister, why didn't they use him as a disguise?"

"He's too slim and they're big old beasts. They can only fit inside big Humans."

"My god, Clara was right."

"What?" He asked softly.

"She already guessed that there must've been rejects of people they couldn't use."

He looked at Clara with a soft smile as she blushed.

"Well…I just…you know…looked about." She stuttered. "What about the device around their necks? What's that for?"

"It's a compression field, literally shrinks them down a bit. That's why there's all that gas, it's a big exchange. It's also a form of linked communication between them, kind of like a Facebook group message."

"Wish I had a compression field, I could fit a size smaller." Rose quipped, making them chuckle.

"Excuse me, people are dead. This is not the time for making jokes." Harriet reprimanded.

"Sorry, you get used to it when your friends with these two clowns."

"I heard that." They said in unison.

"That's a strange friendship." Harriet mumbled.

"Harriet Jones. I've heard that name before, Harriet Jones. You're not famous for anything, are you?" The Doctor asked.

" _*Scoffs*_ Hardly. Just a lifelong back bencher, I'm afraid."

"Rings a bell, Harriet Jones." He mumbled before turning to Clara. "Do you know anything of her? Anything at all?"

She looked down in sadness. "Sorry. I wasn't paying attention to anything for five years." She mumbled.

He walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Now don't start that again, Clara. It wasn't your fault." She nodded weakly as they embraced in a soft hug.

Harriet looked at them before turning to Rose. "Are they together?" She whispered.

"Not really. They're a couple of idiots." She whispered, making them smile. "Is there anything you can find in the protocols?"

"Well, it's a fat lot of use right now, I'm afraid. It lists all the people that could help in this situation and they're all dead downstairs."

"What about defence codes or something? Couldn't we just launch a nuclear bomb at them?"

Harriet looked at her with wide eyes. "You're a very violent young woman."

"I'm serious. What if we could?"

"Well, there's nothing on that in here. Nuclear strikes do need a release code, yes, but it's kept secret by the United Nations."

Clara pulled her head out of the Doctor's chest with furrowed eyebrows. "I'm sorry, can you say that again?"

"The codes?"

"All of it."

"Well…the British Isles can't gain access to atomic weapons without a special resolution from the U.N."

"Like that's ever stopped them." Rose mumbled.

"Exactly, given our past record and I voted against that, thank you very much. But the codes have been taken out of the government's hands and given to the U.N. Why did you want to know? Is it important?"

"Everything's important." The Doctor said, nodding to Clara with a smile.

"If we only knew what the Slitheen wanted or why they're here. Dear me, I'm saying 'Slitheen' as if it's normal." She mumbled.

"What do they want, though?" Rose asked.

"Well, if it's an invasion then it's a stupid one because they put the whole planet on red alert and they're just one family and they don't want 'Slitheen World'. They're a family business, so they're out to make money. That means that they want something that's here on Earth."

"Like what? Gold? Oil? Water?" Harriet asked.

"Not bad." Clara smiled.

"Thank you." Harriet smiled softly.

"Harriet Jones, why do I know that name?" The Doctor mumbled.

_*Ring* *Ring*_

"Sorry, that's me." Rose said, pulling out her phone.

"But we're sealed off. How did you get a signal?"

"He zapped it; Superphone." Rose said.

"Then we can phone for help, you must have contacts."

"Dead downstairs, yeah." He mumbled. "Who is it?"

"Mickey."

"Oh, tell your stupid boyfriend we're busy." He rolled his eyes, making Clara snigger.

"Yeah, he's not so stupid after all." Rose said, holding up her phone to him which was a sent picture of an electrified Slitheen. He crooked an eyebrow at this.

"Give him a call."

Rose complied, phoning up Mickey. "Hey, what happened?"

" _There was an alien, Rose."_

"Yeah, we figured that."

" _No, no, no, not just alien but like, proper alien. All stinking, wet and disgusting. And more to the point, it wanted to kill us."_

" _I could've died."_  Jackie said in the background.

"Is she all right, though? Don't put her on, just tell me."

The Doctor snatched the phone out of her grasp, making her jaw drop incredulously before Clara put a hand on her shoulder. "Give me a mo." She whispered slyly, making Rose crook an eyebrow.

"Is that Rickey? Don't talk, just shut up and go to your computer." The Doctor said.

" _It's Mickey and why should I?"_

"Mickey the idiot, I might just choke before I finish this sentence but…uh…I need you." Clara and Rose sniggered at him, making him glare at the two. "Now, go to the U.N.I.T website." He moved over to the table and plugged the phone into a speaker, not noticing Clara moving over to him silently before grasping onto one of his ears and pulling hard. "Ow, ow, ow, ow!" He whined.

"Next time ask for it." She reprimanded before punching his shoulder.

"Ow! That hurt!"

"Aww, would you like me to kiss it better, you big baby?" She mocked, Rose laughing while Harriet smiled as she poured four glasses.

"I think there's other places that you could kiss."

"Oh really? Doesn't sound like there is."

"Not now, children." Rose groaned.

"Yes Mum." They said in unison.

" _Doctor, it says 'Password'."_

"Buffalo. Two f's and one l."

" _So, what's that website?"_ Jackie asked, pouring a cup of tea in the background.

" _All the secret information known to mankind. See, they've known about aliens for years, they've just kept us in the dark."_

"Mickey, you were born in the dark." The Doctor smirked.

"Oh, leave him alone." Rose grumbled.

" _Thank you. Password again."_

"Just repeat 'Buffalo' every time it asks." He then rolled his hands over his face with a slight groan. "Big Ben; Why would the Slitheen go and hit Big Ben?"

"You said to gather the experts, to kill them." Harriet said, handing out glasses of whiskey.

"That lot would've gathered for a weather balloon, you don't need to crash-land in the middle of London." He said, smirking as Clara put her glass down with a small face of disgust.

"The Slitheen were hiding, but then they put the entire planet on red alert. Why would they do that?" Rose asked.

" _Oh, listen to her."_  Jackie grumbled.

"Well, at least I'm trying."

" _Well, I've got a question if you don't mind. Since those two walked into our lives, I have been attacked in the streets. I've had creatures from the pits of hell in my own living room and my daughter disappeared off the face of the Earth."_

"I told you what happened."

" _I'm talking to them. Because I've seen this life of yours, the both of ya and maybe you get off on it. Maybe you think it's all clever and smart, but you tell me. You answer me this: Is my daughter safe?"_

"I'm fine."

" _Is she safe? Will she always be safe? Can you promise me that?"_

The Doctor looked down for a moment as Clara rubbed her hand on his shoulder, making him smile sadly at her, which she returned.

" _Well? What's the answer?"_  There was a small ruffling noise for a moment.

" _We're in."_  Mickey said.

That made the Doctor and Clara give a small breath of relief, as their answer wasn't a good one. "Now then, on the left at the top, there's a tab, an icon with little concentric circles. Click on that."

 _*Click*_  What then followed was a faint noise of electronic whirring on a loop.  _"What is it?"_

"The Slitheen have got a spaceship in the North Sea and it's transmitting that signal. Now hush, let me work out what it's saying.

" _They'll have to answer me one day."_  Jackie grumbled.

" _Shush!"_

"It's some sort of message."

"What's it saying?" Rose asked.

"I don't know, but it's on a loop. It keeps repeating."

_*Ring* *Ring*_

"Hush!"

" _That's not me. Go and see who that is."_

" _It's 3:00 in the morning."_

" _Well go and tell them that."_  Mickey groaned.

"It's beaming out into space on a loop by a family business with profit in mind." Clara racked her brain.

"Clara?" He asked softly.

"Could it be-"

" _Ah! It's him! It's that thing! It's the Slick-een!"_  Jackie shrieked.

" _They've found us."_

"Mickey, I need that signal." The Doctor protested.

"Never mind the signal! Get out, Mum! Just get out!"

" _We can't. It's by the front door."_  The muffled sound of a Slitheen roaring was heard through the speaker.  _"Oh my god, it's unmasking. It's going to kill us."_

"There's got to be some way of stopping them!" Harriet freaked in concern. "You're supposed to be the expert! Think of something!"

"I'm trying!" The Doctor cried as he rushed to the front of the room, Clara moving to join him as Rose and Harriet followed.

" _I'll take it on, Jackie. You just run, okay? Just run and don't look back."_  The sound of crunching wood was heard as the front door to Mickey's flat was slowly torn apart.

"Doctor, please." Clara said imploringly.

The Doctor stared at her before determination burrowed into his eyes as he hastily nodded. "Right! If we're going to find their weakness, we need to find out where they're from, which planet. Judging by their basic shape, that narrows it down to five thousand planets within traveling distance. What else do we know about them, Clara? Information."

"They're green."

"Narrows it down."

"Good sense of smell."

"Narrows it down."

"They can smell adrenaline."

"Narrows it down."

"The pig technology." Harriet inputted.

"Narrows it down."

"The spaceship in the Thames, you said slipstream engine?" Rose inputted.

"Narrows it down."

" _It's getting in!"_

"They hunt like it's a ritual." Clara said.

"Narrows it down."

"Wait a minute!" Harriet said, making them turn to look at her. "Did you notice? When they fart, if you'll pardon the word, it doesn't just smell like a fart, if you'll pardon the word, it's something else. What is it? It's more like…um…"

"Bad breath." Rose concluded.

"That's it!"

"Calcium decay! Now that narrows it down!" The Doctor yelled, his tone getting gleeful.

"We're getting there, Mum!" Rose reassured.

" _Too late!"_

"Calcium phosphate, organic calcium, living calcium, creatures made from living calcium. What else…what else…hyphenated surname, yes! That narrows it down to one planet: Raxacoricofallapatorius!"

" _Oh, great! We could write them a letter!"_  Mickey quipped.

"Get into the kitchen!" A slammed door followed by a rushing and scrambling sound was heard.

" _Oh my god! It's going to rip us apart!"_  Jackie shrieked as the Slitheen tore through the front door.

"Calcium, recombined with the compression field; Ascetic acid, vinegar."

"Just like Hannibal!" Harriet realised.

"Just like Hannibal! Mickey, have you got any vinegar?"

_"How should I know?"_

"It's your kitchen!"

"Cupboard by the sink, middle shelf." Rose pointed out.

 _"Oh, give it here. What do you need?"_  Jackie asked.

"Anything with vinegar!"

Scrambling was heard as Jackie pulled out a jug onto the counter.  _"Gherkins. Yeah, pickled onions! Pickled eggs!"_

"You kiss this man?" Clara quipped, making everyone chuckle.

The kitchen door was torn open as the Slitheen roared.

_*Splash*_

Utter silence fell for a moment until-

***BANG***

Everyone jumped slightly as the sound flared out of the speakers.

" _Ugh, alien bits! Disgusting!"_  Jackie whined, making them breathe a sigh of relief.

"Hold on, Hannibal?" Rose asked incredulously.

"Hannibal crossed the Alps by dissolving boulders with vinegar." Harriet said with a smile.

"Well, thank god for vinegar, eh?" Rose quipped making them laugh as they raised their glasses in a toast before drinking, the Doctor and Clara spitting out in disgust.

"God, I never listen to my own advice." Clara grumbled.

"I know. It's one of your redeeming qualities." He teased.

"Watch it." She warned.

"Ugh, seriously can we have a moment of peace?" Rose grumbled.

"Thank you." Harriet groaned, making the pair blush sheepishly.

"Sorry." They said in unison.

* * *

Asquith marched up to Joseph through the soldiers with a look of worried anger. "He's dead. Sip Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen is dead."

"I felt it. How could that happen?" He mumbled.

"Someone must've gotten lucky."

"By the heavens, that's the last piece of luck anyone on this rock will ever have." He growled as they strode out the front door of Downing Street to the clamouring reporters.

"Ladies and gentlemen." Joseph called, making them hush despite the constant flickering of cameras. "Nations of the world, Humankind. The greatest experts in extra-terrestrial events came here tonight. They gathered here in the common cause for the good of this world, but the news I bring you now is grave indeed. The experts are dead, murdered right in front of me by alien hands. Peoples of the Earth heed my words. These 'visitors' do not come in peace."

* * *

 _"Listen to this."_  Mickey said, making everyone look at each other with furrowed eyebrows.

_"Our inspectors have searched the skies above our heads and they have found massive weapons of destruction, capable of being deployed within forty-five seconds."_

"What?" The Doctor mumbled.

" _Our technicians can baffle the alien probes, but not for long. We are facing extinction, unless we strike first. The United Kingdom stands directly beneath the belly of the mothership. I beg of the United Nations, pass an emergency resolution. Give us the access codes. A nuclear strike at the heart of the beast is our only chance of survival, because…from this moment on, it is my…solemn duty to inform you: Planet Earth is at war."_

"He's making it up. There's no weapons up there, there's no threat. He just invented it." The Doctor shook his head.

"Do you think they'll believe him?"

"Well, they did last time." Rose pointed out.

"That's why the Slitheen went for spectacle. They want the whole world panicking, because you lot, you get scared then you lash out." He said, leading them to the door of the room.

"They release the defence codes…"

"And the Slitheen go nuclear."

"But why?" Harriet asked.

The Doctor pressed the button to pull back the steel wall, revealing three Slitheen standing there with Margaret.

"You get the codes and release the missiles. But not into space because there's nothing there. You attack every other country on Earth, then they retaliate and fight back. World War Three, the whole planet gets nuked."

"And we can sit through it, safe in our spaceship waiting in the Thames. Not crashed, just parked and only two minutes away." Margaret sneered smugly.

"But you'll destroy the planet, this beautiful place, what for?" Harriet asked.

"Profit." Clara said. "That's what that signal beaming into space is. It's an advert."

"Sale of the century." Margaret nodded with a smirk. "We reduce the Earth to molten slag then sell it, piece by piece. This rock becomes raw fuel, made of radioactive chunks, all capable of powering every cut-price star liner and budget cargo ship."

"So, even aliens can't escape the greed of money." Clara growled, clenching her fists.

"Of course not. There's a recession out there, Clara. People are buying cheap."

"At the cost of five billion lives?"

" _*Scoff*_ Bargain."

"Then I'll give you a choice: Leave this planet or I'll stop you." The Doctor said.

The four before them burst into laughter. "What, you? Trapped in your box?" Margaret taunted.

"Yes, me." He said coldly, pressing the button without moving his hard stare, making Margaret's smirk falter as the wall closes.

* * *

Joseph and Asquith walk back to the stairs where the Sergeant stood on guard.

"Sergeant. We'll take the call in the Prime Minister's office. Maintain your positions and good luck." Joseph said grimly, holding out a hand which the Sergeant shook. Asquith patted him on the back as they moved up the stairs and into said room, chuckling gleefully as the door closed behind them, meeting back with Margaret and the rest of the family, most of them in their real bodies.

"Look at that! The telephone is actually red!" Joseph almost squealed, making everyone snigger. "Now, how long till they phone?"

"Counting down." Asquith said.

Joseph looked up with an idea, turning to the rest of the family. "Victory should be naked." He smiled as everyone with their disguise still on moved their hands to their heads.

* * *

" _All right, Doctor. I'm not saying I trust you, I mean I trust Clara more than you but there must be something that can be done."_  Jackie said.

"If we could ferment the porch, we could make ascetic acid." Harriet pointed out.

"It would take too long." The Doctor shook his head.

"Mickey, any luck?" Rose asked.

" _There's loads of emergency numbers and they're all on voicemail."_

"Voicemail dooms us all." Harriet groaned.

"If we could just get out of here."

The Doctor exchanged a sad look with Clara, who smiled softly at him and nodded.

"There's a way out." He said.

"What?"

"There's always been a way out."

"Then why don't we use it?"

"Because I can't guarantee that your daughter will be safe, Jackie."

" _Don't you dare. Whatever it is, don't you dare."_

"That's the thing, if I don't dare, everyone dies."

"Do it." Rose said simply, making them raise their eyebrows at her.

"You don't even know what it is, you'd just let me?"

"Yes. You're my friend, the both of you. Of course, I would." She said softly.

" _Please, Doctor, please. She's my daughter. She's just a kid."_  Jackie protested.

"Do you think I don't know that? Because this is my life, Jackie. It's not fun, it's not smart. It's people dying, and lives torn apart until someone stands up and makes a decision when no one else will."

"Because we don't walk away." Clara said, making him smile softly at her.

"Well, what're you waiting for?" Rose asked.

"We could save the world, but you could die." He said sadly.

"Except it's not your decision, Doctor. Nor is it Clara's. It's mine." Harriet spoke, straightening her back.

_"And who the hell are you?"_

"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. The only elected representative in this room, chosen by the people, for the people and on their behalf, I command you: Do it." She said proudly, making his soft smile turn into an infectious grin.

"Quick, pass the protocols." The Doctor said, Harriet pushing them down the table to his reach.

"How do we get out?" Rose asked.

"We don't. We stay here. Oh, come on." He mumbled, flicking through the papers. "Got it. Mickey, get through the Royal Navy with that website. Use the 'Buffalo' password, it overrides everything."

" _What're you doing?"_

" _Like he said, I'm hacking into the Royal Navy. We're in. Here it is, HMS Taurean, Trafalgar class submarine and ten miles off the coast of Plymouth."_

"Right, select a missile."

" _But we can't go nuclear, we don't have the defence codes."_

"All we need is an ordinary missile. What's the first category?"

" _Sub Harpoon, UGM-84A."_

"That's the one, select."

" _I could stop you."_  Jackie said, making them gulp.

" _Do it."_

"You ready for this?" A tense moment of silence followed.

" _Yeah."_

"Mickey the idiot, the world is in your hands. Fire."

_*Click*_

" _Oh my god."_  Jackie breathed.

"Doctor, how solid are these?" Harriet asked.

"Not solid enough. They were built for short-range attack but nothing this big."

"All right, now I'm making the decision." Rose said, making the Doctor and Clara exchange impressed looks. "We're not going to die, we're going to ride this out. It's like what they say about earthquakes: You can survive them by standing under a door frame. Now, this cupboard's small, so it's strong." She said, opening said cupboard. "Come and help me." She said, motioning everyone over to empty the room completely.

" _The missile is on radar. Counter Defence 556."_

"Stop them intercepting it." The Doctor called.

" _556 already neutralized."_

"Good boy." He then grabbed the phone from the table and rushed with everyone into the cupboard.

"It was nice knowing you all." Harriet said.

"Us too." Clara said, the Doctor and Rose nodding as they all grasped each other's hands.

* * *

"What do you mean, 'incoming'?" The Sergeant asked the soldiers at the computers.

He simply pointed, which showed the radar and the missile only inches away from its target: Downing Street.

"Get everyone out. Now!" He ordered, making everyone present move quickly as he rushed into the main hallway and smashed the fire alarm. "Everybody out! Now!" He ordered, racing upstairs through the rushing soldiers, he wrenched open the door to the Prime Minister's office." Sir! There's a missile-" He cut himself off as he saw the large group of Slitheen standing there, looking at him with something akin to incredulousness. "Sorry." He mumbled before closing the door and racing downstairs and out the front door, firing his pistol to attract everyone outside. "Run! Everyone run!" He yelled, making them rush in panic as he saw overhead the missile gaining closer, rushing out of range before the missile slammed into the building, exploding it in a mass of flames and rubble that went flying in all directions around it. All that was left was a black, steel container, dented and scorched amongst the rubble as its front door was kicked down, the group exiting it and coughing at the sudden welcome of smoke and ash.

"Made in Britain." Harriet said proudly.

The Sergeant saw them, rushing over with a concerned look. "Oh my god! Are you alright?"

"Harriet Jones, MP, Flydale North." She said, pulling out her I.D card. "I want you to contact the U.N immediately and tell the ambassadors that the crisis is over, they can step down. Go on, tell the news."

"Yes, ma'am." He said, rushing off.

"Someone's got a hell of a job sorting this lot out." Harriet grumbled before her eyes widened. "Oh lord! We haven't even got a Prime Minister."

"Maybe you should have a go." Clara suggested.

"Me?  _*Scoffs*_  I'm only a back-bencher."

"I'd vote for you." Rose nodded.

"I would too, if I was Human." The Doctor shrugged making them chuckle.

"Now, don't be silly." She reprimanded lightly. "Look, I'd better go and see if I can help. Hang on!" She called, making her way in the direction of the Sergeant and a dozen reporters. The trio followed her slowly.

"I thought I knew the name: Harriet Jones, future Prime Minister. Elected for three successive terms and the architect of Britain's golden age." The Doctor said proudly.

"The crisis has passed! Ladies and gentlemen, I have something to say to you all here today." Harriet said, gaining the attention of the reporters. "Mankind stands tall, proud and undefeated. God bless humanity."

* * *

Returning to her flat, Rose was swept up in a hug by Jackie.

"You alright?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, I'm alright. You?"

"I'm alright."

"How's your friends?"

"They're okay."

* * *

The Doctor and Clara returned to the TARDIS and re-powered her up again, before embracing each other, her head buried in his chest.

"Don't worry, Doctor. I'm okay." She reassured.

"Rubbish. Of course, I worry about you." He said softly, making her smile as he placed a kiss on her head.

* * *

"Harriet Jones. Who does she think she is?" Jackie grumbled as Rose watched Harriet addressing reporters on the TV. "It should be you on there. My daughter saved the world!"

"The Doctor and Clara helped a bit."

"Alright then, them too. You should be given knighthoods."

"That's not the way he does things. No fuss about it, he just…moves on. Even Clara's not that different. But he's not that bad if you gave him a chance."

"Clara's alright, I like her. And he's good in a crisis, I'll give him that."

"Oh, now that the world has changed, you'll start saying nice things about them. Him particularly."

"Well, I reckon I've got no choice. There's no getting rid of them since you three are so close."

"We're just friends, Mum."

"That's what I meant. What did you think I was meaning?" She reprimanded, making them chuckle.

"Fair enough." Rose shrugged.

"By the way, what do they eat?"

"How'd you mean?"

"I was going to do shepherd's pie. All of us have a proper sit-down because…I'm ready to listen. I want to learn about that life you three lead. I mean, I don't know, he's an alien. For all I know, he eats grass and safety pins. How does Clara even put up with him?"

"I think Clara's the one that asks that question." Rose quipped, making Jackie laugh. "No, I'm pretty sure he'll have shepherd's pie. Does that mean you'll cook for him?"

"What's wrong with that?"

"If Clara wasn't there already, he would've met his match."

"Careful, Rosie, you're not too old for a slap. You can go visit your gran tomorrow. Better learn some French, since I told her you were in France." She said, moving into the kitchen.

_*Ring* *Ring*_

Rose pulled out her phone and looked at the caller, which read 'TARDIS'. Furrowing her eyebrows, she answered. "Hello?"

" _Right, we'll be a couple of hours, then we can go."_

"Hold on, where does the TARDIS have a phone?"

The Doctor gave a flustered cough. _" On the front door. It's supposed to be linked to the console unit, but I keep forgetting to fix it. Wipe that smirk of your face, missy, it's not helping. Like I said, Rose, couple of hours. We've just got to send out this dispersal to cancel out the Slitheen's advert in case any bargain hunters turn up."_

"Umm, my mother's cooking."

" _Good. Put her on a slow heat and let her simmer."_  Clara giggled in the background while Rose tried to contain a smirk.

"She's cooking tea, for all of us."

" _I don't do that. Even Clara's shaking her head. Wait, are you giggling or disagreeing? Okay, she didn't even answer."_

"She wants to get to know you, the both of you.

" _Tough, we've got better things to do."_

"It's just tea."

" _Not to us, it isn't."_

"She's my mother."

" _Well, she's not mine or Clara's." He quipped._

"That's not fair." Rose said in frustration.

" _Well, you can stay there if you want. But right now, there's a plasma storm brewing in the Horsehead Nebula. Fires are burning ten million miles wide. I could fly the TARDIS right into the heart of it, then ride the shockwave all the way out, hurtle right across the sky and end up anywhere. It's your choice."_

The dial tone came through, making Rose glance off for a minute before she gained her answer, heading to her room to pack a bag.

"Rose? I was thinking, I've got that bottle of amaretto from New Year's Eve. Do they drink?" Jackie opened the door before looking at Rose, gaining a sad look of realisation. "I was just wondering whether they drink or not."

"They don't." Rose said.

"Don't' go sweetheart. Please don't go." Rose said nothing and continued packing. "I can get a proper job and work weekends. I'll past my test and if Jim comes around again, I'll say no."

"Mum, I'm not leaving because of you. I'm just traveling and then I'll come back."

"But it's not safe."

"Mum, if you saw it out there, you'd never stay home. Besides, they're good friends and I like them. Even if they can behave like children, they just make life seem…like it's happy. They make you want to feel like a kid again."

"Now they're sounding like Santa and his missus."

"Actually, that's a good way of putting it." She smiled as Jackie gave her a soft hug.

"Just stay safe out there, okay? Because if they don't bring you back, I'll slap them both to all the circles of hell."

"Of course, you would." Rose giggled.

* * *

Clara exited the TARDIS to see Mickey sitting by a wall, reading a newspaper with an incredulous face.

"It's all done, miss." A kid of nine said as he picked up a but of water and a few cleaning tools, with the 'Bad Wolf' graffiti now completely removed.

"Good. You graffiti that again and you'll have it. Now get back home." She said with a gentle smile as the kid then ran off with a childlike grin. She turned around as the Doctor came back out with a confused look.

"What was that about?"

"Kid graffitied the TARDIS, I made him clean it up."

He crooked an eyebrow at her.

"Don't." She warned with a sly smile, making them chuckle as they turned to Mickey.

"I just went down to the shop. And I was thinking that, with the whole world changed as there's aliens and spaceships in public but here it is." Mickey held up the paper which had the headline 'Alien Hoax?' "How can they do that? They saw it."

"Humanity isn't ready yet. We'll be happy to believe in something that's invisible but if it's staring you in the face then we say 'Nope, I can't see it'."

"Yes, and there's a very good scientific explanation for that. It's called you're thick." He quipped, making them laugh.

"We're just idiots after all." Mickey said.

"Not all of you."

"Yeah?" He asked shyly.

The Doctor pulled out a blank disc. "Present for you, Mickey. That's a virus. You put it online, it'll destroy every mention of me. I'll cease to exist."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because you're right. I am dangerous, and I don't want anybody following me."

"And you let Clara come?"

"Clara comes by her own word. She doesn't have to come along if she doesn't want to." Clara gave him a gentle smile.

"And what about Rose?"

"Same thing with her. You could look after her, you know. Come with us."

Mickey shook his head. "I can't. This life of yours, it's just too much. I couldn't do it. Don't tell Rose I said that." The Doctor gave a nod to that as Rose and Jackie came over.

"You got enough stuff?" Clara quipped.

"You can talk." Rose teased, making them giggle. "The last time I stepped in there, it was a spur of the moment. Now, I'm signing up. Which means, you two are stuck with me." She said mockingly.

"Be a good boy and get her bag inside." Clara bumped the Doctor, making him sulk as he took Rose's bag from her.

"You should come with us, Mickey. There's plenty of room." Rose offered.

"Sorry, Rose. But someone's got to look out for us on the ground, eh?" Clara said, winking at Mickey when she wasn't looking.

"Sorry." Rose mumbled as she and Mickey shared a farewell peck.

"Good luck out there." Mickey said.

"You still can't promise me. What if she gets lost? What if something happens to you or the Doctor and she's left stranded on some moon a million light years away? How long do I wait then?" Jackie ranted.

"Mum." Rose turned her around. "You're forgetting; It's a time machine. I could go traveling around suns, planets and all the way out to the edge of the universe and be back just ten seconds after I left. So please, stop worrying."

"I'm your Mum, Rosie. I have to worry about you." She said sadly, giving her a hug.

"See you." Rose said softly before she and Clara entered the TARDIS, which then dematerialised after a moment. Jackie then looked down at her watch.

"Ten seconds." Jackie mumbled, making Mickey roll his eyes.

"It was a figure of speech, Jacks."

"Well, how should I know?" Jackie quipped lightly, making them chuckle as they moved away, Mickey back to his paper and Jackie to her flat.


	15. Dalek

**Underground Bunker**

The TARDIS materialised inside a dark room, filled with glass cases of alien objects all lined up like an exhibit. The Doctor and Rose stepped out with Clara, dressed in a grey sweater over a lace white collar shirt and skinny black jeans.

"So, what is it? What's wrong?" Rose asked, her voice echoing through the room.

"I don't know. It's a signal, drawing the TARDIS off course."

"Where are we?" Clara asked.

"Earth, Utah, North America. About half a mile underground."

"And when?"

"2012."

"God, that's so close. I should be 26." Rose mumbled.

"You'd be at my age then." Clara shrugged slightly, making Rose breath slightly.

The Doctor flicked a switch which turned on all the lights, revealing the room was the size of an auditorium, made entirely of dull grey bricks.

"Blimey." Rose said at the alien objects. "It's like a great, big museum."

"An alien museum. Someone's got a hobby." Clara said.

"They must've spent a fortune on this. Chunks of meteorite and moon dust. That's the mileometer from the Roswell spaceship."

"That's a bit of a Slitheen. A Slitheen's arm has been stuffed." Rose said, gazing upon one case which held said arm, standing upright.

"Oh, look at you." The Doctor said sadly, drawing their attention to a case containing a grey robot head, with inactive wires coming out of where its neck should be and a thin line for a mouth. The eyes were shaped in a circle with a small notch in the corning, making it look like it's crying.

"Doctor? What is it?" Clara asked, grasping his hand, making him smile softly at her.

"An old friend of mine. Well…enemy." He mumbled. "It's the stuff of nightmares, reduced to an exhibit. I'm getting old."

"Is that where the signal's coming from?" Rose asked.

"No, it's stone dead. The signal's alive. Something's reaching out and calling for help." He placed a hand gently on the glass, causing a loud alarm to blare in the room, followed by a large group of soldiers rushing in and cocking their rifles at them.

"Well, if someone's collecting aliens, that makes you Exhibit A." Rose teased slightly, only gaining a small smile from the two.

* * *

"Attention all personnel: Bad Wolf One descending. Bad Wolf One descending." A helicopter touched down before a middle-aged man with four soldiers stepped out and into the base to be welcomed by another four soldiers along with a woman and two younger men.

"Welcome back, Mr. Van Statten. On behalf of all of us, I want to wish you a very happy birthday, sir." The man rolled his eyes at the younger individual. "And the President called to convey his personal best wishes."

"The President is ten points down, I want him replaced." He demanded.

"I don't think that's very wise-"

"Thank you so much for your opinion, you're fired!" He clicked his fingers, making two soldiers seize the man and drag him away, pleading as he does. "Wipe his memory and put him on the road someplace. Memphis, Minneapolis, somewhere beginning with 'M'." The woman rushed up to his side. "So, what do you think for next President? Republican or Democrat?"

"Democrat, sir."

"For what reason?"

"They're just so funny, sir?" She mumbled uncertainly.

Van Statten stopped, halting the group as he turned to look at her, while she gulped in fear. "What's your name?"

"Goddard, sir. Diana Goddard."

Van Statten looked at her with an impressed look. "I like you, Diana Goddard." He said, making her smile but more in relief. "Where's Adam, the English kid?"

"Sir." Said man comes forth. "I bought ten more artefacts at auction, Mr. Van Statten."

"Bring them on. Let me see them." He said, moving the group with him again.

"Sir, with respect, there's something more urgent. We arrested two intruders 53 floors down and we don't know how they got in."

"I'll tell you how they got in: In through the window." He quipped a bad joke, the group not laughing. "In through the window, intruder window, it was funny." He demanded, making them laugh awkwardly as he gave an arrogant smile. "Bring them in, let's see them. Diana tell Simmons I want to visit my little pet. Get to it!" He ordered, making them rush while Diana leaned against the wall and pressed her earpiece.

"Simmons, you'd better give me good news. Is it talking?"

" _Not exactly talking, no."_  Simmons said.

"Then, what's it doing?"

" _Screaming. Is that any good?"_

She rolled her eyes before moving to join the others.

* * *

The Doctor, Clara and Rose stepped into Van Statten's office, where Adam was showing the small collection of artefacts to him, his expression growing more bored by the second.

"And this is the last. I paid $800,000 for it."

"What does it do?" He asked, his boredom being relieved slightly as he picked up the item, which was dark black and shaped like a coral, twirling it in his hand.

"Well, I'm thinking with the tubes on the side that it must be to channel something, like fuel."

"I really wouldn't hold it like that." The Doctor interrupted.

"Shut it." Diana warned.

"No, really. That's wrong." He said, ignoring her.

"Is it dangerous?" Adam asked.

"No, it just looks silly." He reached for it but heard the rocking of rifles at his back, until Van Statten raised his hand in a 'Ease' motion before handing the item to the Doctor. "You just need to be…delicate." He said, running the very tips of his fingers along it, creating a series of soft sounds almost like singing birds.

"A musical instrument." Clara said in wonder as he handed it over to her, before she created the same sounds, smiling softly as she did.

"And it's a long way from home." He said, smiling proudly at her.

"Let me." Van Statten said, taking the item from Clara's grasp and making her glare daggers at him while the Doctor restrained his urge to punch Van Statten in the teeth. He ran his hands roughly over the item, making everyone wince at the horrific sounds.

"He did say 'Delicate'." Clara said, still glaring at him. After a moment, Van Statten eased his fingers and creating a sound that they considered…adequate. "Quite the expert." She said sarcastically.

"As are you." He retorted before throwing the item aside, gaining a more intense glare from Clara. "Who exactly are you?"

"I'm the Doctor. And who are you?" The Doctor interjected, stepping slightly in front of Clara.

"Like you don't know. We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extra-terrestrial artefacts in the world and you just stumbled in by mistake."

"Pretty much, yeah."

"The question is: How did you get in? 53 floors down with your cat-burglar accomplices. Quite a collector yourself, they're rather pretty although, I'm not sure about her whole 'teacher' act." He pointed with a face too Clara.

"I'm going to detach something from you if you keep behaving like that." Clara growled.

"And she's a bossy northern, just perfect for you. I bet she'd be great for a night with." He winked lecherously.

"Are all business assholes like this?" Rose muttered sarcastically, placing a hand on Clara's to calm her.

"Dear me, you're all English." He said in mocking shock. "Hey, little lord Fauntleroy, got you a couple of girlfriends."

"This is Mr. Henry Van Statten." Adam interjected.

"And who's he when he's at home?" Rose asked.

"Mr. Van Statten owns the internet."

"Don't be stupid. No one own's the internet."

"And let's just keep the whole world thinking that way, right kids?" Henry winked playfully.

"And you're just about an expert in everything except the things in your museum. Anything you don't understand, you lock up." The Doctor deduced.

"And you claim greater knowledge?"

"I don't need to make claims, I know how good I am."

"And yet, I captured you, right next to the cage. What were you doing down there?"

"You tell me."

"The cage contains my one living specimen."

"And what's that?"

"Like you don't know."

"Show me."

"You really want to see it?"

"Blimey, you can smell the testosterone." Rose quipped, making Clara smirk slightly before returning to her glare.

"Goddard. Inform the cage; We're heading down. English look after the girls. Go and canoodle and spoon or whatever it is you British do. And you, Doctor with no name, come and see my pet." Henry said, walking everyone expect for Clara, Rose and Adam out of the room. The Doctor and Clara exchanged a soft, longing look before he disappeared.

"God, I can't tell if its either cute or annoying how you two can have entire conversations just by staring." Rose quipped.

"I heard that." Clara retorted, letting a sigh of relief out now that Henry wasn't in the room.

* * *

Arriving in front of a large, heavily guarded door, Henry inputted a code into the side, making it slide open slowly.

"We've tried everything. The creature has shielded itself, but there's definite signs of life inside."

"Inside? Inside what?" The Doctor asked.

"Welcome back, sir." Simmons said, stepping forward and taking his large gloves off. "I've had to take the power down. The Metaltron is resting."

The Doctor crooked an eyebrow. "Metaltron?"

"Thought of it myself. Good, isn't it? Although…I'd much prefer to find out its real name."

"Here, you better put these on. The last guy that touched it…burst into flames." Simmons said, holding out his gloves.

"I won't touch it then." The Doctor said cheekily, making Diana smirk.

"Go on in, Doctor. Impress me." Henry said, motioning him inside. As soon as the Doctor stepped in, the door closed behind him.  _"Don't open that door until we get a result."_ Henry's voice floated like a whisper through an intercom, making the Doctor roll his eyes. The only light source inside the dark room, which was filled with strewn wires and tools was a small, blue light like an eye as the Doctor turned to look at it.

"Look, I'm sorry about this. Mr. Van Statten might think he's clever but never mind him. I've come to help, I'm the Doctor."

" **Doc-Tor."**  An eerily familiar voice came through the room, sending cold shives down his spine. Shives that he nowadays only felt when Clara was in danger.

"Impossible." He said, terror in his voice.

" **THE Doctor?"**  The lights then switched on, revealing a battered and broken Dalek staring at him.  **"Exterminate! Exterminate!"**

"Let me out! Let me out!" The Doctor pleaded, banging his hand on the door.

" **Exterminate!"**

" _Sir, it's going to kill him!"_  Diana protested.

" _It's talking!"_

" **You are an enemy of the Daleks! You must be destroyed!"** The Doctor paused as he turned to look at the Dalek, who went silent as it stared down at it's weapon, unable to fire.

" _*Scoffs*_ It's not working." He then laughed darkly and maniacally, making the Dalek move back ever so slightly. "Fantastic! Oh, fantastic! Powerless! Look at you. The great space dustbin. How does it feel?!" He spat.

" **Keep back!"**  The Dalek struggled against its chains fruitlessly as the Doctor approached him menacingly.

"What for?! What're you going to do to me?!" He then started to stalk around it, the eye-stalk following his every move. "If you can't kill, then what're you good for, Dalek?! What's the point of you being alive?! That makes you nothing. What the hell are you here for?" He asks with venom.

" **I am waiting for orders."**

"What does that mean?"

" **I am a soldier. I was bred to receive orders."**

"Well, you're never going to get any, not ever."

" **I demand orders!"**

"They're never going to come! Your race is dead! You all burnt, all of you! Ten million ships on fire, the entire Dalek race wiped out in one second!"

" **You lie!"**

"I watched it happen! I MADE it happen!"

" **You destroyed us?!"**

That silenced the Doctor who stepped back slowly and ran his hands over his face.

"I had no choice." He mumbled.

" **And what of the Time Lords?"**

Utter silence as he looked down.

"Dead. They burnt with you. The end of the Last Great Time War. Everyone lost."

" **And the coward survived."**

"Oh, and I caught your little signal. 'Help me. I'm a lost, lonely, poor little thing.'" He said sarcastically. "But there's no one else coming because there's no one else left."

" **I…am…alone…in the…universe?"**  The Dalek struggled to get these words out.

"Yep." He mumbled.

" **So are you."**  The Doctor's face turned into rage. **"We are the same."**

"We're not the same! I'm not…" He trailed off, before a cold grin came onto his face. "No, wait…maybe we are. You're right. Yeah, okay. You've got a point." He started to back towards a console with a level. "Because I know what to do. I know what should happen. I know what you deserve." He raised his eyebrows as the Dalek stared at him. "Exterminate." He said coldly as he flicked the level, causing electricity to arc through the Dalek as it writhed in its confines in agony.

" _Get him out of there!"_  Henry demanded, making the door open.

" **Ahhhh! Have pity!"**

"Why should I?! You never did!" He flicked the lever again as two guards came in and restrained him before hauling him out of the room as Henry entered.

" **Help me!"**

"You've got to destroy it!" The Doctor called as the Dalek stared at Henry.

"I saved your life, now talk to me! Goddammit, talk to me!" He looked at him with a small smile. "The last in the universe and now…I know your name: Dalek. Speak to me, Dalek."

Silence.

"I am Henry Van Statten, now recognise me!" He demanded.

Utter silence.

He turned to Simmons. "Make it talk again, Simmons. Whatever it takes."

Simmons nodded with a cold smirk.

* * *

Adam led Clara and Rose into his cramped workspace, Rose looking interested while Clara grabbed some items to inspect them albeit rather dully.

"Sorry about the mess. Mr. Van Statten sort of lets me do my own thing, so long as I deliver the goods. Now, what do you think that is?" He held up a piece of metal, which Rose then inspected.

"A lump of metal?" Rose shrugs, making Clara snigger.

"Yeah. Well, I think, at least I'm almost certain, that its from the hull of a spacecraft. The thing is, it's all true. Everything the United Nations tries to keep quiet: Spacecrafts, aliens, visitors to Earth…they really exist."

Rose sent Clara a mischievous look which made Clara nod to her with a wink. "That's amazing." She breathed, making him buy her act.

"I know, it sounds incredible, but I honestly believe that the whole universe is just teeming with life."

"I'm gobsmacked, yeah." Clara had to hide her giggles behind her mouth. "And you do what: Sit here and catalogue it?"

"It's the best job in the world."

"Imagine if you could get out there, travel amongst the stars and see it for real."

Clara dropped her shoulders, holding back a groan.  _Rose, he's not even that good looking. Ugh._

"Yeah? I'd give anything. But I don't think it's ever going to happen, not in our lifetimes."

"Oh, you never know. What about all those people who say they've been inside of spaceships and talked to aliens?"

"I think they're nutters."

After a moment, Rose smirked. "Yeah, me too." Clara smirked slightly as the two exchanged a chuckle. "So, how'd you end up here?"

"Van Statten has agents all over the world looking for geniuses to recruit."

"Oh right, you're a genius."

"Sorry but, yeah." He shrugged nonchalantly. "I can't help it, I was born clever."

_At least the Doctor's ego is fun to watch._

"When I was 8, I logged on to the U.S Defence System, nearly caused World War Three."

Rose raised her eyebrows. "What, and that's funny, is it?"

"Well, you should've been there. Just to see them running about. Fantastic!" He said gleefully.

Clara clenched her jaw before taking a breath to calm herself.

"You sound like the Doctor." Rose said, Clara turning to glare at her which made her gulp. "Sorry." She whispered, making Clara nod slightly.

"Are you and him-"

"No, we're just friends." Rose cut him off.

"Good." Clara rolled her eyes.

"Why is it good?" Rose crooked an eyebrow.

"Just is." He mumbled slightly.

"So…wouldn't you rather be downstairs? I mean, you've got these bits of metal and stuff, but Mr. Van Statten's got a living creature down there."

"Yeah, yeah. Well, I did ask but he keeps it to himself. Although, if you're a genius, it doesn't take long to patch into the com system." He smirked slyly.

"Let's have a look then." Rose said, Clara moving to look over their shoulders.

"It doesn't do much, the alien. It's weird, it's kind of…useless. It's just like this great big pepper pot." He said, inputting codes into his computer, which propped up a camera in the Dalek room, showing Simmons using a tool to torture it, causing loud screams to echo through the speakers.

"It's being tortured! Where's the Doctor?!" Clara demanded, speaking for the first time.

"I don't know." Adam said, slightly shocked at her outburst.

"I'm going down there." She said, moving to leave the room.

"You can't go down there, you don't have clearance." Adam protested.

"Then come along." Clara nearly growled, making him gulp and move hastily out of the room, Rose looking slightly worried for him but not because she liked him.

* * *

"The metal's just battle armour, the real Dalek creature's inside." The Doctor said as he, Henry, Diana and two soldiers moved into a large elevator.

"What does it look like?" Henry asked.

"A nightmare. It's a mutation. The Dalek race was genetically engineered; Every single emotion was removed except hate."

"Genetically engineered. By whom?" Henry asked in wonder.

"By a genius, Van Statten. By a man who was king of his own little world, you'd like him."

"It's been on Earth for over fifty years; Sold at a private auction and moving from one collection to another. Why would it be a threat now?" Diana asked.

"Because I'm here. How did it get to Earth? Does anyone know?"

"The records say it came from the sky like a meteorite. It fell to Earth on the Ascension Islands, burnt in its crater for three days before anybody could get near it and all that time it was screaming. It must've gone insane."

"Must've fallen through time, the only survivor." The Doctor mumbled, staring distantly.

"You talked about a war?"

"The Time War: The final battle between my people and the Dalek race."

"But you survived too." Henry pointed out.

"Not by choice."

"This means the Dalek isn't the only alien on earth, Doctor, there's you. The only one of your kind in existence." He pressed a different button on the elevator before clicking his fingers, the two soldiers then restraining the Doctor.

"What are you doing?!" He demanded.

"What you said earlier, Doctor. If you're an alien and I don't understand you, I'll have to lock you up." He smirked, the elevator opening as he led them into a dark room with a restraining table and a scanning tool in front of it. "Put him on the table." He ordered, the soldiers forcing the Doctor onto it before cuffing his hands and legs while struggled against them fruitlessly. "Now…smile." He said cheekily before pressing a button on the scanner. This emitted a red light that moved up and down the Doctor's chest, causing him to scream in agony while an x-ray of his body appeared on the scanner's screen, with two red signals flaring in the centre. "Two hearts! A binary vascular system! Oh, I am so going to patent this." He said, clapping his hands like a child getting presents.

"So, that's your secret." The Doctor breathed, holding back his pain. "You don't just collect this stuff, you scavenge it."

"This technology has been falling to Earth for centuries. All it took was the right mind to use it properly. Oh Doctor, the advances I've made from alien junk: Broadband. Roswell. Just last year, my scientists cultivated bacteria from the Russian crater and you know what we found? The cure for the common cold. Kept it strictly within the laboratory, of course. There's no need to get people excited. Why sell one cure when I can sell a thousand palliatives?"

"Do you know what a Dalek is, Van Statten? A Dalek is honest. It does what it was born to do for the survival of its species. That makes that creature in your dungeon better than you."

"In that case, I will be true to myself and continue."

"Please, listen to me! That thing downstairs is going to kill every one of us!"

"Nothing can escape that cage, Doctor." Henry denied smugly, before pressing the button and making the Doctor clench in pain.

"But it's woken up! It knows I'm here! Van Statten, I swear, no one on this base is safe, no one on this planet!" He merely pressed it again, faking a yawn. "Aaah!"

* * *

"Hold it right there!" A soldier said, as Adam came into the room outside the Dalek cell with Clara and Rose.

"Level 3 access. Special clearance from Mr. Van Statten." Adam said, holding up a card and making the soldier halt his movements.

"If he insists." He mumbled, pressing a button to let them in before closing the door behind them. Clara moves towards it with Rose standing behind her.

"Hello. Are you in pain? My name's Rose and this is Clara. We've got a friend who can help. He's called the Doctor. What's your name?"

" **Yes."**  The Dalek croaked weakly.

"What?"

" **I…am…in pain. They…torture me. But still, they…fear…me. Do the both of you fear me?"**

"No." Clara said softly, Rose nodding with her.

" **I am dying."**

"No, we can help."

" **I welcome death. But…I am glad that…before…I die…I've met a Human who was not afraid."**

"Is there anything we can do?" Rose asked.

" **My race…is dead. I shall die…alone."**

Clara looks at the Dalek in sadness before reaching to place her hand on it.

"Clara, no!" Adam protested, making Rose's eyes widen. Clara touched the Dalek, causing her hand to burn slightly and making her withdraw it with a wince as they backed away.

" **Genetic material extrapolated! Initiate cellular reconstruction**!" The chains snapped away as sparks flied off the Dalek, while the door behind them opened and Simmons with two soldiers stepped inside.

"What the hell have you done?!" He demanded before moving to the Dalek, who raised it's 'arm' upwards. "What're you going to do? Sucker me to death?" He taunted until the arm shot out and grasped onto his mouth, cutting off his air supply as he struggled against it while the rest ran out of the room and shut the door.

"It's killing him! Do something!" Rose freaked.

A soldier pressed the intercom. "Condition Red. Condition Red. This is not a drill."

* * *

" _I repeat, this is not a drill."_

Van Statten looked at the Doctor with pleading eyes.

"Release me if you want to live." He breathed.

* * *

Clara and Rose saw the Doctor come on the monitor.

" _You've got to keep it in that cell!"_  He demanded.

"Doctor, it's all my fault." Clara mumbled, making him look at her with worried eyes.

"I've sealed the compartment. It can't get out. That lock's got a billion combinations." A soldier protested.

" _A Dalek's a genius. It can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat."_

Sure enough, they turned to look at the door, which the lock showed a rapid cycle of numbers flying past until they stabilised, and the door opened, showing the Dalek staring straight at them.

"Open fire!" A soldier ordered, making the other fire their pistol with him, which made the bullets just bounce of the Dalek, only leaving bare scratches.

" _Don't shoot it! I want it unharmed!"_  Henry protested.

" _Clara, Rose, get out of there!"_  The Doctor yelled.

"De Maggio get the civilians and get them out alive. That's your job, okay?" The soldier ordered.

"Yes sir." She said, before turning to the three. "This way, now!" She demanded, making them rush from the room. The Dalek ignored the soldier and moved towards a computer before raising its 'arm' and plunging straight into the screen, causing electricity to arc within itself and repair its armour, all the while it was screaming in agony.

* * *

" _Abandoning the cage, sir."_  The soldier said. Diana moved to their computer screen.

"We're losing power. It's draining the base…Oh my god, it's draining the entire power supplies for the whole of Utah."

"It's downloading."

"Downloading what?" Henry asked.

"Sir, the entire West Coast has gone down."

"It's not just energy. That Dalek just absorbed the entire internet. It knows everything." They flicked the screen to show the Dalek in the vault, slowly backing away from the wrecked computer.

" _ **The Daleks survive in me?! Exterminate!"**_  It then fired at the desk, destroying it completely.  _ **"Exterminate!"**_  It then fired at a nearby gas canister, causing gas to flood the room before turning around to look at the computer.  _ **"Exterminate!"**_  It then fired, destroying the camera.

"That's the cameras down, sir." Diana reported.

"We've only got emergency power. It's eaten everything else. You've got to kill it now!"

"All guards to converge on the Metaltron cage immediately."

* * *

A group of six soldiers gathered at one end of a long hallway as the group ran up to them.

"Civilians! Let them through!" De Maggio ordered, making them part ways as the four ran through them, while the soldier from the vault came around a corner and ran towards them, the Dalek moving slowly behind him.

"Cover the north wall! Red Division maintain suppressing fire along the perimeter!"

" **Exterminate!"**

"Aaah!" The soldier collapsed dead in the hallway from the blast, causing the group to fire upon the Dalek.

 _Raise shields._ It commanded mentally as some of the bullets inched too close to its eye-stalk, before an invisible shield appeared around it, causing the bullets to melt only inches from its armour.  **"Exterminate!"**  It then fired four blasts, hitting with pinpoint accuracy and causing four soldiers to fall to the ground, screaming as they died. The Dalek heard more rifles being fired from behind, turning around to see another six soldiers before turning back round again.  **"Exterminate!"**  It fired two blasts upon the survivors before turning around.

" _Tell them to stop shooting at it!"_

" _But it's killing them!"_  Diana protested.

" _They're dispensable! That Dalek is unique! I don't want a scratch on its body work, do you hear me?! Do you hear me?!"_

"Exterminate!" Firing six shots, it sent the last remaining soldiers to the ground, stone dead. Turning around without a word, it began to slowly move up the hallway again.

* * *

"That's us, right below the surface." Diana pointed to one of the computer screens, showing the schematic of the base. "That's the cage and right there is the Dalek."

"This museum of yours, have you got any alien weapons?"

"Lots of them. But the problem is that the Dalek's between us and them."

"We've got to keep that thing alive. We could just seal the entire vault, trap it down there."

"That would leave everyone trapped with it. Clara's down there and so is Rose, I won't let that happen. Have you got that?" The Doctor almost growled, silencing Henry. "It's got to go through here, what's that?"

"Weapons testing." Diana said.

"Give guns to the technicians, the lawyers, anyone and everyone. Only then have you got a chance of killing it."

* * *

The group of four ran through a door, entering a stairwell.

"Stairs, that's more like it." Rose said in relief. "It hasn't got legs, it'll be stuck."

"It's coming! Get up!" De Maggio ordered, making them move up to the next level, only stopping to see the Dalek entering and staring down at the step-in front of it.

"Great big alien death machine defeated by a flight of stairs." Adam said smugly, causing Clara to roll her eyes.

"Now, listen to me. I demand that you return to your cage. If you want to negotiate, then I can guarantee that Mr. Van Statten will be willing to talk. I accept that we imprisoned you, and that was wrong. But people have died and that stops right now. The killing stops, have you got that? I demand that you surrender, is that clear?!" De Maggio ordered with her pistol raised.

The Dalek turned its eye-stalk to stare at them.  **"Elevate."**  It then started to hover above the ground, moving slyly but slowly over the steps, staring at them with its every move as they looked at it in horror.

"Oh my god." Rose breathed.

"Adam, get them out of here." De Maggio ordered.

"Come with us, you can't stop it."

"Someone's got to try, now get out!" Rose and Adam moved up the stairs.

"Please! Don't do this!" Clara protested.

"Whatever happens, ma'am, it wasn't your fault. Have you got that?" Clara nodded weakly at her. "Now don't look back, just run!" Clara looked at her sadly before complying as they rushed up the stairs and through another door.

" **Exterminate!"**

"Aaah!" They heard the faint sound of a blast and her body hitting the ground before silence fell upon them, the only sounds being their rushing footsteps and panting breaths.

* * *

I thought you were the great expert, Doctor. If you're so impressive, then why not just reason with this Dalek? It must be willing to negotiate. There must be something it needs. Everything needs something." Henry rambled in shaking fear.

"What's the nearest town?"

"Salt Lake City."

"Population?"

"One million."

"All dead. If the Dalek gets out, it'll murder every living creature. That's all it needs."

"But why would it do that?!"

"Because it honestly believes they should die. Human beings are different, and anything different is wrong. It's the ultimate in racial cleansing and you, Van Statten, you've let it loose!"

* * *

"Positions!" The Commander yelled, causing all the armed men and soldiers to rush about, with at least ten men on the ground while six including the Commander stood on the overhead railing.

" _The Dalek's surrounded by a forcefield. The bullets are melting before they even hit home, but it's not indestructible. If you concentrate your fire, you might get through. Aim for the dome, the head, the eyepiece, that's the weak spot-"_

"Thank you, Doctor, but I think I know how to fight one single tin robot." The Commander said sarcastically before turning off his communicator. "Take aim!" He ordered, making everyone cock their rifles and aim to the other end of the room until Clara, Rose and Adam came rushing in. "Hold your fire! You three, get the hell out of there now!" He demanded, making them rush past the soldiers, turning back to see the Dalek slowly rolling into the room, who turned its eye-stalk towards them. Clara breathed a heavy sigh as she felt the back of her neck prickle, like someone was watching her, realising that the Dalek was staring straight at her as Adam and Rose pulled her away.

"It was looking at me." She mumbled.

"Yeah, it wants to slaughter us."

"No, Clara's right, it was looking right at her." Rose protested.

"Yeah, it's a sort of…metal eye thing, it's looking all around."

"I don't know. It's like there's something inside, looking at me like…like it knows me." Clara mumbled.

"Come on, we've got to keep moving." Adam said, making them rush despite Clara's distant thinking.

* * *

The TV in front of them flickered as the image of the Dalek surrounded by soldiers appeared.

"What's it doing?" Henry asked in confusion.

"It wants us to see." The Doctor said grimly.

" _On my mark."_  The Commander said as the Dalek moved forward slightly before staring at the ceiling and down again.  _"Open fire!"_  A loud, echoing sound flew through the room as everyone started firing at the Dalek, not letting up despite none of the bullets hitting home as the Dalek stood motionless. It then levitated until it was 5 feet off the ground before firing at the wall, shattering a fire alarm and causing water to rain from the ceiling. Setting a timer within itself for 30 seconds, it waited until it finished counting down, by that time the floor was covered in an inch of water, all the soldiers completely soaked through.

" _ **Exterminate!"**_  Firing at the ground, a large bolt of electricity arced through the water, killing all the soldiers on the ground instantly.

" _Fall back! Fall back!"_  The Commander yelled.

" _ **Exterminate!"**_  The Dalek then fired at the drenched railing, arcing more electricity and killing those left until only the Dalek was left, the only sounds being the pattering of water as the Dalek floated back down to the ground in silence. The Doctor, Henry and Diana looked on with horror as it switched off the screen.

"Perhaps its time for a new strategy. Maybe we should consider abandoning this place." Henry breathed while Diana glared at him.

"Except there's no power to the helipad, sir. We can't get out."

"You said we could seal the vault." The Doctor pointed, making Henry move to sit at one of the computers.

"It was designed to be a bunker in the event of nuclear war with steal bulkheads to close off the area."

"There's not enough power, those bulkheads are massive."

"We've got emergency power. We can reroute that to the bulkhead doors."

"We'd have to bypass the security codes, that would take a computer genius."

"Good thing you've got me then." Van Statten interjected.

"You want to help?"

"I don't want to die, Doctor, simple as that and nobody knows this software better than me." Diana looked up to see the screen switch on, the Dalek staring right at them.

"Sir." She breathed, making them look at the screen.

" _ **I shall speak only to the Doctor."**_

The Doctor then stepped towards the screen slowly. "You're going to get rusty." He quipped weakly.

" _ **I fed off the DNA of Clara Oswald. Extrapolating the biomass of a time traveller regenerated me."**_

"What's your next trick?"

" _ **I have been searching for the Daleks."**_

"Yeah, I saw. You were downloading the internet. What did you find?"

" _ **I scanned your satellites and radio telescopes."**_

"And?"

" _ **Nothing. Where shall I get my orders now?!"**_

"You're just a soldier without commands."

" _ **Then I shall follow the primary order, the Dalek instinct: To destroy, to conquer!"**_

"What for?! What's the point?!" He roared, silencing the Dalek. "Don't you see, its all gone. Everything you were, everything you stood for."

" _ **Then what should I do?"**_  It said weakly.

The Doctor gained a cold expression. "Alright then. If you want orders, follow this one: Kill yourself."

" _ **The Daleks must survive!"**_

"The Daleks have failed! Why don't you finish the job and make the Daleks extinct?! Rid the universe of your filth! Why don't you just die?!" He spat.

Utter silence until…

" _ **You would make a good Dalek."**_  It said, switching off the screen and making the Doctor blink for a moment before he turned around.

"Seal the vaults." He ordered, making him and Henry move onto the computer and type hastily on their keyboards.

"I can leech power off the ground defences and feed it to the bulkheads. God, it's been years since I've had to work this fast."

"Are you enjoying this?" The Doctor reprimanded.

"Doctor, they're still down there." Diana reminded him, making him take an earpiece and input a number into it.

" _Blimey, you have some horrible timing, Doctor."_  Clara quipped despite her panting.

"Hello to you too. Where are you?" He asked, sighing in relief at her voice.

" _Level 49."_

"You've got to keep moving. The vault's being sealed off up at level 46."

" _Can't you stop them closing?"_

"I'm the one who's closing them. I can't wait, and I can't help you. Please Clara, just run." He pulled up a schematic showing their life sign coming up the stairs to level 46.

"Got it, that's power to the bulkheads." Henry said.

"The Dalek's right behind them." He said, getting worried.

" _We're nearly there give us two seconds!"_  Clara panted.

"Doctor, I can't sustain the power, this whole system is failing. Doctor, you've got to close the bulkheads." Henry pleaded.

The Doctor looked down at the keyboard with a sad face. "I'm sorry." He mumbled before pressing the enter key. The life signs reached the door making him stand up.

"The vault is sealed." Henry stated.

"Where are you? Clara, did you make it?"

" _I think…I was a bit slow there. I'm sealed in."_  She panted, her words causing his chest to clench painfully. _"Don't go blaming anyone, especially Rose. I pushed her through. Only one of us could make it."_

"Clara." He breathed with wide eyes.

_"It wasn't your fault either, okay? Remember that, it wasn't your fault. And do you know what? I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Thank you, Doctor, for everything."_

" _ **Exterminate!"**_  Hearing these words, he ripped the earpiece away, tears coming into his eyes as he looked distantly.

"I killed her." He mumbled.

"I'm sorry." Henry said with pity.

He turned around with an empty glare. "I promised I'd save her life. I failed twice before, and I failed again and you're sorry?! I could've killed that Dalek in its cell, but you stopped me."

"It was the prize of my collection."

"Your collection?!" He roared, stunning them with shock. "Was it worth it?! Was it worth all those men's deaths?! Worth Clara?! Let me tell you something, Van Statten. Mankind goes into space to explore, to be part of something greater."

"Exactly! I wanted to touch the stars!"

"You just wanted to drag the stars down and stick them underground, underneath tons of sand and dirt and label them! You're about as far from the stars as you can get!" He breathed before his sadness came back. "And you took her down with you. First trip, she killed a sun with a leaf and now she…she's dead. She was 27 years old and now she's dead."

* * *

Clara looked back at the Dalek with bewilderment as it stood there, staring at her. "Go on then. Kill me. Why're you doing this?"

" **I am armed. I will kill. It is my purpose."**

"They're all dead because of you!"

" **They are dead because of us."**

Clara clenched her jaw. "So now what? What're you waiting for?"

" **I…feel your…fear."**

"What do you expect?" She said shakily.

" **Daleks do not fear, must not fear."**  It then fired at either side of her, making her flinch.  **"You gave me life! What else have you given me?! I am contaminated!"**

* * *

Rose and Adam entered the room, with her looking at the Doctor with sadness.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled.

"It wasn't your-"

" _ **Open the bulkhead or Clara Oswald dies!"**_  The voice of the Dalek rang through the room as the screen showed Clara standing beside it.

He laughed but more in relief. "You're alive?! I thought you were dead!"

" _Can't get rid of me that easily, eh old man?"_  She quipped.

"Hush you." They smiled despite only he could see her.

" **Open the bulkhead!"**

" _Don't do it, Doctor!"_

" _ **What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?"**_

The Doctor breathed knowing the Dalek was right while Clara had an internal struggle of denying the Dalek's words. He turned around to see everyone looking at him with wide eyes.

"I killed her already and I lost her twice before that. Never again." He said sternly before pressing the enter key again, opening the bulkhead door as the Dalek and Clara stepped through the door.

"Well Doctor, what the hell do we do now?!" Henry exclaimed in fear.

"We can kill it when it gets here." Adam pointed.

"All the guns are useless, and the alien weapons are in the vault." Diana protested.

"Only the catalogued ones." Henry looked at him with a 'Are you kidding me?' look while everyone crooked an eyebrow at him. "This way." He said, leading the Doctor and Rose out of the room and into his workspace. The Doctor approached a container and started inspecting the items inside.

"Broken. Broken. Hairdryer." He said, tossing each item aside, making Adam place his face in his hands.

"Mr. Van Statten tends to dispose of his staff and when he does, he wipes their memories. I kept this stuff in case I needed to fight my way out one day."

"What, you in a fight? I'd like to see that." He said sarcastically.

"I could do."

"What're you going to do? Throw you're a-levels at them?" He sassed before picking up another item, gaining a smirk. "Oh yes, lock and load."

* * *

Inside the elevator, Clara looked between the door and the Dalek's twitching blaster with worried eyes.

"Please, don't kill them. You don't have to kill them, you didn't kill me."

" **But why not? Why are you alive? My function is to kill. What am I? What am I?!"**

The door opened to show Henry standing there, his face growing more horrified at the sight of the Dalek.

"Wait! Please, it's beginning to question itself."

The Dalek rolled forward slowly, ignoring her and making Henry back towards the wall.

" **Van Statten. You tortured me. Why?"**

"I wanted to help you. I just…I don't know. I-I was trying to help. I thought if we could get through to you, if we could mend you. I wanted you better. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! I swear, I just wanted you to talk!" He exclaimed in fear.

" **Then hear me talk now. Exterminate. Exterminate. Exterminate!"**

"Please, don't kill him!" Clara interjected, making the Dalek turn its eye-stalk to her. "You don't have to do this anymore. There must be something else, not just killing. What do you want?"

" **I want…freedom."**  The Dalek said weakly.

* * *

Arriving into an empty hallway, the Dalek aimed its blaster at the ceiling and fired, causing a hole to appear with rumble falling to the ground as bright sunlight through, causing Clara to shield her eyes briefly.

"Well, there you go. You made it." She said with a small smile as she felt the sunlight warm her skin. "I thought I'd never feel the sunlight again."

" **How…does…it…feel?"**  Small whirring sounds were heard inside the Dalek until its armour opened, letting the sunlight enter. Clara blinked as she saw the creature inside, which was like a small, wrinkled grey squid with a brain as its eye blinked, while raising a tentacle upwards yet rather weakly into the sunlight.

"Get out of the way!" She turned around to see the Doctor standing there with a gun, Rose behind him with a worried look on her face. Seeing the Doctor with a gun caused her blood to run cold. "Clara, get out of the way now!"

"No. I won't let you do this."

"That thing killed hundreds of people!"

"It's not the one pointing a gun at me." She said, almost coldly.

"I've got to do this, I've got to end it! The Daleks destroyed my home, my people! I've got nothing left!"

"Doctor look at it." Rose interjected, making Clara stand aside slightly to see the Dalek.

"What's it doing?" He asked.

"It's the sunlight. That's all it wants."

"But it can't-"

"It couldn't kill Van Statten. It couldn't kill me, it's changing. What about you, Doctor? I told you it wasn't your fault. What on Earth are you changing into?" Clara mumbled.

He looked on with widening eyes as he lowered the gun before looking at her, tears starting to come into his eyes.

"I couldn't…I wasn't…" He breathed, seeing Clara smile gently at him. "I'm sorry, Clara. I thought you died down there. I don't want you to…" He trailed off, making Clara nod at him slightly.

"It's alright, Doctor. It wasn't your fault." She mumbled.

" **Why…do we…survive?"**  The Dalek said, its voice now weak yet gaining their attention.

"I don't know." The Doctor mumbled.

" **I am the last…of the…Daleks."**

"You're not even that anymore. Clara did more than regenerate you. You absorbed her DNA, you're mutating."

" **Into…what?"**

"Something new. I'm sorry."

"Isn't that better?" Rose asked.

"Not for a Dalek." He mumbled.

" **I can…feel…so…many ideas. So much darkness. Clara, give me orders. Order…me…to die."**

The Doctor and Rose looked at her with wide eyes.

"I can't do that." She mumbled, tears prickling her eyes.

" **This is not life. This is…sickness. I…shall not…be like you. Order my destruction!"** Clara breathed, clenching her jaw but not in anger. **"Obey! Obey! Obey!"**

She looked down for a moment before looking back at him. "Do it." She croaked.

" **Are you…frightened…Clara…Oswald?"**

"Yes." She said, giving a sad smile.

" **So…am I. Exterminate."**

Clara backed away, standing beside the Doctor as they looked at the Dalek. It floated upwards before it formed a blue, hazy field around itself, which then burst with bright light and disappeared, leaving nothing behind. She and the Doctor looked at each other before embracing in a hug.

"I'm sorry." He breathed.

"It wasn't your fault."

"Nor was it yours." He mumbled, making her hug him tighter. They parted slightly to look at Rose, who looked at them with sadness.

"Room for one more?" She quipped lightly, making them smirk as she embraced them both.

* * *

Diana stepped in front of Henry, who was flanked by four soldiers before nodding, making two grasp his shoulders and haul him away.

"What the hell are you doing?!" He demanded.

"Two hundred personnel are dead and all because of you, sir. Take him away, wipe his memory and leave him by the road someplace." Diana said coldly.

"You can't do this to me! I am Henry Van Statten!"

"And by tonight Henry Van Statten will be a homeless, brainless junkie living on the streets of San Diego, Seattle, Sacramento. Some place beginning with 'S'." She said smugly before turning to walk away from them.

* * *

"Little piece of home, better than nothing." The Doctor mumbled with a smile as he stroked the side of the TARDIS, Clara hugging his side.

"Is that the end of it, the Time War?" Rose asked.

"I'm the only one left. I win. How about that?"

"The Dalek survived. Maybe some of your people did too."

"I'd know, in here." He said, tapping his head. "It feels like there's no one."

"You really think that?" Clara mumbled sadly.

"Alright then, I've got you." He smiled softly at her, embracing her in a hug.

"Doctor, how much are you going to hug me?" She quipped lightly.

"I like hugging you, Clara." He admitted.

"Shut up." She blushed lightly.

"Also, you're short enough, so it's even better." He said with a sly smile.

"I said shut up!" She blushed harder, Rose sniggering at their exchange. Adam came rushing towards them, making the two loosen the hug.

"We'd better get out. Van Statten's disappeared and they're closing the base. Goddard says they're going to fill it with cement like it never existed."

"About time." Clara nodded.

"I'll have to go back home."

"You'd better hurry up, then. The next flight to Heathrow leaves at 1500 hours." The Doctor said.

"Adam was saying that all his life he wanted to see the stars." Rose said, making Clara roll her eyes.

"Tell him to go and stand outside then." She sassed, making the Doctor snigger.

"He's all on his own and he did help."

"He left Clara down there."

"So, did I, and you did too." Rose pointed out.

"What're you talking about? We've got to leave!" Adam said hurriedly.

"Rose, he's a bit pretty." The Doctor teased.

"I hadn't noticed." She said with a slight blush.

He exchanged a look with Clara who just shrugged, making him groan.

"It's on your own head." He warned as they entered the TARDIS.

"What're you doing? She said 'cement'. She wasn't joking, we're going to get sealed in. Doctor? Clara? What're you doing, standing inside a box?"

Rose popped her head out and grasped his arm. "Hurry up!" She admonished, pulling him in.

"What're you…Oh my god! It's bigger on the inside!" He exclaimed.

"No, it's smaller on the outside." Clara mumbled sarcastically, so only the Doctor could hear, who just sniggered at her as they piloted the TARDIS away and out of the vault.


	16. The Long Game

The TARDIS materialised inside a large room, vivid with cream, pink and white colours with bright lights. The Doctor, Clara and Rose stepped out before closing the door, slightly shuddering at the sudden intense heat.

"So, it's 200,000 on a spaceship. No, scratch that, space station and…try that gate over there. Off you go." The Doctor said teasingly to Rose.

"200,000?"

"200,000."

"Right. Adam? Out you come." She opened the door and let said man out, who looked around in bewilderment.

"Oh my god." He breathed.

"Don't worry. You'll get used to it."

"Where are we?"

"Good question. Let's see. Judging by the architecture, I'd say we're around the year 200,000." She said, winking at the Doctor and Clara who sniggered.

"Uh-huh." Adam said dumbly.

"And if you listen…engines. Which means we're on some sort of space ship. No, scratch that, space station." The Doctor exchanged a sheepish look with Clara who shook her head playfully at him. "Yeah, definitely a space station. It's a bit warm in here, though. They could turn the heating down." She mumbled, tugging her shirt collar back a bit as she did.

"She's got a point." Clara nodded.

"Yeah, why is it so hot in here? Or is it because you're around?" He flirted.

"Maybe. You're doing the same to me." She flirted, the two exchanging an intense look.

"You two need to calm down for a second." Rose groaned, making them blush slightly. "Tell you what, let's try that gate over there, come on." She clapped her hands, making them follow her through said gate to stand on an observational deck, overlooking the Earth, which was covered in cities so large, they could be seen from their position in space. "Here we go, and this is…actually I'll let the Doctor describe it."

The Doctor sent a cheeky grin to Clara who rolled her eyes at him. "The Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire and there it is, planet Earth at its height. Covered with megacities, five moons and a population of 96 billion. The hub of a galactic domain, stretching across a million planets and a million species with mankind right in the middle." They heard Adam breathe loudly before collapsing onto the floor.

"He's your boyfriend." Clara teased, without looking.

"Not anymore." Rose quipped, exchanging a snigger with the two.

* * *

Leading the group into a large, empty food court, the Doctor had his hands-on Adam's shoulders.

"Come on, Adam. Open your mind. You're going to like this fantastic period of history. Humanity at its most intelligent. Culture, art, politics. This era has got fine food, good manners-"

"Out of the way!" A man suddenly demanded, pushing through them as an alarm blared through the room, the food court services opening as people came rushing in and indistinctly talking loudly to each other. The three exchanged confused looks while Adam stared around blankly.

"Fine cuisines?" Rose asked.

"My watch must be wrong." The Doctor mumbled, checking his wrist watch before furrowing his eyebrows. "No, its fine. That's weird."

"That's what comes from showing off." Rose teased, making Clara snigger. "Your history's not as good as you thought it was."

"My history's perfect."

"Well, obviously not."

"Doctor, where's all the species?" Clara whispered.

"No idea. Isn't that odd?" He agreed, making her nod with him.

"They're all Human, but what about the millions of planets, the millions of species? Where are they?" Adam rambled.

"Good question. Actually, that is a good question." He said, sending a playful wink to Clara who giggled into her hand. "Adam, me old mate, you must be starving."

"No, I'm just a bit time sick."

"Nah, you just need a bit of grub. Oi, mate! How much is a…cronk burger?" He asked a shop vendor while reading their menu.

"Two credits twenty sweetheart now join the queue."

"Money. We need money." The Doctor said, leading them over to a familiar yet advanced ATM. "Let's use a cashpoint." Pulling out his sonic, he scanned the ATM, causing it to send out a small stick of grey metal. "There you go, pocket money. Don't spend it all on sweets." He said, handing it to Adam.

"How does it work?"

"Go and find out, stop nagging me. Thing is, Adam, time travel's like visiting Paris. You can't just read the guide book, you've got to throw yourself in. Eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double and end up kissing complete strangers, or is that just me?" He rambled, making Rose laugh.

"Nah, that's just you." Clara teased.

"Watch it, missy." He said playfully, the two exchanging a snigger. "Look just stop asking questions. Go on, do it." He ushered Adam away before looking at Rose. "Off you go then. Your first date." He teased.

"Clara, can you smack him more often?" Rose asked slyly.

"It'll be my pleasure." She grinned making the Doctor gulp as she leaned into him. "Did you just steal money from a vendor?"

"Nooo." He mumbled sheepishly. "So, you ready to go snooping about?"

"Always. Tell you what, lets try those two over there." She said, pointing to a dark-skinned woman in a business suit conversing with a brunette in every day clothing. "I mean, I don't know where else to start." She shrugged.

"Me neither." He admitted as they walked over to them, unknowingly holding each other's hands. "Uh, excuse me. This is going to sound daft, but can you tell us where we are?"

"Floor 139. Couldn't they have written it any bigger?" The business woman blinked, pointing to a large writing on the wall that indeed said, 'Floor 139'.

"Floor 139 of what?"

"Must've been a hell of a party." She mumbled.

"You're on Satellite Five." The other interjected.

"What's Satellite Five?" Clara asked.

"Come on. How could you get on board without knowing where you are?"

"Look at us. We're stupid." The Doctor said cheerfully, making Clara struggle to hide her laughter.

"Wait a minute. Are you a test? Management test?" The other said with wide eyes.

"You've got us. Well done." The Doctor said, pulling out his psychic paper.

"We were warned about this in basic training. All workers have to be versed in company promotion."

"Right then. Fire away, ask your questions. If it gets me to Floor 500, I'll do anything." The first said, brushing back her hair.

"Why? What happens on Floor 500?"

She blinked a few times. "The walls are made of gold." She said as if it was obvious, only making the Doctor and Clara furrow their eyebrows. "And you should know, Mr. & Mrs. Management."

"Oh, we're not a couple." They blushed in unison.

"Right." She mumbled unconvincingly, glancing down at their still joined hands. "So, this is what we do." She said, leading them over to a few news screens, all with narrated voices speaking indistinctly. "Latest news: Sandstorms on the New Venus archipelago, 200 dead. Glasgow water riots into their third day. Space lane 77 closed by sunspot activity. And over on the Bad Wolf channel, the Face of Boe has just announced he's pregnant."

The Doctor and Clara exchanged a small look at the mention of 'Bad Wolf'. "We get it. You broadcast the news."

"No, we are the news. We're the journalists." Unknown to them, a camera zoomed in on them.

* * *

" _We write it, package it and sell it. 600 channels, all coming out of Satellite Five, broadcasting everywhere. Nothing happens in the whole Human Empire without it going through us."_

Inside an ice-cold room, a man with short, blonde hair in a navy-blue suit is standing in front of a monitor, with 5 people, all covered in frost sitting at computers and working silently, not even blinking.

"Something is wrong. Something fictional." He mumbled, moving closer to the screen. "Those people. Perform a security check. Go deep." He whispered to one of the workers.

* * *

" _All staff are reminded that the canteen area is now operating a self-cleaning table system. Thank you."_

Rose came to a table where Adam sat, with a slightly overwhelmed look on his face.

"Try this." She said, holding up a drink cup. "It's called Zaphic. It's nice, it's like a…um…slush puppy."

"What flavour?"

She takes a sip before shrugging. "Sort of beef?"

"Oh my god." He breathes, making her laugh. "Its like everything's gone. Home, family, everything."

"This helps." She said, pulling out her phone. "The Doctor gave it a bit of a top-up. Who's back home, your Mum and Dad?"

"Yeah."

"Phone them up."

"But that's 198,000 years ago."

"Honestly, try it. Go on." She implored, holding out her phone which he then took.

"Is there a code for-"

"Just dial." She almost groans.

He dials before waiting.

" _I'm sorry we're not in."_  He looks at her with wide eyes. _"Please leave a message. Thanks, bye."_

"It's on hook."

_*Beep*_

"Hi. It's me. I've sort of gone…traveling. I met these people and…we're traveling together. But…I'm fine and I'll call you later. Love you. Bye." Hanging up, he gets a childlike grin. "That is just-" An alarm blares through the room, making everyone rush to leave.

"Oi! Mutt and Jeff! Over here!" The Doctor calls to them, making Rose move over to them. Adam, with a side glance puts Rose's phone in his pocket, unknowingly being watched by Clara, squinting at him.

* * *

" _ **Security check cleared."**_

"No, something's wrong." The Man says, shaking his head. "I can almost…taste it. There's just this tiny little shift in the information. Someone down there shouldn't be here. Double-check. Triple-check. Follow them." He whispers to the workers as the camera shows the group moving into a blank, white room. "Who is it?"

" _Now, everybody behave. It's a management inspection. How do you want it? By the book?"_

" _Right from scratch, thank you."_  The Doctor says, holding back a sarcastic tone yet making the Man chuckle.

" _Okay, so. Ladies and gentlemen, multi-sex, undecided or robot, my name is Cathica Santini Khadeni. That's Cathica with a 'c', in case you want to write to Floor 500 praising me and please do."_  She sends a smile to them; the Doctor and Clara exchanged a crooked eyebrow.  _"Now, please feel free to ask any questions. The process of news gathering must be open, honest and beyond bias. That's company policy."_

" _Actually, um…it's the law."_  The woman from earlier interjects with a kind smile, making the Doctor and Clara snigger under their breaths.

" _Yes, thank you, Suki."_  Cathica says almost degradingly, making her give a small, smug smile.

"Can we just get to it already?" The Man groaned.

" _Okay, keep it calm. Don't show off for the guests. Here we go."_  Cathica sits on a reclining chair in the middle of the room, surrounded by small workstations with handprints like sensors.  _"And…engage safety."_  The walls light up with orange lights, but not enough to blind them. Cathica clicks her fingers, opening a small latch in her forehead to reveal the front of her brain, making the four's jaws drop as the people around her place their hands on the sensors.  _"And 3…2…1…spike." From a small device in the ceiling, a ray of dim, blue light shoots out and into her forehead as she closes her eyes in a dreamlike state._

"Look into everyone. And go deep." The Man whispers to the workers.

" _Compressed information streaming into her. Reports from every city, every country, every planet and they all get packaged inside her head. She becomes part of the software. Her brain IS the computer."_  The Doctor rambled.

" _If it all goes through her, she must be a genius."_  Rose mumbled.

" _She wouldn't remember any of it. There's too much, her head would blow up. The brain's the processor. As soon as it closes, she forgets."_  Clara spoke in her 'Teacher' mode, getting a smile from the Doctor.

" _So, what about all these people around the edge?"_

" _They've all got tiny little chips inside their heads, connecting them to her and they transmit over 600 channels. Every single fact in the empire beams out of this place. Now I'd either call that power or control."_

"They are good." The Man said with a small smile. "Who would they-"

" _ **Analysis confirmed. Security breach."**_

"Oh, I knew it. Which one then? It's someone inside that room, which one?"

" _ **Isolating breach."**_

He looked at the screen, almost shaking with agitation. "Come on, show me. Who is it?"

" _You, all right?"_  Rose asked Adam.

" _I can see her brain."_

" _Do you want to get out?"_

" _No, no. It's…this technology, its…it's amazing."_

" _This technology's wrong."_  The Doctor said grimly, making them look at him.

" _Trouble?"_  Clara said with a smirk.

" _Oh yeah."_  He said in the same tone.

A tiny pulse flared through the sensors, not doing anything except making Suki flinch.

"That's it! Oh yes! She's the liar. Intercept and scan." The Man said with a sly smile.

" _ **Scan complete. Confirmed: Double biographies with one fictional."**_

"Gotcha."

Sending a pulse through the room, it turns off the lights and makes everyone look up with blinking eyes while the blue light shuts off and Cathica's forehead closes, blinking as she turns to Suki.

" _Come off it, Suki! I wasn't even half way."_  She groaned.

" _Sorry. It must've been a glitch."_  Suki mumbled.

"Of course. Her information's been tampered with. Her first biography is a lie, so what's that second one underneath?" The Man mumbles.

***Snarls***

He looks up to the ceiling with a flinch. "Yes sir."

***Snarls***

"Absolutely sir."

***Snarls***

"Yes, well, her data was encrypted, so there's no way we could've found her sooner."

***Snarls***

"Yes sir. I'm sorry sir." He turns back to the workers. "Get her up here. Now."

" _Promotion."_  Inside the room a blue screen appears with the word 'Promotion'.

" _This is it, come on. Make it me. Come on, say my name. Say my name. Say my name."_ Cathica mumbles to herself. The Doctor and Clara look at each other as if she was off her rockers.

" _Promotion for…Suki Macrae Cantrell. Please proceed to Floor 500."_

" _I don't believe it. Floor 500."_  Suki said with her jaw dropped.

" _How the hell did you manage that? I'm above you."_

" _I don't know, I just applied on the off-chance. And they've said yes!"_  She squealed with a grin.

" _That is so not fair. I've been applying to Floor 500 for three years."_  Cathica groaned, crossing her arms.

" _What's Floor 500?"_  Rose whispers.

" _The walls are made of gold."_  Clara says, but not with certainty.

" _*Chuckles*_ As if. While Suki's on her way, do a full security check on those four. Especially U-boat captain and teacher down there. They're rather good, so who are they?" The Man mumbles.

* * *

"Cathica, I'm going to miss you. Floor 500. Thank you." She said to the Doctor and Clara, Cathica sulking by them while Rose moves over to a breathing Adam.

"We didn't do anything." The Doctor shrugged.

"Well, you two are my lucky charm."

He and Clara exchanged a smirk. "Why not? We'll hug anyone." He grinned as the three embraced.

"Come on. It's not that bad." Rose reassured Adam.

"What, with the…head thing?"

"Yeah, well, she's closed it now."

"Yeah, but it…it's everything. It freaks me out. And I just need to…if I could just…cold down, you know? Take a breather. Just have a moment of silence to…let it sink in before I go mad."

"Trust me, that's every moment with those clowns." Rose smirked knowingly.

"I heard that." They said in unison.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Rose offered.

"I think you might be better off with them. They seem like they've got a mystery to solve."

"Alright then. Just take a moment back on the observation deck. And," She pulls out her TARDIS key. "Take the TARDIS key. Just in case it gets a bit too much."

"Like it's not weird in there." He mumbles, making them chuckle as he takes the key and puts it in his pocket. "Right then. I'll be on the deck."

"Okay. We won't be too long…hopefully." Rose said as they parted, yet she missed his small smirk as he left.

"Oh my god! I've got to go! I can't keep them waiting!" Suki squealed as she picked up a large, black bag and moved to a nearby lift. "Oh, say goodbye to Steve for me! Bye!" She waves as the door closes.

"Good riddance." Cathica mumbles, making them furrow their eyebrows at her.

"You're talking like you'll never see her again." The Doctor said. "She's only going upstairs."

"We won't. Once you go to Floor 500 you never come back." The Doctor and Clara exchanged a grim look.

"Have you ever been up there?" Clara asked.

"You can't. You need a key for the lift and you only get a key with promotion. Nobody goes to 500 except for the chosen few."

* * *

Suki paced in the elevator with agitation for two minutes before it stopped moving, the door opening to reveal another extension of Satellite Five, only covered in frost and ice with flakes falling from the ceiling and vents, chilling her to the bone. Picking up her bag, she moved forward with caution only to flinch with shock as the elevator closed behind her. Taking a torch out of her bag, she flicks it on and moves towards an open door, entering a news reporting room yet covered in plastic, making her unable to see inside. She reaches out a hand and pulls it back only to scream as she finds withered, snow laced corpses inside, the one on the reclining chair with its forehead still open. She moves away in haste, finding a small flight of stairs which she takes to the room at the top, still looking behind her as she breathes deeply, before turning around and jumping slightly as she sees the Man standing there, looking at her with a small smirk. The workers were still sitting, not even acknowledging her presence.

"Who are you?" She asks.

"I'm the Editor."

"What's happening? Th…there are bodies out there. What's going on?"

"While we're asking questions, could you please confirm your name?" He clicks his finger, causing a holographic screen to appear with her in it.

" _My name is Suki Macrae Cantrell. I was born 199'89 in the Independent Republic of Morocco."_

"Liar." He clicks his fingers.

" _Hobbies include reading and archaeology. I'm not an expert or anything, I just like digging."_

"Liar." He clicks his fingers.

" _I want to work for Satellite Five because my sister can't afford university. And the pay scheme is really good."_

"Liar!" He roars, making her jump. "Let's look at the facts, shall we?" He clicks his fingers, changing the screen to show her in a camouflage combat outfit, firing a rifle at something off screen. "Ah, there we go. Hidden behind a genetic graft but that's still you. Eva Saint Julienne, the last surviving member of the Freedom Fifteen. And a self-declared anarchist, is that right?"

"Who controls Satellite Five?" She asks sternly, holding up a gun and making him raise his hands in shock before bursting out in laughter.

"There's the truth!" He says gleefully.

"The Freedom Foundation has been monitoring Satellite Five's transmissions. We have absolute proof that the facts are being manipulated. You are lying to the people."

"Ooh, I love it! Say it again."

"This whole system is corrupt. Who do you represent?"

"I'm merely a humble slave. I answer to the Editor-in-Chief." He admits.

"Who is he? Where is he?"

"He's overseeing everything. Quite literally, everything. In fact, I'll have to refer this upwards." He points up, making her look to the ceiling, jumping in shock as she points her pistol upwards.

***Snarls***

"What is that?!"

"Your boss. This has always been your boss since the day you were born." He said smugly. She begins firing at the ceiling as he turns away with a disgusted look, knowing what would follow as she screams in terror before utter silence, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief.

* * *

"Look, they only give us twenty minutes maintenance. Can't you give it a rest?" Cathica groans as she returns to the newsroom, the Doctor reclining on the chair with Clara sitting with him, laying into his chest as he wraps her in a loose hug. Rose crooks an eyebrow and holds back a snigger at this.

"But you've never been to another floor, not even on floor down or up?" The Doctor asked.

"I went to Floor 16 when I first arrived. That's medical, so its where I got my head done and then I came straight here. Satellite Five; You work, eat and sleep on the same floor and that's it, that's all." She looks at them with squinting eyes. "You're not management, are you?"

"At last, she's clever." The Doctor sassed.

"And you're sure you're not together?" She asked smugly, making the two see how close they were.

"I'm so sorry." They blushed in unison, making Clara stand up to place her elbow on his shoulder, coughing slightly to avert her blush. Cathica looks at Rose in bewilderment, which she just mouths 'They're idiots' with a grin, making her shake her head.

"Look, whatever it is, don't involve me. I don't know anything."

"Don't you even ask?" The Doctor deducts.

"Well, why would I?"

"You're a journalist. Why's all the crew Human?"

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"There's no aliens onboard. Why?"

"I don't know, no real reason. They're not banned or anything."

"Then, where are they?" Clara asks, making even Rose squint her eyes.

Cathica blinks a few times. "I suppose immigrations tightened up. It's had to, what with all the threats."

"What threats?"

"I don't know, all of them. Usual stuff. And the price of space warp doubled, so that kept the visitors away. And the government on Traffic Five's collapsed, so that lot stopped coming. Just…lots of little reasons, that's all." She dismissed.

"Adding up to one great big fact, and you didn't even notice." The Doctor said.

"Doctor, I think if there was any kind of conspiracy, Satellite Five would've seen it. We see everything."

"I can see better. This society's the wrong shape, even the technology."

"It's cutting edge." She defended.

"It's backwards! There's a great big door in your head. You should've chucked this out years ago."

"So, what do you think is going on?" Rose asked.

"It's not just this space station. It's the whole attitude, it's the way people think. The Great and Bountiful Human Empire's stunted. Something's holding it back."

"And how would you know?" Cathica asked, crossing her arms.

"Trust me. Humanity's been set back about 90 years. When did Satellite Five start broadcasting?"

Cathica gains a small look of shocking realisation. "91 years ago." She mumbles.

* * *

Adam stands on the balcony, looking down at Earth with soft wonder before gazing at a console with a hand sensor. Moving over to it, he places his hand on with slight hesitancy.

"Give me access." He mumbles, before fluttering his eyes as a stream of information flickered through his head. "I can learn anything." He said in amazement. "Let's try…computers. From the 21st Century to the present date, give me the history of the microprocessor." More information flickered through his mind. "Oh my god." He pulled out Rose's phone and dialled.

" _I'm sorry we're not in. Please leave a message. Thanks, bye."_

_*Beeps*_

"Mum, Dad, keep this message, okay? Whatever you do, don't erase it, save it. You got that?" He nods slightly to himself before returning to the sensor. "The microprocessor became redundant in the year 2019, replaced by a system called SMT. That's Single-Molecule Transcription." He received a message in his mind almost blaring 'Floor 16'. "No, no, no, no, no, no. What're you doing?" He ranted, kicking the console before wincing at the sudden pain in his foot, then hanging up the call. "What's Floor 16? What's down there?"

* * *

Arriving at Floor 16, he gazed through the grey room at the long lines of information desks with people conversing at them. Walking through, he sees one sitting alone, a 30-year-old woman writing down on paper. He walks over to the desk and clearing his throat to gain her attention.

"Sorry. Um…Floor 16…what do you cover?"

"Medical Non-Emergency."

"Right, yes, wrong floor. I'm having technical difficulties. My screen keeps freezing, blocking me out."

"No, that's medical. There must be something wrong with your chip."

"Yes, right. Um…I haven't got one." He admitted.

She rolled her eyes. "No wonder you can't get a screen to work. What are you, a…student?"

"Yes, I'm on a research project from…the University of Mars." He thinks.

She rolls her eyes again. "The Martian Boondocks. Typical."

"Yep." He said, slightly confused that it worked.

"Well, you still need chipping."

"So, does that mean like…brain surgery?"

"An old-fashioned phrase, but yes, it's the same thing."

"Ah, okay, never mind. But if I get a chip, then that means…I can use any computer."

"Absolutely. You'll have to pay for it. They've stopped subsidizing."

"Right, sorry then. Hold on." He pauses before reaching into his pocket, pulling out the thin grey stick of metal. "Can I use this?"

"That'll do nicely." She smiles.

* * *

Now sitting in a reclining chair in an advanced surgery room, Adam looked at her in rapture.

"It all comes down to two basic types. Type One is the Head Chip. Inserted into the back of the skull, 100 credits. Here's the chip." She picks up a small piece of black metal, the size of a rice grain. "Tiny, invisible with no scarring. Type Two is the Full Info-Spike."

"That's the…umm…" He points to his forehead.

She nods. "That's the one. Now, it does cost 10,000."

"Oh, I don't think I could afford it."

"Not at all. In fact, you have unlimited credit." She smiles at him with a blend of sweetness and seduction.

"Well, I…I couldn't have it done. I mean…it's got to hurt, right?"

"Painless. A contractual guarantee."

"No. My…um…my mate's waiting upstairs, I can't have major surgery."

"It only takes 10 minutes. That sort of money buys a very fast pico-surgeon."

"No…I…no…I couldn't."

"Type One: You can interface with a simple computer. Type Two: You…ARE the computer. You can transmit any piece of information from the archive of Satellite Five which is…just about the entire history of humanity. Now, which one's it going to be?"

* * *

The Editor looks in confusion as the Doctor and Clara stand by the mainframe in the wall, using the sonic to open it while Rose watches them.

" _We're so going to get in trouble."_  Cathica mumbles. _"You're not allowed to touch the mainframe, we'll get told off."_

" _Rose, tell her to button it."_ The Doctor mumbles.

" _You can't just vandalize the place, someone's going to notice."_

"I don't understand. We did a full security scan. Those two were there when we found Suki Macrae Cantrell. There were no indications about him and yet, here he is, clearly acting outside the parameters. Fascinating."

***Snarls***

"Yes sir." He says, looking to the ceiling immediately.

***Snarls***

"Absolutely."

***Snarls***

"At once." He turns back to the workers, one of them is now a frost covered Suki. "Check them. Double-check them. Triple-check them. Quadruple."

The sonic sparks, making Cathica jump as they rip the door open and mess around with the wires inside.

" _This is nothing to do with me, I'm going back to work."_

" _Go on then, see ya."_  The Doctor said cheerfully.

" _I can't just leave you, can I?"_

" _If you want to be useful, can you get them to turn the heating down? It's boiling."_  Rose mumbles.  _"What's wrong with this place? Can't they do something about it?"_

" _I don't know. We keep asking. It's something to do with the turbine."_  Cathica dismisses.

" _Something to do with the turbine."_  The Doctor mutters mockingly.

" _Well, I don't know!"_

" _Exactly! I give up on you, Cathica. Now look at Rose. Rose is asking the right kind of questions."_

" _Thank you."_  She smiled.

" _Why is it so hot?"_

" _One minute, you're worried about the Empire and the next minute, it's the central heating."_  Cathica groans.

" _Oh, never underestimate plumbing. Plumbing's very important."_

*Sparks*

He holds up a broken wire with a sheepish look.

" _Fat lot of use you are."_  Clara rolls her eyes.

" _Oi!"_

" _ **Security scan complete."**_

"Well? Who is he?" He asks in agitation.

" _ **He is no one."**_

" _*Chuckles*_ What does that mean?"

" _ **He is no one."**_

"You mean he has a fake I.D?"

" _ **He has no identification."**_

He furrows his eyebrows in bewilderment. "But everyone's registered. We have a census for the entire Empire."

" _ **He is no one."**_

"What, he doesn't exist? Not anywhere?"

" _ **He is no one."**_

"What about the brunette he likes?"

" _ **She is no one."**_

"Both of them?! Their blonde friend?!"

" _ **She is no one."**_

"All of them?! Well, we all know what happens to non-entities: They get promoted." He says gleefully. "Bring them up." He whispers to a worker.

" _Here we go, Satellite Five. Pipes and plumbing. Look at the layout."_  The Doctor said, bringing out a screen with a schematic of the entire station.

" _This is ridiculous. You've got access to the computer's core. You could look at the archive, the news, the stock exchange…and you're looking at pipes?"_  She says in bewilderment.

" _But there's something wrong."_  Clara says, crooking her eyebrows briefly.

" _I suppose."_  She mumbles.

" _Why? What is it?"_  Rose asks.

" _The ventilation system. Cooling ducts, ice filters, all working flat-out. Channelling massive amounts of heat down…"_

" _All the way from the top."_  Clara finishes.

" _Floor 500."_  Rose concludes.

" _Something up there is generating massive amounts of heat."_

" _Well, I don't know about you, but I feel like I'm missing out on a party. It's all going on upstairs. Fancy a trip?"_  Rose says slyly, making them smirk at her.

" _But you can't. You need a key."_  Cathica protests.

" _Oh, keys are just codes, and I have the codes right here."_  The Doctor pushes past and uses the keyboard on the screen.  _"Override 215.9."_  A key stick then pops out of the screen.

" _How come it's giving you the code?"_  Cathica berates.

He looks up at the camera above him. _"Someone up there likes us."_ He winks.

The Editor bursts into laughter. "Oh, you have no idea." He says, like an excited child.

* * *

Adam rubs his forehead as the nurse holds up a mirror.

"I told you it was painless." She said with a small shrug. "No scarring, you see? Perfect success."

"How do I…um…"

"Activate it?" She finished, making him nod. "It's a personal choice. Some people whistle. I know one man who triggers it with 'Oh, Danny boy.' But you're set on default for now. That's a click of the fingers."

"So, you mean I just…"

"Click."

He clicks his fingers, opening his forehead before gazing in the mirror with wide eyes. He briefly touches the outlining, feeling metal before clicking his fingers again.

"Oh my god. I'm going to be sick." He vomits before holding a hand to his mouth, finding the waste coming out in ice form, making him look at her in confusion.

"It's a special offer. We installed the Vomitomatic at the same time. Nano-termites have been placed in the lining of your throat. So, in the event of sickness, they freeze the waste." She takes the cube and places it inside a small bowl, before looking at it in slight confusion as he hiccups.

* * *

The Doctor, Clara and Rose enter the elevator, Cathica watching them.

"Come on. Come with us." Rose implored.

"No way."

"Bye!" The Doctor said cheerfully, Clara waving.

"Well, don't mention my name. When you get in trouble, don't involve me." She walks away.

"That's her gone. Adam's given up. Looks like its just us." He said, looking at Clara.

"Yep."

"Good."

"Yep." Their staring gets slightly intense before he inserts the key into the elevator, Rose rolling her eyes.

"Can they just admit it already?" She mumbled under her breath.

"What'd you say?" They said in unison.

"Nothing. I said nothing."

They looked at each other before shrugging and taking grasping their hands. Arriving at Floor 500, they look at each other with grim concern as they see the room covered in snow. Stepping out cautiously, the Doctor looks around.

"The walls are not made of gold. You two should head back."

"And leave you here?" Clara mumbles.

He rolls his eyes despite his soft smile. "Alright then boss." They walk around the room before taking a small flight of steps, stopping as they see the Editor looking at them with patience.

"I started without you. Sorry." He shrugged. "Now, this is fascinating. Satellite Five contains every piece of information within the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire: Birth certificates, shopping habits, bank statements, but you two…you don't exist. There's not a trace. No birth, no job, not the slightest kiss. How can you walk through the world and not leave a single footprint?"

"Oh my god, Suki." Rose rushes forward, grasping her arm but recoiling slightly as she doesn't even budge. "Hello? Suki, can you hear me? What have you done to her?" She turned to him.

"I think she's dead. They're all dead." The Doctor said grimly.

"But she's…working."

"They've all got chips in their head and the chips keep going. They're like puppets now."

"Oh! You're full of information. But it's only fair we get some information back because apparently, you're no one.  _*Chuckles*_ It's so rare not to know something. Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter because we're off. Nice to meet you. Come on." He motions to Rose, but three workers come from the desk, two restraining the Doctor while the third holds both of Clara's arms behind her as Suki grasps hard onto Rose's.

"Tell me who you're are." He says impatiently.

"Since that information's keeping us alive, I'm hardly going to say, am I?"

"True, but my Editor-in-Chief can convince you otherwise."

The Doctor blinks. "And who's that?"

"It may interest you to know that this is not the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. In fact, it's not actually Human at all. It's merely a place where Humans happen to live."

***Snarls***

"Yeah." He mumbled sheepishly, making the Doctor and Clara share confused looks at the sound of the snarling.

***Snarls***

"Sorry. Let me reiterate. It's a place where Humans CAN live by kind permission from my client." He snaps his fingers upwards, making them glance. Their eyes widened as on the ceiling was a large, red mass with a mouth filled with rows of sharp teeth baring down at them.

"What is that?" Rose muttered in shock.

"You mean that thing's in charge of Satellite Five?" The Doctor asked.

"That 'Thing', as you put it, is in charge of the Human Race." The Doctor and Clara glance at him with fearful eyes. "For almost one hundred years, mankind has been shaped and guided by his knowledge and ambition, strictly controlled by its broadcast news, all edited by my superior, your master and humanity's guiding light: The Mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarondenfoe. I call him Max." He chuckles gleefully, making the Doctor and Clara give him fake smiles.

* * *

Cathica with a distant gaze, walks through the main room and past Adam who heads towards the newsroom. Arriving at the mainframe, she pulls out the screen and inputs the same code the Doctor did and received a key card, before heading to the elevator and inputting the code into its screen, waiting as the elevator took her to Floor 500.

* * *

"If we create a climate of fear, the it's easy to keep the borders closed. It's just a matter of emphasis. The right word in the right broadcast, repeated often enough can destabilize an economy, invent an enemy, change a vote." The Editor explains as the three were now bound in manacles.

"So, all the people on Earth are like…slaves." Rose says with conclusion.

"Well now, there's an interesting point. Is a slave a slave if he doesn't know he's enslaved?"

"Yes." Clara and the Doctor say in unison.

"Aww. I was hoping for a philosophical debate. Is that all I'm going to get, 'Yes'?"

"Yes." Clara glares at him.

"Dear me. You may be pretty but your no fun." He shakes his head, making the Doctor clench his jaw.

"Let me out of these manacles. You'll find out how much FUN I am." She growls, making Rose's eyes widen slightly.

"Dear, you actually are tough. Now wonder why he likes you." He glances at the Doctor, smirking as he doesn't deny it. "But come on, isn't it a great system? You've got to admire it, just a little bit."

"You can't hide something on this scale. Somebody must've noticed." Rose said.

"They did." Clara inputted.

"Who then?"

"Who do you think those people are?" Clara nods to the workers, making Rose's breathing hitch slightly. "If they don't fit in, be it fictional or non-existent, they are 'Promoted'."

"And now I'm wrong. She's more than a pretty face." The Editor nodded. "Yes, someone notices from time to time, but the computer-chip system allows me to see inside their brains. I can see the smallest doubt then crush it. And then, they all just carry on, living the life. Strutting about downstairs and all over the surface of the Earth like they're so individual when, of course, they're not. They're just cattle. In that respect, the Jagrafess hasn't changed a thing."

The Doctor and Clara both notice Cathica from a mirrored glass, both winking at each other when the Editor isn't looking.

"What about you? You're not a Jagra…a…belly…"

"Jagrafess." The Doctor says in a bored tone.

"Jagrafess. You're not a Jagrafess, you're Human."

"Yes, well being Human doesn't pay very well, now does it?"

Clara rolled her eyes.  _Again, it's always about the money._

"But you couldn't have done this all on your own."

"No. I represent a consortium of banks. Money prefers a long-term investment. Also, the Jagrafess needed a little hand to…um…install himself." He shivered slightly in disgust.

"No wonder, a creature that size. What's his life span?" The Doctor asked.

"3,000 years."

Rose whistled slightly.

"That's one hell of a metabolism generating all that heat. That's why Satellite Five is so hot. You pump it out of the creature and channel it downstairs. Jagrafess stays cool, he stays alive. Satellite Five is one great big life support system."

"But that's why you're so dangerous. Knowledge is power, but you remain unknown. Who are you?" He snaps his fingers, causing electricity to arc through the manacles, making the three clench their teeth to hold back their cries of agony. Clara fails however, letting out a small cry, making the Doctor look at her with concern.

"Leave them alone. I'm the Doctor, she's Clara Oswald and our friend is Rose Tyler. We're nothing, just wanderers."

"Tell me who you are." He nearly whined.

"I just said."

"Yes, but who do you work for? Who sent you? Who knows about us? Who exactly-" He cuts himself off as his eyes widened before a sly smirk crawls onto his face, turning into a satisfied grin, making the three exchange small looks of worry. "Time Lord." He says finally.

"What?" The Doctor mutters in shock.

"Oh, yes! The last of the Time Lords and his traveling machine. Along with his two, little Human girls from long ago. One who has given her life twice to save him." He brushes Clara's cheek with his hand, making her flinch.

"You don't know what you're talking about." The Doctor growled at Clara's uncomfortableness.

"Time travel." He nods with a knowing smile.

"Someone's been telling you lies."

"Young master Adam Mitchell?" He clicks his fingers, bringing up a screen of Adam in the newsroom with his head open and the dim, blue light streaming into his forehead, while he sits writhing in agony.

"Oh my god, his head." Rose mutters in shock.

"What the hell's he done? What the hell's he gone and done?" The Doctor said in fear and anger.

"His mind is open. We can read this mind and through him, I know now everything about you." The Editor said smugly. "Every piece of information in his head is now mine. And you have infinite knowledge, Doctor. The Human Empire is tiny compared to what you've seen in your T-A-R-D-I-S, TARDIS."

"Well, you'll never get your hands on it. I'll die first!"

"Die all you like. I don't need you, I've got the key. Dear me, Rose. You shouldn't have given it to him." He said, not losing his smug tone.

"You and your boyfriends." Clara growled.

"Today, WE are the headlines. We can rewrite history, prevent mankind from ever developing."

"And no one's going to stop you. Because you've bred a Human Race who doesn't bother to ask questions." Clara glares, hoping Cathica could take the hint. "Stupid little slaves, believing every lie. They'll just trot right into the slaughterhouse if they're told it's made of gold." Cathica glances at the mirror into Clara's eyes as a fierce determination burrows into her own as she walks off.

An alarm flares through the room, followed by Adam's light being shut off.

"What's happening?" The Editor said, his smug tone dropping. "Someone's disengaged the safety." He clicks his fingers, bringing up a screen of Cathica in the newsroom filled with corpses, with her own head open. "Who's that?"

"That's Cathica." Rose mumbles, now gaining a smile of relief.

"And she's thinking. She's using what she knows. Everything we told her about Satellite Five: The pipes, the filters, she's reversing it. Look at that." The Doctor nods to some ice, beginning to melt into water. "It's getting hot. She's venting the heat up here. The Jagrafess needs to stay cool and how he's sitting on top of a volcano." He sends a proud grin to Clara, who gives him a cheeky wink.

"Terminate her. I said terminate her. Burn out her mind." The Editor growls.

" _Oh no, you don't. You should've promoted me years back."_  Cathica says defiantly.

Suddenly, sparks burst from the screens in the room, breaking and shattering them, causing the workers to collapse onto the desk. The Jagrafess roars in anger and pain while Clara's manacles break open from the force, making her rummage through the Doctor's jacket for his sonic.

*Snarls*

"Yes. I'm trying sir, but…I don't know how she did it, but it's impossible. A member of staff with an idea." The Editor says in shaking fear as Clara frees both the Doctor and Rose from their manacles.

"Oi, mate! Do you want to bank on a certainty? Massive heat in a massive body equals massive bang. See you in the headlines!" The Doctor taunted, taking Clara's hand to rush out with Rose running in front of them. Running into the newsroom, they see Cathica sitting on the reclining chair with her eyes closed in peace.

***BANG***

They jump at the sound of the Jagrafess exploding before Clara clicks her fingers, closing Cathica's forehead as she looks up at her, Clara giving her a kind smile.

* * *

Back on Floor 139, the Doctor and Clara sat with Cathica while Rose had her hands on their shoulders.

"We're just going to go. I hate tidying up." The Doctor muttered, making Clara snigger. "There'll be too many questions, but you'll manage."

"You have to explain it. No one's going to believe me." Cathica shook her head.

"Oh, they might start believing a lot of things now. Humanity should accelerate, all back to normal."

"What about your friend?" Cathica glances at Adam, who was standing by the TARDIS.

"He's not our friend." They stood up, walking towards the TARDIS, the Doctor gaining a stern look.

"Now don't…" Rose sighs in defeat as they ignore her.

"I'm all right now. Much better. And I've got the key." Adam holds up the key as he tries to defend himself. "Look, it's…it all worked out for the best, didn't it?" The Doctor snatched the key from his hand and unlocked the TARDIS door. "You know, it's not actually my fault, because you were in charge-"

Clara smacked him hard across the face. "Shut up, now." She growled as the Doctor pulled him into the TARDIS before it dematerialised.

**Adam's House, 2012**

The Doctor led Adam out of the TARDIS. "This is my house, I'm home.  _*Chuckles*_  Oh my god, I'm home. Blimey, I thought you were going to chuck me out of an airlock."

"Is there something else you want to mention?" Clara asked with her eyebrows raised.

"No. Um…what do you mean?"

"Sonic." She holds out her hand, the Doctor giving it to her as she walks over to his home phone. "The archive of Satellite Five. One second of that message you sent could've changed the world, and not for the better." She admonished before using the sonic on the phone, causing it to spark and burst apart, making Adam jump as Clara handed the sonic back to the Doctor.

"That's it then. See ya." The Doctor said.

"How do you mean 'See ya'."

"As in goodbye."

"But what about me? You can't just go, I've got my head, a chip type two, my head opens."

"What, like this?"  _*Clicks*_

"Don't." _*Clicks*_

"Don't do what?"  _*Clicks*_

"Stop it!"  _*Clicks*_

"Stop what?" Clara said innocently.  _*Clicks*_

"Stop that!"  _*Clicks*_

"Alright you two children, enough." Rose admonished, making them stand down.

"Thank you." Adam said.

Rose smirked.  _*Clicks*_

"Oi!"  _*Clicks*_

"Sorry, I couldn't resist." She laughed, making Clara snigger and the Doctor smirk.

"The whole of history could've changed because of you."

"I just wanted to help."

"You were helping yourself."

"I know and I'm sorry. I said I'm sorry and I really am but, you can't just leave me like this."

"Yes, I can, because if you show the head to anyone, they'll dissect you in seconds. You'll have to live a very quiet life. Keep out of trouble, be average and unseen. Good luck." He said, opening the TARDIS.

"But I want to come with you." Adam protested.

"I only take the best. I've already got Clara and Rose." He winked at Clara, making her blush slightly as they entered the TARDIS. The front door then opened with the jangling of keys.

"Oh my god." Adam breathed.

"Who's that? Jeff! Is that you?!"

"It's me, Mum! Don't come in, wait there a minute!"

"Oh, my lord! You never told me you were coming home! Hold on, I'll just take my coat off."

Rose smirked devilishly at him.

"Rose, take me with you."

She looks at him as if she's never met him before moving into the TARDIS as the engines sound and it dematerialises.

"What's that noise?! Have you left the back door open?! Blimey, there's a draft!" Adam's mother comes in as the TARDIS disappears, a warm smile on her face. "What a surprise. Oh, let me look at you. Six months. It's like I saw you yesterday. Isn't it funny? Time goes by like that."  _*Clicks*_  She looks at him, horror growing into her eyes.


	17. Listen

**TARDIS**

The Doctor stood alone in the console room, pacing around a chalkboard with a distant look in his eyes, rolling a piece of chalk in his hand and an open book in the other. Rose was currently sleeping in her bedroom while Clara was back home, waiting for the next Wednesday. He pauses, closing his eyes and breathing deeply before snapping them open.

"Listen." He says into the silence, receiving no answer. "Question: Why do we talk out loud when we know that we're alone? Conjecture: Because we know we're not. Evolution perfects survival skills. There are perfect hunters and there is perfect defence. So why is there no such thing as perfect hiding? Because how would you know? If evolution did perfect a creature whose primary skill was to hide from view, then how could you know it existed? It could be with us every second and we would never know. How would you detect it? Even sense it?" He puts the chalk down on the board. "It's from those moments when for no clear reason that you chose to speak aloud. What would such a creature want? What would it do? Well? What would you do?!" He calls, his voice echoing through the TARDIS. Silence follows, making him scoff until he hears a slight rolling noise, feeling the chalk bump against his feet. He kneels, picking it up and looking to the chalkboard, his blood running cold with fear as it now said 'Listen'.

 **Clara's House, Wednesday, June 5** **th** **, 2013**

Clara comes into the kitchen, wearing a navy-blue cut-out dress, black tights, with a colour matching blazer over it and her hair pined up in a small bun. She's about to gather ingredients for a soufflé, before she hears the TARDIS materialising in her bedroom, making her smile as she waits. Hearing its doors open, Rose steps out of her bedroom.

"Nice dress." She commented.

"Thank you." Clara said with a smile.

"Oh, Clara. You weren't going to try and make a soufflé again, were you?" She groans, motions to the baking gear she's putting away.

"My Mum's soufflé, yeah. But someday, I will get it right. Someday I will be Soufflé Girl."

"If there's one thing you can't do, Clara, it's make soufflés." The Doctor muttered from the room.

"I heard that."

"And I second that." Rose laughed, making the Doctor chuckle.

"Oi!"

"Doctor?" Rose asked. "What're you doing?" Clara finishes putting the gear away, moving over to see the Doctor sitting at a chair in front of three mirrors.

"Why do you have three mirrors? Can't you just turn your head?" He asked in bewilderment.

"I need the three mirrors. Makes it easier."

"What for?" He gazed at her before gaining a devilish smirk.

"What?" She asks.

"Is it because your face is so wide, and your eyes are so big?"

"My face is not wide!" She whined. "And my eyes are perfectly fine."

"Alright then, you look good." He smiled softly at her dress. "In fact, you great in that."

"Thank you." She said with a blush.

"Did you wear that to impress him?" Rose whispered.

"No. Of course I didn't." She blushed harder, making Rose smirk.

"Now, I need you for a thing." The Doctor stood up.

"A what?"

"A thing."

"What thing?"

"It's a thing. Don't question the thing." He whined slightly, leading her and Rose into the TARDIS.

"He's had an epiphany." Rose said to Clara. "A really…stupid epiphany."

"Isn't that just him in general?" She winked, making them laugh.

"Oi!"

"Okay, Doctor, what is your brand-new epiphany?"

"You know sometimes when you talk to yourself, what if you're not?"

"How'd you mean?"

"What if it isn't you that you're talking to? My theory is: What if no one is ever alone? What if every single being in the universe has a companion? A silent passenger? A shadow? What if the prickle on the back of your neck is the breath of something close behind you?"

"Doctor, have you been making banana hyper vodkas again?" She squinted at him.

"No." He blinks for a moment. "Well, yes…but-but-but that's not the point." He stammers with a sheepish blush. "Clara, just look at that." He points to the chalkboard.

"It says 'Listen'. And?"

"I didn't write it."

"And neither did I." Rose pointed out.

"Well, it looks like your handwriting, Doctor."

"I couldn't have written it and forgotten, now could I?"

" _*Chuckles*_ Have you met you?" She spots an open book on the console. "What's this?"

"Dreams. Accounts of dreams by different people, all throughout history. You see, I have a theory."

She rolls her eyes. "Dear god, another one. Okay then, what theory?"

"I think everybody at some point in their lives has the exact same nightmare." He moves behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders before talking, his breath on her ear sending pleasant shivers down her spine. "You wake up, or you think you do and there's someone in the dark. Someone close, or you think there might be. So, you sit up and turn on the light and the room looks different at night. It ticks, creaks, groans and breathes. You tell yourself, 'There's nobody there. Nobody watching. Nobody listening. Nobody there at all.' And for a small moment, you very nearly believe it. You really, really try. You move your legs out of the bed and place your feet on the floor, wiping the sweat from your forehead with your hand until…" He places his hand gently around her neck, causing the shivers to intensify. "A hand shoots out from under the bed, wrapping itself around your ankle. Your breathing shudders and quickens, your pulse rises, until you hear a soft voice like a whisper telling you, 'It's ok. This is just a dream. Just lie back again. Just lie back on the bed. It'll all be ok, if you just lie down and go to sleep. Just do that for me. Just sleep.'" He takes his hand off her neck, moving around to see her flushed face and wide eyes. "Are you…blushing?" He asks.

"No!" She squeaks, coughing it back and turning around to hide her face from him. He turns to Rose, who was watching their exchange with the most devilish smirk she'd ever borne.

"What?" He asks.

"Oh nothing." She says with her tongue in her teeth. He rubs his hand, thinking briefly of the smoothness of Clara's skin before shuddering with a blush and moving around the console.

"There are accounts of that dream throughout human history. Time and time again, the same dream. It is always when the person is either young or old. Now, I asked Rose first, but she said…" He motioned to her.

"I couldn't remember having the dream." She finished.

"So, either she's forgotten, or she will be having that dream…when she's 80 years old and grumpy as all hell." He teased.

"What?"

"Nothing." He says sheepishly, making Clara smirk. "Now Clara, there is an obvious question I'm about to ask you. Do you know what it is?"

"Have you had that dream?" She asks him.

"Exactly."

"No, that was me asking you."

"I asked first.

"No, I did."

"No, you really didn't."

"Yes, I really did."

"No, you really didn't." He chuckles.

She sighs in defeat. "Ok, yeah. Maybe…probably…yes. But everybody dreams about something under the bed."

"But why?" He asks. Clara fails to find an answer. "Is it instinct? Is it fear? Or is it something quite real?" He opens a part of the console, revealing a panel lined with white gel-like material. He takes Clara's hands and places them inside.

"Ew. Sorry old girl." Clara mumbles in disgust.

 _*Beeps*_  (It's alright.)

"Just hold on tight. If anything bites…let it." He winks at her.

"I can think of a few things I could bite."

"Oh, be careful what you wish for, Clara." They give each other an intense stare, not noticing Rose wave her hands above her head in exasperation.

"What is it, then?" Rose asks, making the pair jump.

"The TARDIS telepathic interface. Clara is now in mental contact with her, so don't think anything rude."

"Why not?" Clara asks.

"Because I will see it on the monitor." He says, pulling it over for him and Rose to see. Clara smirks, watching as his furrowed eyebrows turn into childish fear. "Oi! Leave them alone!" He whines, placing his hands over his ears in protection while Rose laughs. "The TARDIS is now extrapolating your entire timeline, from the moment of your birth to the moment of your death."

"Which I do not need a preview of." Clara points out.

"Don't worry. We won't go anywhere past this moment." He says reassuringly, making her sigh in relief. "I'm now turning off the safeguards on the navigation. The TARDIS is now slaved to you. Rose, could you watch the monitor for me, please?"

"Sure." She says.

"Clara, I need you to focus on the dream." He says, coming over and to her delight, resuming their earlier position. "Focus on the details. Picture them, feel them. The old girl will track on your subconscious and extract the relevant information. It should be able to home in on the moment in your timeline when you first had that dream. And then…we'll see."

"What will we see?" She asks, somewhat breathlessly.

"What's under your bed." He says. She didn't need to turn around to see his cheeky grin. "One more thing, Clara: Don't get distracted. Otherwise, we might end up in the wrong place." He pulls the dematerialisation lever, causing the TARDIS to lift off from her flat. She closes her eyes as the Doctor rubs her shoulders affectionately before jumping as Rose's phone goes off. "Rose, tell your stupid boyfriend that we're busy." He groaned.

"I'm on it." Rose groaned, but not at the Doctor. "If there's one thing Mickey can't do, it's have good timing." She said as she turned off her phone.

Clara winced.  _Boyfriend. Boyfriend. Danny. No. Don't get distracted. Danny. Don't get distracted._

The TARDIS lands, making her look up with some uncertainty.

"Did it work?" Rose asked.

"We wouldn't have landed if it didn't." The Doctor said. "What's the monitor say?"

"Mid 90's. Gloucester, the West Country Children's Home." Rose read.

The Doctor furrowed his eyebrows. "It's the right time zone but the wrong place."

"Sorry. I got distracted." Clara mumbled softly.

"Come on, Clara. Don't blame yourself." He said gently. "May I ask, what were you thinking about?"

"The dream and…Danny."

The Doctor looked at her with realisation. "Boyfriend. Of course." He mumbled, pulling her hands out of the gel before moving her to the door, motioning for Rose to follow.

"Doctor, didn't you say that this was the wrong place?" Clara pointed out.

"Yes, but you were thinking of the dream, which means that Danny must've had that dream and told you when you knew him and since he was connected to your timeline, that allowed the TARDIS to land. Correction: The right time and different place. Not correct, but not wrong. Besides, this might be a better idea than the other one."

"What other one?"

"I just realised that I would've taken you to meet your younger self." He blushed sheepishly.

"And that's obviously bad?" She deducted.

"It could've been catastrophic."

"Oh, Doctor. You seriously can be a dolt." She chuckled.

"Oi! I told you, Clara, it was just a thing."

"What kind of thing?"

"A thing."

"Children, we've got somewhere to be." Rose cut in with a small smirk.

"Sorry Mum." They said in unison before moving out of the TARDIS. They saw a large building, drenched in the colour of night with a low, ice cold fog hanging down around them.

"I should've worn something warmer." Clara shuddered, the Doctor rubbing her shoulders to warm her.

"Well, that's what you get for looking great." He teased.

"Are you saying that I should look horrible?" She said with a low glare.

"No! No, of course not!" He denied. "I was just meaning-"

"I know." She smiled, grabbing his hand and pulled him towards the large, front door. "Now, come on."

Rose moved to follow but stopped as she saw a window with a light inside, a young, dark skinned boy standing. He spotted her and waved, making her wave back as he opened the window.

"What're you doing down there?" He asked.

"Nothing." She shrugged. "I'm just with a couple of friends. What's your name?"

"Rupert Pink."

"Hello, Rupert. My name's Rose. Rose Tyler."

"At least you've got a good name. My name's stupid." He mumbled dejectedly.

"No, it isn't. My friend knew someone called Pink."

"I meant Rupert. I'm going to change it."

"Well, be sure it's a good one." She smirked, making him smile. "Why're you awake?" He said nothing. "Are you scared?" He nodded weakly. "Well, I'm coming in. Be up there in a minute." She said, hurrying to the front door.

* * *

The Doctor and Clara walked through the empty, dark hallway, clutching each other's hands as they looked around. Moving past a room, they saw a lit light on a desk and the indistinct chatter of a TV somewhere close by, until they see a door in the office open, the TV behind growing slightly louder until the door closes as a middle-aged man with balding hair and black rimmed glasses steps towards them.

"How did you get in?" He asks.

"Your door must be faulty." The Doctor said, winking slightly at Clara who smirked. She pulled out the psychic paper, ignoring the Doctor's roll of the eyes at her.

The Man slouched his shoulders slightly. "An inspection. It's 2:00 in the morning."

"When better? Do you always work nights?" She asks, handing the paper back to the Doctor.

"Most nights, yes."

"You ever end up talking to yourself?" The Doctor asked.

" _*Chuckles*_ All the time. You can't help it. It's this place, does your head in."

"What about your coffee?"

He glances down at the filled coffee cup on his desk. "My coffee?"

"Sometimes, do you put it down and look around, and it's not there?" Both him and Clara don't notice Rose going up the stairs.

" _*Scoffs*_ It's a children's home. They always do that." He groaned. The TV in his room switches off suddenly, making him look over.

"Who turned your telly off?"

"It does that. It-" He turns around to see them no longer standing there. "Just goes off." He finishes before sighing. He reaches to grab the coffee cup, but widens his eyes as it's no longer there, only leaving a circular stain on the desk.

The Doctor walked with Clara up the stairs, sniggering childishly at each other before drinking from the coffee, both admiring it.

* * *

Upstairs, Rose finds a door slightly open with a light shining through. She moves to open it to see Rupert sitting on the floor with his back against the wall.

"Hello." She says with a smile.

"Hello." He reciprocates.

"Nice room." She comments as she glances around, seeing the different books with a CD player on the shelves and a neatly made bed with a red bedspread on top. She grabs a chair to sit by him. "You know, you should have more than one chair. What do you do when people come around?"

"Sit on the bed."

"Why aren't you sitting on it, then?" He says nothing, just staring at it in fear. "Do you think that there's something underneath it?" He nods. "Hey. Everyone thinks that sometimes. It's just how people think at night."

"Why?"

She thinks for a moment. "Did you have a dream? A hand grabbing your foot?" His eyes widened in shock. "You have, haven't you? You've had that exact dream."

"How did you know?"

"Do you know why dreams are called dreams?"

"Why?"

"Because they're not real. If they were, they wouldn't be called dreams." She moved over to kneel beside the bed.

"What're you doing?"

"Do you know what's under the bed?"

"What?"

"Me!" She grins, dashing underneath. "Come on! It's perfectly safe." He sighs, moving over and lying beside her, the bottom of the bed only inches away from their faces. "See? Nobody here, except us."

"Sometimes I hear noises." He says with uncertainty.

"It's a house full of people. Of course, you hear noises."

"They're all asleep."

"And they're dreaming."

"Can you hear dreams?"

"If you're clever enough, or daft enough." They sniggered. "But they can't harm you. Sometimes, we think there's something behind us and the space under your bed is what's behind you at night. Simple as that. It's nothing to be afraid of."

***Creaks***

The bottom of the bed inches even closes towards them in a bump, making their eyes widen and their breathing quicken.

"Who else is in this room?" Rose whispers.

"Nobody." He reciprocates.

"Someone must've come in."

"Nobody came in." They move slowly out from under the bed, seeing a figure underneath the bedspread, yet they could feel it staring at them.

"Hello?" She asks. "Who's this? Is this a friend of yours, playing a game? Playing a trick, are you eh? A little trick on Rupert here?" The figure, the size of a kid, stands up on the bed, still covered in the red bedspread.

_*Click*_

They turn around to see the Doctor sitting on the chair with the desk light turned on, the empty coffee cup sitting on it while he was flicking through a large, picture book with Clara looking at him in bewilderment.

"Where is he?" He asks.

"Doctor? Clara? When did you get in?"

"Just now." Clara shrugged.

"I can't find him." He whined.

"Find who?" Rose asks.

"Wally." Clara groaned as she rolled her eyes.

"Wally?

"He's nowhere in this book." He said, putting the book down.

"Not every book is a Where's Wally one." Rupert says, his eyebrows furrowed.

The Doctor's eyes widened in disbelief. "Really? That's a few years of my life I'll be needing back." He kneels before Rupert. "Now, one question: "The thing on the bed, or whatever it is, does it scare you?"

"Yes." Rupert says.

"That's good. You want to know why?" He says, making Rose and Clara exchange confused looks.

"Why?"

"Let me tell you about scared. When you get scared, your heart starts to beat so hard and so fast, that you can almost feel it in your own hands. There's so much blood and oxygen pumping through your entire body. It fuels your brain, your nerves, your muscles. Right now, you could run faster, fight harder and jump higher than you ever could in your life and you are so alert, you could almost slow down time as you take in everything around you. What's wrong with scared, eh? Scared is a superpower. There is danger in this room and guess what?" Rupert blinks, waiting in raptured attention. "It's you. Do you think he feels it? Do you think he's scared when he's trying to scare others?" Rupert shakes his head. "Nah, what a loser." They snigger. "Now, what're we're going to do is we're going to turn our backs."

"Eh?"

"Yeah, turn your back. Look out the window." Rupert does this with him. "Clara, Rose, turn your backs." They stand by him. "It's a lovely view out this window."

"Yeah. Come and see all the dark." Clara says with slight uncertainty at the Doctor, as they stare out into the void.

"Okay, there are two possibilities. One: It's just one of your friends standing there and he's playing a joke on you. Two: It isn't."

"So, plan? Plans are good." Clara points out.

"Clara, I never have a plan, I just…improvise." Clara shakes her head. "You. On the bed. I'm talking to you now. Go in peace. We won't look, just go. If all you want to do is stay hidden, it's ok. Just leave."

***Creaks***

"Is it gone?" Rose asks.

"Don't look round. Not yet."

"I can't hear anything." Rupert says.

"Don't look round. Don't even look at the reflection in the window. In fact, close your eyes."

"What?"

"Close your eyes. You too, the both of you. Close your eyes." They all do as he says. "Prove to it, that you won't look at it. Make a promise. Promise you're never going to look at it."

"I'll never look at it." Rupert says. Utter silence followed, only filled by their quickened breathing.

***Slam***

They turn around to see it no longer there and the door closed.

"Gone?" Clara asks.

"Gone." The Doctor confirms.

"He took my bedspread." Rupert whines, making the Doctor's shoulders slouch.

"Oh, Humans. You're never happy, are you?" He teases. Clara punches him in the shoulder. "Ow! What was that for?"

"For mocking us."

"Alright, I'm sorry." Clara shook her head slightly.

"You're a big baby, you are." She mumbled.

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!"

Rupert moves to sit on the bed with Rose, while Clara rummages through his shelves as the Doctor sits on the chair.

"Am I safe now?" Rupert asks.

"Not really. Nobody's safe when they're alone in the dark." Clara softly slaps the back of his head. "What?" She gives him a 'Seriously?' look. "Okay, yes. You're safe now."

"Are these yours?" Clara asks, holding up a small, cardboard box filled with toy soldiers.

"They're the homes." He denies.

"They're yours now."

"Don't lie to him, Clara." The Doctor admonishes.

"Well, he doesn't need to be scared by a northerner with big ears, yet here you are." He moves to protest. "Stay still. Shut up." Rose sniggers at their interaction. Clara takes a few soldiers and places them at the foot of Rupert's bed. "You see what I'm doing? This is your army."

"Plastic army." The Doctor sniggers.

"Sit!" He rolled his eyes yet did as she said. "And they're going to guard you from underneath your bed. You see this one?" She holds up a soldier, who doesn't have a gun. "This one's the boss one. The Colonel, he's going to keep a special eye out."

"It's broken, that one. He doesn't have a gun." Rupert points out.

"That's why he's the boss. A soldier so brave, he doesn't need a gun. He can keep the whole world safe, not matter what he goes through, and he'll always win, and he'll never raise a weapon or even hurt anyone." She looks back at the Doctor, who gives her a sad smile. "What shall we call him?"

"Danny."

Clara looks at him with wide eyes. "Sorry?"

"Danny, or Dan the soldier man." Rupert says with a smile.

"See? I said you could come up with a good name." Rose compliments.

"Shut up!" Rupert says playfully, making them laugh.

"Good. Good name." Clara mumbles to herself, making the Doctor place a hand on her shoulder.

"Here. You have it." Rupert said, pushing it into Clara's hands.

"Why?"

"A reminder."

"For what?"

"I don't know. You'll figure it out." He shrugged. "Would you read me a story? It'll help me get to sleep?"

"Sure." The Doctor says, coming forward. "Once upon a time. The end." He says, placing a finger on his forehead, making Rupert fall back into the bed, his eyes closed as he falls asleep.

"Doctor!" Rose and Clara admonished in unison.

"What? It's my Dad skills." He defended as they walked out of the building and back into the TARDIS, before he pilots it into lift-off.

"So, is it possible that we just saved Rupert from another kid in a bedspread?"

"Entirely possible, yes." The Doctor mumbles.

"Will he remember any of that?" Rose asks.

"Scrambled his memory. I think he'll remember some of it, maybe a lot of it. Just gave him some big dream about being 'Dan the soldier man.'"

_*Beeps*_

He looked at the monitor with squinting eyes.

"What is it?" Clara asks.

"It's a distress signal."

Clara looks at the monitor, her eyes widening. "From the end of the universe. How did we get that?"

"No idea. We're not only in the Time Vortex, we're swirling around Earth, 2013. I'm not sure how it could reach back this far." He sent the TARDIS to track the signal to its source, their breaths quickening as the TARDIS lands.

"Doctor are you sure about this?" Clara asks.

"No. The TARDIS isn't meant to come this far, yet some idiot turned the safeguards off." He mumbled to himself. The door opens, making them jump as a man in an orange spacesuit comes into the TARDIS. "Who are you?" The Doctor asks.

The man takes off his helmet, revealing his face.

"Danny?" Clara breathes in shock. It was indeed the same man, only with a few grey hairs.

"Clara?" He reciprocates.

The Doctor and Rose exchange bewildered looks.

"What's going on with you?" Danny asks Clara.

"What?"

"Come on, Clara. You're going all eyes." He teased, making her smile. He looks over to see the Doctor giving him a smirk. "What? It's true. Her eyes are so big."

"No there not!" She whined.

"Oh yes, they are." The Doctor interjects. "She's always about the eyes. She needs three mirrors." He jokes.

"Yeah. It doesn't help that her face is so round." They laugh, making Clara stomp her foot childishly.

"May I just ask, Danny, how did you…get here?"

"I time travelled." He motions them out of the TARDIS, where they find themselves in a turquoise spaceship, bathed in red light with the doors locked and the windows closed, making it unable to see outside.

"Where did you come from?"

"Earth, 2042."

"Earth doesn't get time travel in 2042." The Doctor says, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Well, it did with mine." Danny shrugged as he started to rush around the room, packing most of his things into a large, black bag. "I was meant to go a few weeks into the future."

"And you went too far?" Rose concluded.

"Unfortunately."

"Why're you packing? Can't you just reverse the ship to go back the way you went?" Clara asked.

"I want to get home. Back to my family, to my own time. You can take me."

"How long have you been here?" The Doctor asked, making Danny slouch as silence filled the room.

"Six months."

"Well, I can't leave immediately." Everyone looked at him in surprise.

"Why not?"

The Doctor puts his hands in his trouser pockets. "Earth doesn't get time travel by 2042, and since this ship is so advanced, I'd say that you are from a different universe than us. An alternate dimension. We can get you back, but we need to repair this ship first. It will take one night. One more night, that's…not a problem, is it?"

"No. No problem." He mumbled, making them squint their eyes slightly.

"It's a shame, isn't it?"

"What is?"

"There's only four people left in the universe and you're lying to the other three. It was the first thing I noticed when I stepped out here. You two must've seen it. Especially Clara, you've got eyes as big as my ears." He quipped.

"Oi!"

"Seen what?" Danny asks.

"Listen." The Doctor says simply, making them quiet down.

"To what?" Rose asks.

"Nothing. There's nothing to hear. Not a breath, a slither, a click, a tick or a groan. This is the silence at the end of time. The universe is dead. Everything that ever was is dead and gone. There's nothing beyond this door but nothingness, forever. So why is it locked? Why is the windows and the blinds shut?"

"Please. Don't make me spend another night here." Danny whimpers in fear.

"You're afraid of the dark. But the dark…is empty now."

"No. No it isn't."

"So, what's out there?" The Doctor moves to open the blinds, but Danny grabs his arms.

"Please! Don't look! You don't want to see what is out there!"

"Why not?"

"Because what you will see will terrify you beyond anything." Danny warns, making the Doctor's eyebrows furrow.

"I think I've seen enough in this life to terrify me." He says grimly.

"Not like what's out there. Please, I'm begging you. Don't go outside. Don't even look."

The Doctor stares at him blankly before sighing. "Fine. I won't look. But we are staying. If you don't want to be in this ship, I suggest you wait in the TARDIS."

"The what?"

"The TARDIS. That's my ship." He said, pointing to the box. "Only one night, just to recalibrate your ship, then we can send you home. That's all. The TARDIS will keep you safe."

Danny admits defeat. "Ok." They help him carry his things into the TARDIS.

* * *

The Doctor sat with Clara and Rose as they fixed the main computer, every so often passing the sonic around.

"Doctor, what're we doing?" Clara asked.

"Fixing Danny's ship." He said simply.

"But there's not much to fix." She said, making him stop. "Don't lie to me, Doctor. We're not staying here to fix his ship. Why are we here?"

"Waiting."

"For what? For who? If everybody in the universe is dead, then there's nobody out there."

"That's one way to look at it."

"What's the other?"

"That's a hell of a lot of ghosts." The lights switched immediately to blue.

"Does this ship have its own mood lighting now? Frankly, you are providing enough of it." Clara quipped lightly, making them smile. Rose looked at the round, front door, which now said the words 'Don't open the door'.

"Where did that come from?" Rose asked.

"It's always been there. It's only visible with the night lights."

"So, who wrote it?"

"Danny. Six months stranded alone. I suppose it must be very tempting."

"What is?"

"Company." A loud, metallic creaking occurs above them, making them look upwards with wide eyes.

"What's that?" Clara asks.

"What kind of explanation-"

"Doctor, what is it?" She interrupted, with a slight roll of her eyes.

"Well, the systems are switching to low power. There are temperature differentials all over this ship. It's like…pipes banging when the heating goes off."

"I always thought there was something in the pipes."

"Me too."

"Remind me, how big is this ship?" Rose asks.

"It's roughly the size of a small house."

"But…aren't ships bigger than that?"

"I know. That's why I think Danny is from another universe. One where Earth is much more advanced than ours." The Doctor deducted.

***Shriek***

They jump, Clara grasping onto the Doctor's hand tightly.

"It's just the atmospheric pressure equalising."

"Or?"

"Company."

"Doctor, why can't we just go?"

"Because Danny needs to get home."

"No. Why are we here?" She denied.

"Because I need to know."

"Know what?"

"Suppose that there are creatures that live to hide. That only show themselves to the very young, or the very old or the mad or anyone who wouldn't be believed. What would those creatures do when everyone was gone? When there was only one man left standing in the universe?"

***BANG* *BANG* *BANG***

"What's that?" Rose asked, the sudden banging on the door making them jump.

"Potentially, the hull cooling. Or rocks and dust from outside rattling on the door."

"Or?"

"Someone knocking."

***BANG* *BANG* *BANG***

"Doctor, you don't actually believe all of this, do you? Hiding creatures? Things from under the bed?"

"What's that in the mirror or the corner of your eye? What's that footstep following, but never passing by?"

"Did we come to the end of the universe because of a nursery rhyme?" Clara groaned.

He said nothing, pulling out his sonic and used it to unlock the door, which by itself began to open.

"That's you turning it, right?" Rose asked, fear now beginning to flare within them.

"No." He began to back away slightly. "Get in the TARDIS."

"Why?"

"I have to know."

"Doctor-"

"The TARIDS, now."

"Ok, somebody is out there, now we know. We can leave." Clara grabbed his hand, but he yanked it back. "Doctor!" She cried.

"It's a pressure lock. Releasing it could've triggered the opening mechanism."

"Is there even an atmosphere out there?"

"There's an air shell around this ship." He turned to see them still there. "Why are you still here?"

"Because I'm not going to leave you in danger!"

"Well I'm not going to let you stay with me if it happens! Better me than you, now for god's sake Clara, do as you are told!" He yelled, pushing the two into the TARDIS, his heart clenching as he did.

"You're an idiot." Clara said, her voice breaking.

"I know." He mumbled guiltily before closing the door and moving back to the front of the room. "Perhaps they're all just waiting. Perhaps when we're all dead, out they'll come a-slithering from underneath the bed." The door slid open, blaring the alarm as the air began to rush out from the ship. Squinting his eyes, he saw outside on the barren rocky landscape a large, sinister crack, as large as the ship and gleaming white light onto his surroundings and into the ship. The air started to rush out even faster, causing him to grasp onto the console as his feet were lifted from the ground. The rushing air pulled at him hard, his grip started to weaken as sweat began to drench his body, his breathing become harder to maintain. His vision began to blur as something hit him across the head, leaving behind a stinging pain before he felt the rushing air begin to ease. He collapsed onto the ground, barely hearing above the ringing in his ears the door slam shut, before he felt something warm hug him.

"Doctor? Doctor?!" Someone called, but all he could see was something glowing, not able to determine who it was before he faded in unconsciousness, as someone picked him up and carried him back into the TARDIS.

* * *

"Will he be alright?" Clara asked, her voice filled with worry.

"He's out cold, but he'll be fine." Danny reassured her. Clara hugged the Doctor's unconscious form, relief washing through her. "You like him, don't you?" He asked with a knowing smirk.

"No, I don't!" She blushed.

"Oh yes, you do." Rose interjected as she grabbed a cloth to clean the cut on the Doctor's forehead.

"He is good for you." Danny admitted, making them fall silent.

"Really?" Clara asked.

"Oh yeah. Even if you behave like children." He teased.

"Oh, you don't know the half of it!" Rose laughed.

"Shut up!" Clara said, moving over to the console.

"What're you doing?" Danny asked.

"TARDIS telepathic circuits." She said, scrunching her face in disgust as she placed her hands back inside the gel. "The Doctor needed to know, and so do I."

"Know what?"

"Why does he want to know if the creatures under the bed are real?" She says before closing her eyes. "Come on, old girl. Show me. You've known him for a long time. What makes him want to know this so badly?"

The TARDIS went into lift off, making Rose and Danny stumble to the ground, groaning as they did.

"Sorry!" Clara said before the TARDIS landed. "Okay then. What was it?"

 _*Beeps*_  (Not what, but who)

Clara furrowed her eyebrows, checking the monitor but groaning as it just flickered with static before moving to the door.

"Wait, Clara!" Rose called.

"No, stay here. Look after him." Clara said.

"You can't go out there by yourself!"

"And you're not coming with me." She said. "Rose, Danny, stay here. I'll only be two minutes. Okay?"

Rose and Danny exchanged a worried look before they sighed in defeat.

"Fine. But don't you take too long." Rose warned.

"Yes Mum." She quipped as she exited the TARDIS. Clara found herself in a wooden barn drenched in the colour of night, filled with hay bails and hay mixed with sand strewn about the floor. Moving past a door on the side of the barn, she looked at the other end to see a bed with a young boy inside, the covers over his head. She heard the muffled crying of the kid, his whimpers causing her heart to clench with pity as she moved to stand by the bed. The door clanged open, making her crawl under the bed in haste as two pairs of footsteps were heard entering the barn.

"Why does he have to sleep out here?" A man said.

"He doesn't want the others to hear him crying." A woman said.

"Why does he have to cry all the time?"

"You know why." Clara didn't need to look to see her rolling her eyes.

"There'll be no crying in the army."

"Hush!"

They stood by the bed. "Don't pretend you're not awake. We're not idiots."

"Come and sleep in the house. You don't have to be alone. If you're willing, you're very welcome in the house with the other boys. I'll leave the door on the latch, you can come in any time." The Woman said gently as they moved back to the door.

"He can't just run away crying all the time if he wants to join the army."

"He doesn't want to join the army, I keep telling you."

"Well, he's not going to the Academy, is he, that boy? He'll never make a Time Lord." The Man scoffed as they closed the door behind them.

Clara's eyes widened in shock, her heart rate shooting through the roof as her breathing turns to soft panting.

" _Clara! Clara, where are you?!"_  She heard the Doctor call from inside the TARDIS.

"Hello? Who's there?" The boy called, sitting up on the bed. She heard him rub the sweat from his forehead with his hand as he moved to get out. "Hello?" He placed his feet on the ground, as Clara shot her hand out and grasped onto his ankle, her eyes widening even more than possible as she heard the boy breathing heavily in fear.

"It's ok." She whispered softly. "This is just a dream. Just lie back again. Just lie back on the bed. It'll all be ok, if you just lie down and go to sleep. Just do that for me. Just sleep." The boy did as she bade, moving to crawl back into the bed as Clara stood up from underneath. The boy's sobbing returned, making her gaze at him sadly as tears prickled her eyes, making her sit down on the bed and place her hand on his hair, rubbing it softly. "Listen. This is just a dream. But very clever people can hear dreams. So please, just listen." She whispered, the boy's sobbing lessened into unsteady breathing. "I know you're afraid but being afraid is all right. Has nobody ever told you? Fear is a superpower." She said with a soft smile. "Fear can make you faster, more clever and stronger. One day, whether you know it or not, you're going to come back to this barn and on that day, you're going to be very afraid indeed. But that's ok. Because if you're very wise and very strong, fear won't make you cruel or cowardly. Fear can make you kind. It doesn't matter if there's nothing under the bed or in the dark, so long as you know that it's ok to be afraid of it. So, listen. If you listen to nothing else, listen to this: You're always going to be afraid, even if you learn to hide it. Fear is like…a companion. A constant companion, always there. But that's ok. Because fear can bring us together. Fear can bring you home." She reached into her blazer pocket and pulled out 'Dan the soldier man'. "I'm going to leave you something, just so you'll always remember. Fear makes companions of us all." She said, slipping it into his hand and placing a kiss on his forehead.

* * *

"Sontarans, perverting the course of Human history!" The Doctor yelled as he shot up from his seat, making Danny and Rose jump. "Sorry." He mumbled, his eyes widening as he looked around. "Wait. Where's Clara? Clara! Clara, where are you?!" He said, moving to the door, but Rose and Danny moved into his path. "What're you doing?"

"Sorry, Doctor. It's Clara's orders." Rose said softly.

"What was out there? What did you see?" Danny asked.

"It was a crack. A crack in the skin of the universe. That was the gateway of how you got from your universe into ours."

"Is that my way of getting home?" He asked, both with concern and hope.

"Yes. All we need to do is restart the engines of your ship and you'll be on your way."

"Are you sure the…'Crack' wont damage the ship or anything?"

"No. Because you've already gone through, and the ship is fine enough. It'll be fine on the way back." He went to move past them again, but they stopped him.

"No, Doctor. We're not on the ship anymore." Rose interjected.

"Then, where are we?" He asked.

"We don't know." He blinked at them incredulously. "Doctor, before you saw the crack, what did you think it all was?"

The door closed behind them, making them turn to look to see Clara standing there, the tears fading from her eyes but still noticeable.

"Clara? What's wrong?" The Doctor asked.

"What if there was nothing? Nothing under the bed, nothing at the door." She said, moving past Danny and Rose to stand merely inches from the Doctor. "What if…the big bad Time Lord doesn't want to admit he's just afraid of the dark?" She asked gently.

He looked at her with shock, his hearts racing. "Clara, where are we? Where did we move to?" He implored.

"Don't look, Doctor. Take off and promise me that you will never look where we've been."

"Why?"

"Just take off, don't ask questions. Just take us back to Danny's ship, so we can get him home."

"I don't take orders, Clara." He said weakly.

"Doctor, do as you are told."

He looked down for a moment. "Alright then." He mumbled, before moving back to the console to pilot them back, grabbing Danny's stuff to put them back in his ship. Moving towards the computer, changed the coordinates and used the sonic and fired it up. "Okay then, Danny. You've got one minute before the ship takes off. I just changed the coordinates, so you will go back through the crack. I'll then use the TARDIS to close it after you've gone through."

"So, I'll take it that this is goodbye." Danny said.

"I'm afraid so." He nodded, reaching out a hand, which Danny shook. "Good luck out there, Danny."

"Good luck to you, Doctor. And look after them. Especially Clara. She's good for you." Danny winked.

"Shut up." The Doctor denied with a small blush as Danny turned and hugged Rose.

"Good luck then, eh?" Rose said.

"Yep. Good luck, Rose." He turned to Clara and hugged her.

Clara looked at him softly. "Danny, what happened to her? To your Clara?"

He gave her a sad look. "We were talking…on the phone. She was coming back home from teaching and…she crossed the road. She didn't look where she was going and…a car hit her. The driver had called for an ambulance but by the time they arrived…she was already gone. Dave and Ellie…they weren't happy. I try to help them, but I guess…parents take a long time to get over their child dying."

Clara looked at him with tears. "They survived?"

"Survived what?" He asked.

Realisation crashed over her. "Nothing."  _They must've never had an invasion in their world._

"What am I meant to do, Clara? I don't know how to help." He muttered weakly.

Clara gazed off for a moment before smiling softly. "People mourn those they lost because we love them. But eventually, we let them go and we honour them. The honour lasts for the rest of your life but never the mourning. Tell them: It's time to honour Clara, by letting her go in peace."

Danny looked at her sadly. "Someone told you that, eh?"

"Yeah. He was a good man."

"And you moved on from him?" He smiled.

Clara's gaze flickered to the Doctor. "Yes."

Danny nodded. "Alright then. Goodbye Clara."

"Goodbye Danny." She said.

The ship rumbled around them as it began to lift off.

"Time to go. Now!" The Doctor ordered, making Clara and Rose move into the TARDIS while Danny gave them a farewell salute as they closed the doors, piloting the TARDIS to hover outside of the ship. They looked at the monitor to see the ship fly through the crack before the Doctor flicked a few switches, causing the crack to close and leaving the surroundings to be drenched in total blackness, then piloting the TARDIS away to their own time.

"You two okay?" The Doctor asked.

"Yep." Rose nodded.

"I think so." Clara shrugged, making them snigger slightly.

"Clara…what happened to Danny?" He asked.

She looked down. "Same as the other Clara. A couple of years before I met you, and mere months after I left Angie and Artie, I got a teaching job with Danny. He was coming back to the flat we shared, talking on the phone and then…"

"Someone hit him." The Doctor finished softly.

"Yes." The Doctor pulled her into a hug, Rose giving them a sad smile, before gazing off distantly at the familiar thought. Someone close to her did die from a car crash and she never even knew him.


	18. Father's Day

_Peter Alan Tyler, my Dad. The most wonderful man in the world. Born September 15_ _th_ _, 1954. Died November 7_ _th_ _, 1987._

**Rose's Flat, 1994**

An eight-year-old Rose enters Jackie's room, who was sitting on her bed with a photo album.

"Come here, Rose." She calls softly. "Come here." She pats the bed beside her, where Rose sits as she peers into the album. "Who's that?" She points to a picture of man with short blonde hair. "It's your Daddy. You weren't old enough to remember when he died. 1987, 7th of November. Do you remember what I told you? The day that Stuart Hoskins and Sarah Clarke got married. He was always having adventures. Oh, he'd have loved to have seen you now. He was meant to be there, your Daddy. I was already there, with you, when you were barely a year old. He died so close to home. I wasn't there, nobody was. The driver was just a kid. He stopped and waited of the police, but Pete was already dead when the ambulance got there. It wasn't his fault. For some reason, Pete just ran out. People say that there was this girl and she sat with Pete while he was dying. She held his hand…then she was gone. Never found out who she was but…I'm thankful for her because…she didn't let him die on his own. Remember that Rose. Nobody should ever die alone." She says softly, tears prickling her eyes as she embraces Rose in a hug.

**TARDIS**

The Doctor and Clara exchanged sad looks at Rose's tale.

"That's what Mum always says. So…I was thinking…could we?" Rose asks. "Could we go and see my Dad, when he was still alive?"

"Where's this come from, all of a sudden?" The Doctor asks.

Rose's gaze flickered towards Clara, who gave her a sad smile.

"Rose, do you really want to do this?" She asks.

"I want to see him. I mean…we don't have to if its against the laws of time or some such…" She trailed off.

"You have to be sure, Rose." She said, her eyes telling her everything.

Rose nodded. "I want to see him."

"Then your wish is our command. Just be careful what you wish for." The Doctor said with a smile. He then got up with Clara as they piloted the TARDIS.

* * *

The three stood with sat with somewhat awkward looks as they watched Peter and Jackie get married.

"I, Peter Alan Tyler, take you, Jacqueline Andrea Suzette Prentice." The priest said.

"I, Peter Alan Tyler, take you, Jacqueline…Suzanne, Suzette…Anita…" He stammered, making Jackie roll her eyes at him incredulously.

"Oh, just carry on. It's good enough for Lady Di."

The Doctor and Clara sniggered, while Rose looked on in slight disappointment.

"I thought he'd be taller." Rose almost whined.

"How tall did you think he was?" The Doctor asked.

Rose stammered, deciding not to answer, making him smirk.

"All are weddings this awkward?" Clara asked him.

"A bit, yeah." They sniggered again, making Rose roll her eyes at them.

"Do other races have different kinds of weddings?"

"Oh yeah, there is. Back on Gallifrey, when two people are getting married, they would be married in private, just them for one night. They would take a bond cloth, which…" He blinked, "Is just a cloth." Clara gave him a 'Seriously?' look. "Anyway, they would take a cloth, wrap it around both of their hands and tell each other their true names. Well, in some parts of Gallifrey. Other parts, people told everyone their names freely."

"And you?"

"Well…I'm the Doctor. But my family, they were the…other part, should we say?" He winked slightly, making her pull a 'Okay' face.

Back in the TARDIS, they piloted it to their new destination.

"Alright then, Rose. We will ask this once more: Are you sure?" The Doctor asked.

"Yes. I want to be that someone, so he doesn't die alone."

"November the 7th?"

"1987."

"Alright then. Just letting you know, Rose, follow what we say. Or this could all go wrong very quickly." He warned, making her nod.

 **November 7** **th** **, 1987, London**

The three stepped out of the TARDIS onto a quiet street, on a cloudy day.

"That's so weird. The day my father died. I thought it'd be all sort of grim and stormy, but it's just an ordinary day." Rose mumbled.

"The past is another country. 1987's just The Isle of Wight. Come on, he should be this way." The Doctor said, leading them down the street to a corner.

"This is it. Jordan Road. He was late. He'd been to get a wedding present, a vase. Mum always said: 'That stupid vase.'" On that, Peter came down the road in a rugged old, green car. "He got out of his car…and crossed the road. Oh god, this is it." Clara took her hand while the Doctor placed his hand on her shoulder. They flinched as Peter stepped out of the car, before being hit face first by another car, this one a dull grey colour, which then sped off down the road as he fell, the vase he carried smashed onto the pavement.

"Go to him. Quick." Clara implored.

Rose blinked as tears came to her eyes, before heading off down the road, making them follow her. They stood by each other, as they heard the ambulance arrive at Peter's body.

"It's too late now. By the time the ambulance got there, he was dead. He can't die on his own. Can I try again?" She asked, her voice breaking. The Doctor and Clara exchanged an uncomfortable look before nodding slightly.

* * *

Arriving back at the corner, they stood hidden as their past selves came to the sidewalk.

"Right. That's us, the first time. Now, it's a horrible idea to have two sets of us in the same time. Just be careful that they don't see us. Wait till you run off and we follow, then go to your Dad." The Doctor advised, Rose nodding as he finished.

They saw Peter's car pull up on the sidewalk, the car that would kill him coming down the road.

"Oh god, this is it."  _Rose_  said.

"I can't do this." Rose mumbled.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to, but this is the last time we can be here." Rose took a deep breath as Peter stepped out of the car, before sprinting towards him. "No!"

"Rose!" Clara called fruitlessly as Rose sped past their past selves and dove Peter out of the way of the oncoming car, which like their past selves vanished in a golden light.

"I did it." Rose muttered with a smile as she and Peter got to their feet. "I saved your life."

"Blimey, did you see the speed of it? Did you get his number?" Peter said with a shaking voice.

"I really did it. Oh my god, look at you, you're alive. That car was going to kill you!"

"Well, give me some credit. I could see it coming. I wasn't going to walk under it, was I?"

"I'm Rose." She blurted.

"That's a coincidence. That's my daughter's name."

She nodded. "That's a great name. Good choice, well done."

"Right then, I'd better shift. I've got a wedding to go to."

"Is that Sarah Clarke's wedding?"

"Yeah. Are you going?"

"Yeah."

"You and your friends need a lift?" He asked, making Rose turn to the two. The Doctor was staring at her with disappointment while Clara was glaring daggers at her.

* * *

"Right, here we go. Sorry about the mess." Peter said as they entered the living room of his cramped flat. "If you want a cup of tea, the kitchen's just down there. Milk's in the fridge." He rolled his eyes. "Well, it would be, wouldn't it? Where else would you put milk?" He paused in thought. "Mind you, there's always the windowsill outside. You know, I always that that if someone invented a windowsill with special compartments, like one for milk and one for yogurt, they could make a lot of money out of that. Sell it to students and things. I should write that down." He blinked a few times. "Oh, never mind that. Ramblings of a mad man." He quipped, making them smirk. "Please excuse me for a minute, I need to go and change." He went into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him. Rose moved into the middle of the living room, not noticing the Doctor placing a hand on Clara's shoulder to calm her.

"All the stuff Mum kept, his stuff. She kept it all packed away in boxes in the cupboard. She used to show me when she'd had a bit to drink. Yet here it is…on display, where it should be." Noticing their looks, she starts to feel awkward and somewhat guilty, before picking up a trophy. "Third prize at the bowling. First two got to go to Didcot." She puts it down before gaining a childlike smile at the cartons of drinks on the floor. "Health drinks. 'Tonics', Mum used to call them. He made his money selling this vitex stuff. He had all sorts of jobs, he was so clever." She moves over to a set of blueprints on the table, her awkward anxiety starting to rise at their silence. "Solar power. Mum said he was going to do this. Now he can." She gulps at their looks, knowing that they ignored everything she said.

"When we met, we asked if you wanted to travel the universe with us and you said no. Then I said, 'That it also travels in time'." Clara says in an accusing tone.

"It wasn't some big plan. I just…saw it happening and I thought, that I could stop it."

The Doctor scoffed under his breath. "I should've listen to Clara, but I did it again, I picked another stupid ape. It's never about showing you the universe, it's about the universe doing something for you."

"So, it's okay when you two go to other times and you save people's lives but not when it's me saving my Dad."

"We know what we're doing, you don't. Two sets of us being there made that a vulnerable point."

"But he's alive!" She protested.

"Yeah, good job." Clara growled sarcastically.

"It's not like I've changed history. Not much. I mean, he's never going to be a world leader. He's not going to start World War III or anything."

"Rose, it's a simple as this." Clara interrupted. "There's a man alive in the world who wasn't alive before. The whole world is now different because he's alive."

"What, would you rather have him dead?" She accused.

***Smack***

The Doctor flinched while Rose looked at Clara with wide eyes, her cheek stinging with pain.

"Don't ever say that kind of bullshit again." Clara growled, Rose flinching at her tone. "We don't enjoy people dying, but no more than when we can't save them. For god's sake, my own parents died, Rose! My whole family is now dead! Do you think it's never occurred to me to go back and save them?! Of course, it has! But that's not how this works!" Rose blinked, making Clara roll her eyes. "You still don't get it. Alright then, give me the key."

Her jaw dropped slightly. "Wha-"

"The TARDIS key." Clara snapped, making Rose hand it to her with haste. "Since you got what you wanted, it's goodbye." She moved from the flat, the Doctor shooting Rose a slightly apologetic look before leaving.

"You don't scare me!" Rose blurted. "I know how sad you are. You'll be back in a minute or you'll hang around outside the TARDIS-"

"No, we won't. Goodbye Rose." Clara growled, silencing her as they slammed the door behind them.

Peter opened his door slightly, poking his head out to see Rose's shocked and hurt face. "Trouble with friends?" He quips lightly, yet it does nothing to help her mood.

Outside, the Doctor raced to catch up with Clara.

"Clara. Clara." He grabbed her hand, but she yanked it out of his grasp.

"For once in your life, Doctor, shut up!" She growled, leaving him silent and rooted for a few minutes as she disappears around the corner.

* * *

Rose absentmindedly began cleaning up Peter's table, trying to keep her guilt-ridden thoughts off Clara's words, not even hearing Peter enter the room, now dressed in a suit.

"Excuse me, do you mind? What're you cleaning up for?" He asked.

She jumped slightly. "Sorry. Force of habit."

"Listen, don't worry about them. Friends always have rows."

"Look, I know what you mean, but this wasn't one of them." She sat on the couch, slouching her shoulders. "I think they just left me."

"They'll be back. Friends always will be." He reassured.

"Right then, are we off?" Rose jumped up, holding out her arm.

"Uh…yeah." He blinked. "Sorry, but just asking, do you have a boyfriend?"

She breathed. "I don't know. Not really. It's all a little bit complicated."

"What, with a pretty girl like you? If I was going out with you-"

"Stop! Just stop!" She said, disgusted at the reality.

He shrugged. "I'm just saying-"

"I know what you're saying and we're not going there. At no point are we going anywhere near there. You aren't even aware that THERE exists. I don't even want to think about there and believe me, neither do you. There, for you is like…pfft, it's like the Bermuda Triangle." She ranted.

His jaw dropped before sniggering slightly. "Blimey, you know how to flatter a bloke."

"Like I said, are we off?" She asked, holding her arm out again.

"So, that's not mixed signals at all?"

"Absolutely not."

He sighed before taking her arm to lead her out of the door to his car. "I'll take you back to the loony bin, where you belong." He gazed distantly for a moment. "Still, I'm sure I've met you somewhere before."

* * *

Inside the church, the organ was playing while Stuart Hoskins and his father, both dressed in grey suits stood in front of the alter, Stuart glancing back at the small amount of people in the chairs with anxiety.

"It's weird."

"What?" His father asked.

"There's so many people missing. Uncle Steven, Auntie Lynn, all the Baxters. I mean, where are they? You don't think something's gone wrong?"

"Maybe it's a godsend. Gives you time to think. You don't have to go through with it, not these days. Live in sin for a bit." His father winked knowingly.

"Dad!" He muttered incredulously.

"I'm warning you, in ten years' time, you'll turn around and say, 'If only I could turn the clock back.'" A sudden, icy chill passed through, making some shift uncomfortably. "Is it me, or did it just get cold?"

* * *

Clara walked back to the TARDIS, the Doctor following close behind with a look of worry. She paused briefly to glance upwards.

"Clara? What is it?"

She didn't turn to look at him. "I just… I thought I heard…never mind." She mumbled, taking her key out of her blazer to unlock the TARDIS, their eyes widening as they found it empty. Completely empty, now just a normal police box. The Doctor even stood inside and banged on the walls to be sure before she grabbed his arm. "Rose!" She said, making them rush off.

* * *

"I met this bloke at the horses and he's cutting me on copyright." Peter said as he drove her and Rose to the church, the song 'Never Gonna Give You Up' playing on the radio.

"But I thought you were like a proper businessman."

" _*Scoffs*_ I wish! Nah, I just do a bit of this, a bit of that, more of a straight bloke."

Rose nodded despite her confusion. "Right. I must've heard wrong. So really, you're a…a bit of a del boy?"

"Oh, shoot me down in flames." He groaned slightly. "You're not related to my wife by any chance, are you?"

Rose paused before dropping her jaw slightly. "Oh my god. She's going to be at the wedding."

"What, Jackie? Do you know her?"

"Sort of." She mumbled.

"What'd she tell you about me then?"

She smiled softly. "She said that she picked the most fantastic man in the world."

He gave her a 'Seriously?' look. "Must be a different Jackie, then. She'd never say that." The radio went through sudden static before the song switched to 'Don't Mug Yourself'. "You know, this stuff goes right over my head."

Rose blinked, her eyebrows furrowing. "But that's not out yet. I'm just going to check my messages." She mumbled, pulling out her phone.

"How'd you mean, 'Messages'?" He asked, looking over and blinking in surprise. "Is that a phone?"

"Yeah." She held it up to her ear.

" _Watson come here. I need you. Watson come here. I need you. Watson come here. I need you."_ She gazed up in surprise as they turned a corner, missing the dull grey car pass by, the driver throwing an arm in front of his face and screeching the car tyres before he disappeared in golden light.

* * *

The father stood in front of church, holding a black phone to his ear.

"Half the guests haven't turned up. You're better off not being here, it's a disaster in the making. No, in this case, 'Knocked her up' is a phrase I'd use."

" _Watson come here. I need you."_

"Hello? Who's this?" He blinked.

" _Watson come here. I-"_  He hung up with a shake of his head.

"Dad! Get inside!" Stuart implored. "We can't see the bride before the wedding. It's bad luck."

" _*Scoffs*_ Bad luck when you met her. I tell you, this day is cursed." He said, following his son into the church as a large grey car pulled up in front. Two women, a brunette and a blonde waited as Sarah Clarke stepped out in her wedding dress, as they smiled at her.

"Now, THAT is what I call a meringue." The brunette said with a nod.

"Listen. Stuart's Dad said to go around the block, because there's people missing." The blonde said.

"How'd you mean missing?" Sarah asked.

"There's no Dave, no Sunita, no Bea. There's no one from The Lamb and Flag."

"Oh, my train's detached again! I knew I should've used Velcro." Sarah groaned as the car door closed.

"I'm here. Stop your bellyaching." Jackie said, wearing a pink dress and holding a baby crib with an infant Rose inside. "Take Rose a second, will you?" She asked the brunette.

"Oh, isn't she pretty?" She cooed.

"She's a little madam is what she is. Jesus, I need more hands. Where's her useless article of a Dad got to now?"

Said car came around the corner, before they jumped in shock as the dull, grey car suddenly appeared in front of them.

"Dad!" Rose shrieked, Peter brining the Car to a screeching halt on the sidewalk.

"It's that car…the same one as before." He hopped out, looking around for the car. "It was right in front of us. Where's it gone?" He breathed before turning to look at her with an incredulous look. "You called me 'Dad'. What'd you do that for?"

"Oh, wonderful. Here he is, the accident waiting to happen." Jackie growled. "You'd be later for your own funeral and it nearly was."

"No damage done." He groaned.

"And who's this?" Jackie nodded to Rose, who was staring at her with a distant look. "What're you looking at with your mouth open?"

"Your hair."

"What?"

"I…" She stops herself from blurting out anything else. "It's lovely. Your hair's lovely." She glanced at her younger self, staring with wide eyes at everything around her. "And that baby…" She stops herself again. "Sorry."

"Another one of yours, is she?" Jackie asked.

"She saved my life." Peter defended.

"Oh, that's a new one. What was it last time?"

"I didn't even know her, she was a cloakroom attendant. I was helping her look for my ticket. There were three duffel coats all the same and the rack just collapsed on top of us."

"Were you playing around?" Rose asked in shock.

"What's it got to do with you what he gets up to?" Jackie interrupted.

"What does he get up to?"

"You'd know."

"Oh, because I'm that stupid to play around and bring her to meet the missus. You silly cow." He groaned.

"But you ARE that stupid."

"Can we keep this stuff for back home, just for now, please?"

"What, with the rest of the rubbish? You bring home cut-price detergents, tonic water, Betamax tapes and none of it works. I'm drowning in your rubbish. What'd he tell you? Did he say he's this big businessman? Well, he's not. He's a failure! A born failure, that one. Rose needs a proper father. Not one who's playing about like a big kid."

"Jackie, I'm making a living. It keeps us fed, don't it?"

"Stop it!" Rose shrieked, trying to contain her anxiety again. "You're not like this. You love each other."

Jackie rolled her eyes. "Oh, Peter. You never used to like them mental. Or I don't know. Maybe you did."

"Jackie, wait, just listen."

"If you're not careful, there'll be a wedding and a divorce on the same day!" Jackie growled, walking back to the church entrance.

"Wait right here, just give me a couple minutes with the missus." Peter said, handing her his car keys. "Tell you what, straighten the car up or stick it around the corner or something. And don't cause any more trouble." He pleaded as he walked after Jackie. "Jacks, please."

"I'm not listening. It's just the duffel coats all over again." Jackie mumbled, placing Rose's cot down by her feet.

"Jackie, sometimes a duffel coat is just a duffel coat. Things will get better soon, I promise."

"I've had enough of all your daft schemes. I never know where the next meal's coming from."

"I'll get it right, love. One day soon, I promise you, I'll get it right. Come on." Jackie gave him a sad smile before they embraced in a soft hug. Around the corner, a young, dark skinned boy came running with fear in his eyes.

"Monsters! Going to eat us!" He called before sprinting into the church.

"What sort of monsters, sweetheart? Is it aliens?" The blonde asked, before chuckling slightly.

"Rose!" She turned around to see Clara and the Doctor running towards her, unable to contain her grand smile of relief.

"Get in the church!" The Doctor called, making her blink as he pointed upwards. She followed it to see a sudden spectrum of golden light appear, revealing a large, ash black creature like a dragon with bat wings, claws and a scythe-like tail, glaring its ember eyes down upon rose.

***Shriek***

It opened its jaws wide, revealing its sharp teeth as it descended towards Rose.

"Aaah!" Rose screamed, being pushed down to the ground by the Doctor and Clara, the creature narrowly missing the three as they scrambled to their feet.

"Get in the church!" Clara commanded, making everyone in front race inside as they gazed at the creature with horror-stricken eyes. More spectrums of golden light appeared in the sky above their heads, revealing more of the same creatures.

"Oh my god. What are they? What are they?!" The blonde shrieked as people within the church stood at the doors to see the commotion.

"Stay inside!" The Doctor yelled.

***Shriek***

Another creature descended upon the large group.

"Sarah!" Stuart called, making his father grab his arms and haul him back.

"No, stay inside!" Their commotion made the creature stop and look at them, dashing forward as the father ran away from the door. Using its tail, it swiped at his feet, tripping him and making his head slam onto the concrete ground before descending upon him, using its large jaw to devour him in large bites, the man screaming in agony until all that was left was a heap of bones, skin and blood on the ground. The Doctor gazed around to see more of the bat creatures descending and devouring everyone that stood in the streets.

"Inside! Now!" He ordered, making everyone rush into the church as he slammed and locked the front doors shut behind him, the whole group panicking as they tried to reassure each other.

"Doctor, will we be okay?" Clara asked.

"Yes, they can't get in. The church has old windows and doors. The older something is, the stronger it is."

"Are you telling the truth or trying to reassure me?" She asked softly.

He looked at her sadly. "Why can't it be both?"

"Because it never is." She mumbled.

He sighed. "Go and check the other doors. Move!" He ordered everyone, making them rush around the church, as he went with Clara, Jackie following them.

"What's happening? What are they? What are they?" She freaked.

"There's been an accident in time, a wound in time. They're like bacteria, taking advantage."

"What do you mean, 'Time'?" What are you jabbering on about, 'Time'?"

"Oh, I might've known you'd argue." He groaned, earning a snigger from Clara. "Jackie, I'm sick of you complaining."

"How do you know my name? I've never me you in my life!"

"No, and you never will unless I sort this out. Now, if you don't mind, I have waited a long time to say this." He squared his shoulders. "Jackie Tyler! Do as I say! Go and check the doors!"

"Yes sir." She said weakly, moving off in a haste as Stuart came over.

"I should've done that ages ago." He said smugly to Clara.

"Well, now you know."

"Oi!"

"My Dad was out there." Stuart interrupted.

"You can mourn him later. Right now, we've got to concentrate on keeping ourselves alive."

"My Dad had this-"

"There is nothing that I can do for him."

"No! He had this…phone thing. I can't get it work. I keep getting this voice."

The Doctor took it with a crooked eyebrow, pressing a few buttons and holding it to his ear.

" _Watson come here. I need you."_

He smiled gleefully. "That's the very first phone call. Alexander Graham Bell." He returned to his grim state. "I don't think the telephone's going to be much use."

"But someone must've called the police." Stuart protested.

"The police can't help you now, no one can. Nothing in this universe can harm those things. Time's been damaged, and they've come to sterilise the wound…by consuming everything in sight." He said into the silent church.

"Is this because…" Rose muttered weakly, gaining his and Clara's attention. "Is this my fault?"

Clara clenched her jaw before moving away, the Doctor breathing slightly before moving after her. Clara arrived at a window to see outside, the Doctor standing beside her while Peter came up to them.

"There's smoke coming up from the city, but no sirens. I-I don't think it's just us, I think these things are all over the place, maybe the whole world."

On the street, the dull grey car appeared again before disappearing just as quickly. The Doctor and Clara exchanged a sad look.

"Was that a car?" Peter asked, looking out the window.

The Doctor gulped. "It's not important. Don't worry about it." He and Clara walked off, leaving Peter on his own to contemplate for a few moments.

* * *

***Shriek***

Rose jumped as the shadow of a creature appeared at the large window above her, writhing around for a few moments before flying away, making her sigh in relief. Despite this, the events of the day plus Clara's attitude started to bring tears of guilt to her eyes, which she wiped away as Peter entered the room.

"These mates of yours, what did they mean that this is your fault?"

"Just…everything." She said, her voice breaking slightly.

"I gave you my car keys." He said bluntly, making her gaze soften even more. "You don't give your keys to a stranger. It's like…I trusted you. From the moment I met you, I-I just did. 'A wound in time'? You called me Dad?" He approached her, her eyes pleading with him to look at her. "I can see it. My eyes and…Jackie's attitude. You sound like her when you shout." He unconsciously caressed her cheek, Rose grabbing his hand to hold it there as the tears returned. His eyes widened in realization. "You are. You're my Rose. You're my Rose, all grown up." He hugged her tightly, her tears turning into small sobs.

"Dad. My Dad." She whispered, her voice shattering. "My Daddy."

* * *

Stuart and Sarah walk up to the Doctor and Clara, who were checking on another door.

"Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs…"

"Doctor." "Clara." They said without looking.

"You two seem to know what's going on."

"We give that impression, yeah." The Doctor mumbled.

"I just wanted to ask-"

"Can you save us?" Sarah asks, making them stop to look at the two.

"Who are you two then?" Clara asks.

"Stuart Hoskins."

"Sarah Clarke."

"And one extra. Boy or girl?" The Doctor nods towards Sarah's stomach.

She rubs it softly. "I don't know. I don't want to know really. Not yet."

"How did all of this get started?"

Stuart and Sarah exchange a fond smile. "Outside the beat box club, 2:00 in the morning, on a street corner."

"I'd lost my purse and didn't have money for a taxi."

"So…I took her home."

"Then what? Asked her for a date?" The Doctor asked with raising eyebrows.

"Wrote his number on the back of my hand."

"Never got rid of her since. My Dad said…" He trails off in sadness, Sarah rubbing his shoulder reassuringly.

"Look, I don't know what this is all about. And I know we're not important."

"Who said you're not important?" The Doctor says softly, making them look at him with slight surprise. "I've travelled to all sorts of places and done things you couldn't even imagine, but…you two. Street corner, 2:00 in the morning, getting a taxi home. I've never had a life like that. Yes. We'll try and save you."

Stuart and Sarah nodded their thanks, walking off while Jackie rushes up too them with baby Rose in her arms.

"I'm so sorry, but can you look after her for a second? I've got to go and find little Rickey." Jackie said, pushing Rose into Clara's arms, missing her shocked expression as she rushed away. Clara saw the Doctor's jaw drop.

"Rickey? Jackie just called him Rickey?" He laughs gleefully, making Clara smile before she went to sit down, missing his concerned look as he followed her. "Clara? What's wrong?" She looked down at Rose, not saying anything yet tears began to prickle her eyes.

"Rose is lucky, you know." She said, her voice breaking.

"Lucky with what?" He asked gently.

"She can say goodbye to her Dad."

The Doctor looked at her sadly. "Clara, you know that it wasn't your fault."

"I know, but I wish I could've said goodbye to them."

He sat down beside her, wrapping his right arm around her, putting her head on his shoulder as she cried softly, ignoring the shrieking of the creatures outside as they rattled on the walls and doors.

* * *

Rose and Peter sat down in two chairs in silence for a moment.

"I'm a Dad. I-I mean, I'm already a Dad but, Rose grows up and…she's you. That's wonderful. I mean, I thought that you'd be a bit useless since you got my genes and all." They chuckled at his jab. "How did you get here then?"

"Do you really want to know?" Rose asked, wiping the drying tears from her face.

"Yeah."

"A time machine."

"Time machine?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Cross my heart."

"What, do you all have time machines where you come from?"

"No. Just the Doctor and Clara."

"Did you know that these things were coming?"

"No."

"God, I don't know. This is making my head spin." Peter sighed.

"That's every moment with those clowns." Rose smiled softly.

"What's the future like?"

"It's not so different."

"What am I like? Have I gone grey? Or have I gone bald?" Rose stares at him in silence, unable to come up with an answer. "Oh, don't tell me I've gotten bald." He groaned. "So, I was wondering that with these mates of yours, I'm glad I'm not Clara's Dad because I've got to say, he's a bit older than her."

"You have no idea." Rose said, making them laugh.

"Mickey!" Jackie said, making them stand as the young boy ran into the room, straight into Rose and hugging her waist as Jackie followed him in.

"Do you know him?" Peter whispered.

"I do. I just didn't recognize him in a suit." She whispered, placing her hands on his arms to remove them off her. "You have to let go of me, sweetheart." She blinked in surprise. "I'm always saying that." She mumbled.

"He just grabs hold of what's passing and holds on for dear life." Jackie groaned, taking Mickey by the hand. "God help his poor girlfriend, if he ever gets one."

"Me and Rose were just talking." Peter said.

"Oh yeah, talking? When the world comes to an end, what do you do? Cling to the youngest blonde." She spat. "Come on, Rick." She said, pulling Mickey out of the room and missing Rose's hurt look. Peter goes to follow, but Rose grabs his arm.

"You can't tell her."

"Why not?"

"I mean, I really don't want you to tell her."

"You don't want people to know?"

"Look, where I come from, Jackie doesn't know how to work the timer on the video recorder."

" _*Chuckles*_ I showed her that last week." Rose raised her eyebrows at him. "Ugh, point taken." He said as they left the room.

* * *

Rose found the Doctor and Clara looking after her young self.

"Now, Rose, you're not going to bring about the end of the world, are you?" The Doctor asks, baby Rose staring at him with wide eyes as Clara stifles a giggle. "Are you?" Rose stood by them, making them look at her. "Jackie gave her to us to look after. How times change."

"I'd better be careful. I think I just imprinted myself on Mickey like a mother chicken." Rose laughs, making them smirk. She reaches towards her baby self, but Clara grabs her arm.

"No. Don't touch the baby." She said sternly.

"What'll happen?"

"You're both the same person and that's a paradox. We don't want a paradox happening, not with these things outside. Anything new, any disturbance in time makes them stronger. The paradox might let them in." The Doctor answers for Clara, earning a look of gratitude from her.

"Can't do anything right, can I?" Rose mumbles.

"Since you ask, no. So, don't touch the baby." Clara repeated.

"I'm not stupid."

"You could've fooled me-" She cut herself off, looking down with a look of guilt. "Alright, I'm sorry. We weren't just going to leave you here."

Rose blinked at her sadly. "For a moment I thought you were."

Clara nodded weakly. "I was afraid that…I actually would've. I wasn't angry with you because you broke a rule, I was angry because I can't do what you did. I can't go back and save my parents, let alone say goodbye to them."

"I didn't mean to do that to you." Rose mumbled.

Clara gave her a sad look. "Between us, Rose, we don't have a plan. No way out."

"I'm sure you'll think of something."

The Doctor shook his head. "The entire earth's being sterilized. This and other places like it are all that's left of humanity. We might hold out for a while, but nothing can stop those creatures. They'll get through in the end. The walls aren't that old, I'm afraid and there's nothing I can do to stop them. There used to be laws stopping this kind of thing from happening. My people would've stopped this…" He trailed off sadly at the thought. "But they're all gone. And now…I'm going the same way."

"If I'd realized…" Rose mumbled weakly.

"Just…tell me you're sorry." Clara pleaded.

"I am. I'm sorry." Rose said, her voice breaking. Clara placed her hand on her cheek, Rose flinching slightly as she did.

"I'm sorry for that too." She drew Rose into a hug.

"To be honest, I actually feel sorry for him now."

"How'd you mean?"

"First Mum, now you. Am I next to slap him?" Rose quipped, making her chuckle.

"I heard that." The Doctor protested.

"I know." Rose and he exchanged a small smile before Rose frowned. "Clara? Have you got something hot?"

Clara raised her eyebrows. "I thought you weren't interested in me like that." She teased.

"No, literally, have you got something hot?" Clara looked at her with confusion as Rose searched her blazer pockets, before yelping in pain as she threw out a TARDIS key onto the floor, which was gleaming with golden light.

"It's the TARDIS key!" The Doctor said with a grin, shredding off his jacket as he knelt to pick it up. "It's telling me it's still connected to the TARDIS." He laughed, making them grin as he raced to the front of the room, Rose and Clara sitting down. "Everyone! I have a way to solve this." Everyone looked at him with confusion but still gave him their attention. "The inside of my ship was thrown out of the wound, but we can use this to bring it back. Once I've got my ship back, then I can mend everything. Now, I just need a bit of power. Has anybody got a battery?" Everyone checked around them to find nothing before Stuart shot up out of his seat.

"This one big enough?" He asked, running over to the Doctor with a phone battery.

"Fantastic." The Doctor grinned.

"Good old Dad. There you go." He handed it over, making the Doctor take out his sonic.

"It just needs to do a bit of charging up and then we can bring everyone back." As the Doctor went to work, Jackie came over to Rose and Clara.

"Sorry. Just need to take her back now." Jackie said, taking Rose out of their arms.

"It's alright. She was rather quiet." Clara said.

"She'll grow up to be a kind little madam, she'll be." Jackie smiled softly as she walked away, missing Rose's glowing smile at her words. Peter then came over to sit by them, Clara shifting slightly to give them some space.

"You, um…you never said why you came here in the first place. If I had a time machine, I wouldn't have thought 1987 was anything special. Not around here anyway." Peter said.

"We just ended up here."

"Lucky for me, eh? If you hadn't been there to save me…"

"That was just a coincidence." Rose shrugged nonchalantly. "That was just really good luck, it's amazing."

Peter nodded yet still had a gaze of uncertainty. "So, in the future…um…are me and her still together?"

"Yeah."

"Are you still living with us?"

"Well, I kind of have to. First time I met my friends, they blew up my job to save the world."

"Seriously?" Peter raised his eyebrows.

"The Doctor did." Clara inputted. "Gave him a smack after that."

"Of course, you would." Rose teased.

"Shut up." She blushed slightly, making the pair smirk before shifting into a small silence.

"Rose am I a good Dad?"

Rose looked at him, trying to figure out what to say. "You…you told me a bedtime story every night when I was small. You were always there, you never missed one. And, um…you took us for picnics in the country every Saturday. You never let us down. You were there for us all the time, someone I could really rely on."

Peter smiled sadly. "That's not me."

The groaning sound of the TARDIS engines made them look to the front of the room, where the ghost of a golden TARDIS appeared, the Doctor look at it with a grin as he put his jacket back on.

"Right, no one touches that key. Have you got that? Don't touch it. Anyone touches that key, it'll be…well…zap! Just leave it be and everything will be fine. We'll get out of here, all of us. Stuart, Sarah." The two perked up slightly. "You're going to get married, just like I said. Just give it one hour and everyone will come back." Everyone nodded at him, despite some bewildered looks.

* * *

Fifty minutes later, the Doctor beside Clara with an arm around her as everyone murmured amongst themselves, mainly in comforting reassurance.

"Doctor?" Clara asked, making him look at her. "If someone or something did touch that, what would happen to them?"

"They would die." He said grimly, making her blink. "And we only get one shot at this, if it did get touched, the connection to the TARDIS would be cut off." She nodded, leaning her head into his embrace.

"When time gets sorted out…" Rose started to ask.

"Everybody here forgets what happened." The Doctor finished. "And don't worry, the thing that you changed will stay changed."

"You mean I'll still be alive." Peter said on a seat behind them, making them look at him. "Though I'm meant to be dead. That's why I haven't done anything with my life, why I didn't mean anything."

"It doesn't work like that-"

"Rubbish." Peter scoffed, cutting the Doctor off. "I'm so useless, I couldn't even die properly. Now it's my fault all of this has happened."

"This is my fault." Rose protested.

"No, love. I'm your Dad. It's my job for it to be my fault."

"Her Dad?" Jackie asked, none of them noticing that she moved over to them. "How are you her Dad? How old were you, 12? Oh, that's disgusting." The Doctor felt Clara groan into him, making him place a hand over her ear, feeling a small smile on her face.

"Jacks, listen. This is Rose." Peter said, standing up beside her.

"Rose? How sick is that? Did you give my daughter a second-hand name? How many are there? Do you call them all Rose?"

"Oh, for god's sake, look! It's the same Rose." Peter said, taking baby Rose out of Jackie's arms and into Rose's.

"Rose, no!" The Doctor yelled, untangling himself from Clara to stop her but too late.

***Shriek***

Everyone screamed as one of the creatures appeared in the room.

"Everyone! Behind me!" The Doctor called, making them rush behind him in a huddle, Clara by his side as they all gazed at the creature, who glared down at them hungrily. "I'm the oldest thing in here."

"No, you don't." Clara growled as the creature hinged its jaws, shoving the Doctor over onto the chairs, the creature flying down and devouring her whole.

"Clara!" He screamed as the creature flew upwards, before spinning around and-

***Shriek***

This scream was of agony as it flew into the materialising TARDIS, which along with the creature disappeared, leaving behind the key, now no longer glowing with golden light as the Doctor rushed over to pick it up.

"Clara." He mumbled in shock. "Please, no."

Rose and Peter walked slowly over to him. "Doctor?" She asked, her voice in shock at the death of her friend.

"This is your fault." He mumbled.

"I'm sorry?"

"This is your fault!" He roared, making her flinch. "Everything that has happened, it's all your fault!" Rose blinked as she saw tears starting to flow from his eyes. "And…and now she's…she's dead. Not again. Not again." He fell to his knees, struggling to contain his sobs. "She can't be. Not again." Rose knelt beside him and hugged him, as he sobbed into her shoulder. "She can't be, Rose. She can't be."

Peter looked at them sadly before moving to look out of the window, seeing the dull grey car appear and disappear again. He looks at it for a moment before realization creeps into him.

* * *

Peter, now dressed in his suit again, walks over to the Doctor and Rose, who were loosely hugging each other as the Doctor stared down at the floor, tears still in his eyes.

"You love her, don't you?" Peter asked him.

"Clara's just a-"

"Enough with the shit, alright?" Peter snapped. "I'm married, so I know when I see two people in love. And don't get me started on how you look at her, or how she looks at you. Just promise me one thing: Don't let each other go. Not ever."

The Doctor looked at him with slight confusion. "Why do you ask?"

"Tell me I'm wrong, Doctor. That car outside." His eyes softened as Peter's words hit him.

"Dad…what're you talking about?" Rose asked.

"The car that should've killed me, love. It's still here. You figured it out way back, didn't you, Doctor? You and Clara?" He nodded. "Well…I thank you for trying to give me another chance, but I'm afraid my time is up."

"You can't." Rose said, her voice breaking.

"Who am I, love?" Peter asked softly, placing his hands-on Rose's face.

"My Daddy." She said, trying to contain her sobs as Jackie came over.

"Jackie, look at her. She's ours." Jackie then looked at her for a few, long moments before her eyes widened.

"Oh my god." She breathed, wrapping Rose in a hug, before pulling away to look at Peter.

"I'm meant to be dead, Jackie. You're going to get rid of me at last."

"Please don't say that." Jackie said, her voice breaking too.

"For once in your life, trust me. It's got to be done. You've got to survive because you've got to bring up our daughter. Please, Jacks, trust me." He implored, making her nod as they drew into a farewell kiss. "I never read you those bedtime stories and I never took you on those picnics. I was never there for you."

"You would've been." Rose sobbed.

"But I can do this for you. Just for once, I can be a proper Dad."

"But it's not fair."

"I've had all these extra hours. No one else in the world has ever had that. And on top of that, I get to see you…and you're beautiful. How lucky am I, eh? I'm proud of you, Rose. Remember that. So, come on. Do as your Dad say." Rose grabbed the vase and handing it to him. "Are you going to be there for me, love?" She nodded. "Thanks for saving me." He drew her into a hug, before moving to stand in front of the Doctor. "Now, you still have to agree. Don't let go of Clara, okay? Never let go of her."

"Alright then." The Doctor said sadly, before shaking his hand. "You're a good man, Peter. It was a pleasure to meet you."

"It was a pleasure to meet you, too. And say goodbye to Clara for me."

"I will."

"And don't you ever dare let her go, or I will come back for you." He quipped lightly, making the Doctor grin.

"I won't."

Peter opened the front doors before looking at Jackie. "I love you, Jacks."

"I love you too, Pete." She mumbled sadly as he ran out of the building. Looking above him, he saw the creatures stopping their assault on the church, turning their bloodhungry gaze onto him, before he sprinted to the street corner and out onto the road, as the car appeared in front of him.

"Goodbye, love." He closed his eyes and breathed out as the car slammed into him, the sudden impact causing his bones to shatter and bruise. On this, the creatures all let out a shriek in unison as they disappeared, causing everyone who had been killed by them to reappear in the spot they died. The Doctor and Rose exited the church to see Peter's broken body on the road, before Rose felt a small hand on her shoulder, turning to see Clara standing there.

"Go to him." She said softly, her voice making the Doctor look at her with gleaming relief as Rose ran out to her Dad.

"You're okay. You're alive." He mumbled, drawing her into a tight hug.

"Don't worry about me." Instead of a usual, playful retort, the Doctor drew back slightly and cup her face in one hand.

"It was you, wasn't it?"

"What'd you mean?"

"That night, in the barn." Clara looked at him with wide eyes.

"I thought I told you not to look where we'd been."

"I didn't, nor did I have to. It was you." She gave him a sad smile.

"I just saw a little boy who needed help."

He smiled, before drawing her into a hug again. "Don't ever do that again, you hear me?"

Clara chuckled lightly. "Yes boss." She mumbled into his chest. Everyone that had been standing in the church had come out in confusion, before their gaze turned upon Peter's body, whose hand was being held by Rose. The Doctor and Clara walked over to her, as she gazed at him in adoration while he drew his final breaths. Rose then placed a kiss on Peter's forehead, before standing up to see the Doctor and Clara standing before her, giving her a soft, sad look. Clara held out her hand, which Rose took.

"You alright now?" She asked.

"Not sure." Rose mumbled. "You two alright?"

They exchanged a fond smile. "Yeah, we're alright. Come on, let's go." She said, leading them off to the TARDIS in comfortable silence.


	19. The Empty Child

The TARDIS rocked violently as they sped through the Time Vortex, Rose and Clara struggling to maintain a grip on the railing as the Doctor raced around the console.

"What's the emergency?" Rose asked.

"It's mauve."

"Mauve?" Clara asked.

"Universally recognized colour for danger."

"What happened to red?"

"That's just Humans. By everyone else's standards, red's camp. Oh, the misunderstandings. All those red alerts when its just dancing. Now, this ship we're following has a very basic flight computer, so I've hacked in, slaved the TARDIS to it. Wherever it goes, we go."

"And that's safe, right?"

"Totally." He flicked a lever, causing the console to spark violently, making them yelp in shock and he winced in pain as it burned his hand. "Okay, reasonably. I should've said reasonably there." On the monitor, the round capsule they followed sped ahead of them and out of sight. "No, no, no, no! It's jumping time tracks, getting away from us."

"What exactly is this thing?" Rose asked.

"No idea."

"So, why're we chasing it?"

"It's mauve, dangerous and about thirty seconds from the centre of London."

Clara rolled her eyes. "What is it with aliens hanging about London? Is there a London party or a London fetish we don't know about?"

"Oi! Don't say that to them, Clara! They'd find that offensive!" He admonished.

* * *

The TARDIS materialised in a small, back alleyway, drenched in the cold of night, the only light source being the moon hanging in the cloudless sky. The trio then stepped out of the TARDIS.

"You know how long you can knock around space without happening to bump into Earth?"

"Five days? And that's when Clara wants to go back home. Or is it when we're out of milk?"

He groaned. "Of all the species in the universe and it has to come out of a cow?" They glanced around before starting down the alleyway. "It must've come down somewhere close. Within a mile anyway, and it couldn't have been more than a few weeks, maybe a month."

"A month? We were right behind it." Rose said, raising her eyebrows at him.

"It was jumping time tracks all over the place, we're bound to be a little bit out. Do you want to drive?" He whined.

"Not really. Clara's the better driver, between you two."

"No, she's not."

"Yes, I am. You completely forgot about the blue stabilizers." Clara interjected.

"There isn't any blue stabilizers."

Clara rolled her eyes at that. "Hold on, how much is a little?"

"A bit."

"Is that exactly a bit?"

"Ish."

"So, what's the plan then? You going to do a scan for alien tech or something?" Rose asked.

"Rose, it hit the middle of London with a very loud bang. I'm going to ask." He said, pulling out the psychic paper, sending Clara a grin.

"Dr. John Smith, Ministry of Asteroids." Rose read.

"It's psychic paper. It tells you what-"

"Whatever you want it to say, I know."

He breathed. "Sorry." They reached a small, blue door, like an emergency, back exit, hearing the muffled sounds of music and laughter.

"It's not very Spock, is it? Just asking."

"What is it with you and Spock?" Clara asked, making Rose shrug.

"What can I say? I like Spock."

The Doctor leaned against the door. "Door, music, people. What do you think?" He asked, pulling out his sonic to unlock the door.

"I think you should do a scan for alien tech. Give me some Spock, for once. Would it kill ya?"

"You sure about that t-shirt?" He asked, nodding to her union jack shirt she had on.

"Too early to say, I'm taking it for a spin. Besides, you two can talk: Mr. U-boat captain and Mrs. English teacher."

"Oi! I like this jumper." Clara whined, pulling her grey jumper down slightly.

" _ **Mummy."**_  Rose turned to look back down the alleyway.  _ **"Mummy."**_

_*Clicks*_

"Come on, if you're coming. We won't take a minute." The Doctor said as he opened the door and motioned Clara in first.

"Ladies first." She quipped.

"I'm holding that against you, missy." He warned before they entered in. Rose ignored them as she backed down the alleyway, looking up to see a small, brown haired child in a gas mask standing on a roof.

" **Mummy."**

"Doctor? Clara? There's a kid up there!" She called but received no answer.

* * *

Walking through a hallway, they saw a waiter carrying a tray of champagne glasses through an open door, hearing music float around them.

"It's rather old school music, eh?" Clara asked, making him shrug as they walked through, see a crowed room, with people sitting at tables, smoking cigarettes and drinking champagne while a woman with a band stood on a stage in the front of the room. Clara noticed a small poster on the wall, saying 'Hitler will send no warning!'. This made her bit her lip, knowing how ridiculous the Doctor will look. "Okay then, you can ask the question this time."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "You sure?"

"Yep." She nodded, hoping he wouldn't notice her devilish smirk. He shrugged obliviously as they waited for the woman to finish singing.

_For nobody else_

_Gave me the thrill_

_With all your faults_

_I love you still_

_It had to be you_

_Wonderful you_

_It had to be you_

Everyone, including the Doctor and Clara clapped their hands appreciatively as the song ended, before he moved up and onto the stage.

"Excuse me! Excuse me! Could I have your attention for just a moment, please? I'll be very quick…hello." He waved with a grin, as they looked at him with some confusion. "Um…it might seem like a stupid question, but has anything fallen from the sky recently?" Everyone looked at each other with raised eyebrows, before they burst into laughter. Clara hid hers behind her hand, still hoping he wouldn't notice.

* * *

Rose reached the roof, seeing the child standing on a large, steel container, looking down at her with empty eyes.

" **Mummy."**

"Okay, hang on. Don't move." Rose called, looking for a way up before a rope appeared suddenly, making her jump a bit as she grabbed it. She looked up in confusion but couldn't find where it came from the dark sky. Using the rope, she hoisted her legs up, placing them on the container wall as she began to scale up.

* * *

"Sorry, have I said something funny? It's just, there's this thing that I need to find. It would've fallen from the sky a month ago." The Doctor said with raised eyebrows in slight offense. At that moment, a loud air raid siren started to blare, making everyone stop laughing as they took one last gulp of their drinks or one last puff of smoke before they started to rush out of the room. "It would've landed quite near here…" He looked up in confusion. "With a very loud-"

"Come on, everyone. Quickly as you can, down to the shelter." A waiter called, making the Doctor's eyes widen as he looked over to the wall, seeing the poster.

"Bang." He slouched his shoulders for a moment before turning to glare at Clara, striding over to her as she let her laughter burst. "You knew?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"You should've seen your face!" She giggled. "You looked so ridiculous!"

He rolled his eyes. "Come on then, missy. Let's find Rose."

* * *

Rose struggled as she continued to climb the container, her hands starting to bruise and burn from grasping the rope.

" **Mummy? Balloon."**  The child pointed up into the sky. Now Rose could see the source of the rope, being a barrage balloon that was starting to move away, carrying her with it.

"Oh, god!" She gasped, grasping tighter onto the rope as she struggled to stay still, while the rope carried her away from the roof and slowly towards the Thames and Big Ben. "Doctor! Clara!" She called fruitlessly as the air raid sirens began to blare out, with spotlights being shined into the sky, showing the distance a mass group of planes beginning to fly towards her, bombs being dropped and exploding on whatever it hit as they went. "Okay. Maybe not this t-shirt." She quipped lightly to herself as the airplanes engines roared louder, the sound hurting her ears as they grew closer.

* * *

"Rose!" The Doctor called as he and Clara raced back up the alleyway.

"Rose! Where are you?!" They reached the TARDIS, looking around frantically, with no sign of their friend.

_*Meow*_

Clara melted slightly at the sight of a cat, moving to pick him up out of his comfort spot and starting to cuddle him, making the Doctor smirk.

"One day, Clara. Just one day we'll meet someone who gets the whole 'Don't wander off thing.' Over nine hundred years of phone box travel, that's one of the few things left that can surprise me."

"So, me pick pocketing your things doesn't surprise you anymore?" She asked with large, puppy dog eyes.

"I can't tell if that's endearing or annoying." He smirked at her, before gulping as he found himself get weak at her expression. "Although…I'm sure you can still surprise me." He said, making her smile at him. The TARDIS phone then started to ring, making them look at it in confusion.

"Sorry, dear." Clara said sadly as she put the cat down before they moved to the TARDIS, the Doctor opening the phone latch.

"You've got your phone on you, right?" The Doctor asked her.

She pulled it out. "Yeah. So, it's not me ringing."

"And Rose doesn't have the number either. So how can it be ringing? Unless its that pretty boy you mentioned." He grumbled.

She raised her eyebrows at him. "Are you jealous?"

"No!" He denied with a blush, inwardly cursing at himself as she smirked at him.

"Your jealous."

"I'm not jealous. I'm just wondering how this could be ringing. I mean, what else am I supposed to do with a ringing phone?" He reached for it.

"Don't answer it. It's not for you." They turned to see a young, black haired girl in her early twenties looking at them.

"And how do you know that?" He asked.

"Cause I do, and I'm telling ya. Don't answer it." The Girl said sternly.

"If you know so much, tell us this. How can it be ringing?" Clara asked, both turning back to the TARDIS. "It shouldn't even work but doofus keeps forgetting to-" She turns around to see the girl not there anymore. "Reconnect it back to the console unit." She finishes with slight uncertainty as they exchange a confused look. The Doctor, with slight trepidation, grabbed the phone and held it to his ear, Clara leaning in to listen.

"Hello?" Silence. "This is the Doctor speaking." Silence. "How may I help you?"

" _ **Mummy? Mummy?"**_  They both shared a cold shiver down their spines at the sound of a child's empty voice.

"Who is this? Who's speaking?"

" _ **Are you my Mummy?"**_

"Who is this?"

" _ **Mummy!"**_

"How did you ring here? How did you get this number? This isn't even supposed to be a real phone-"

" _ **Mummy?!"**_  The dial tone followed, making him put the phone back before knocking on the TARDIS lightly.

"Rose? Rose are you in there?" They both exchanged worried looks at the silence that followed, before rushing out of the alleyway, finding themselves by a brick wall outside a house. They heard the door slam open, making them hop on the nearby trash cans to peek over.

"The planes are coming! Can't you hear 'em?! Into the shelter! No, I'm not having any of your nonsense, now move it!" They saw a mother ushering her child inside a shelter, before she looked back at the house, seeing the father move out with his hands in his pockets and an aggravated expression on his face. "Arthur! Arthur, will you hurry up?! Didn't you hear the siren?!"

"Middle of dinner, every night. Bloomin' Germans. Don't they eat?!" Arthur groaned, making the Doctor and Clara snigger at his words.

"Aghh, hurry up! I can hear the planes!"

"Don't you eat?!"

"Keep your voice down will ya?! It's an air raid!" She ushered him into the shelter, closing the door behind them, their muffled voices still bickering inside as the planes roared above them. Beside the shed, the girl from earlier popped out, walking cautiously towards the house, missing the furrowed looks of the TARDIS pair.

* * *

Inside a large mansion, filled with the sounds of people chattering and drinking, a soldier walks out onto the balcony to see a man dressed in a long, dark coat looking out towards the sky with binoculars.

"Get those lights out, please! Everyone down to the shelter!" Some calls, making everyone rush about.

"Jack? Are you going down to the shelter?" The soldier asked. "Blimey, I've got to go off for some damn silly guard duty." He looks out to see what Jack was looking at, a distant barrage balloon. However, he didn't see Rose dangling on the rope. "Ah, barrage balloon, eh? Must've come loose, it happens now and then. Don't you R.A.F boys use them for target practice?"

"Excellent bottom." Jack says.

The soldier blinked incredulously. "I say, old man. There's a time and a place. Look, we should really be off."

Jack turned to look at him with a wolfish grin. "Sorry, old man. I've got to go meet a girl. But don't worry, you've got an excellent bottom too." He winked before smacking his ass and walking off, knowing the soldier was blushing with a shy smile.

* * *

The girl was rummaging through the large house's pantry, packing a lot of their food into a large bag she carried with her. She then walked to the front door but paused, moving backwards to peer into the dining room, the table within as covered in a large, family roast dinner. This made her smile as she opened the door before whistling three times in succession, then moving into the dining room and removing her large coat. She smirked as a pair of rushing footsteps was heard outside, before she grabbed the utensils to continue carving the meat as a pair of teenage boys came into the room.

"Many kids out there?" She asked.

"Yes Miss." One said. They rushed to the table.

"Ah-ah-ah! I'm still carving!" She admonished, making them blush in embarrassment. "Sit and wait." She ordered, making them sit down at the large table with a small groan. "We've got the whole air raid."

"Look at that." One marvelled at the food. "I bet it's off the black market."

"That's enough." She admonished with a gentle smile.

* * *

Rose felt her anxiety increase by the second. The sweat in the palms of her hands made it increasingly difficult for her to keep a grip on the rope as it started to slide away, finding herself getting closer to the end of the rope. Until…

"Aaah!" She screamed in terror as she lost grip on the rope, falling downwards to the ground, the only thing to catch her being the buildings beneath. She screamed and screamed until she stopped, finding herself not falling but just…hovering. Hovering in mid-air, with a bright, blue light circling around her.

" _ **It's okay! It's okay! I've got you."**_  Jack's voice rang out of the air, making her look around, still with fear in her nerves.

"Who's got me? Who's got me and…you know…how?"

" _ **I'm just programming your descend pattern. Stay as still as you can and keep your hands and feet inside the light field."**_

"Descent pattern?"

" _ **Oh, and can you please switch off your cell phone?"**_

" _*Scoffs*_ What?"

" _ **No, seriously, it interferes with my instruments."**_

"You know, no one ever believes that." She huffed, pulling out her phone and turning it off.

" _ **Thank you. That's much better."**_

"Oh yeah, that's a real load off, that is! I'm hanging in the sky in the middle of a German air raid with a union jack across my chest, but hey! My mobile phone's off!" She ranted. She blinked as she heard him chuckling.

" _ **Be with you in a moment."**_

She looked around, waving her arms up in exasperation. "What am I supposed to do for a moment?" She mumbled, deciding to take in the scenery. "It would be a nice view, if it wasn't…you know…the London Blitz." She shook her head at herself. "Stop it Rose, you're talking to yourself."

" _ **Ready for you. Hold tight."**_

"To what?!"

"… _ **.Fair point."**_  Suddenly, almost like a water slide, she started to fly down the light shaft, her speed increasing as she went, making her squeal as she got closer and closer to the end…

"I got you. You're fine. You're just fine." Jack said, as she was somehow caught in his arms. "The tractor beam, it can scramble your head a little."

She glanced at his face.  _Blimey, he's good looking. No, stop it, Rose!_  Her face burned from her inner thoughts. "Hello." She breathed.

"Hello."

"Hello." He furrowed his eyebrows at her, making her blush intensify, now from embarrassment. "Sorry, that was hello twice there. Dull, but you know, thorough."

"Are you okay?"

"Fine." He set her back on her legs, however she couldn't take in her surroundings as her vision started to blur. "Why, are you expecting me to faint or something?" She asked, her feet starting to wobble as her speech started to slur.

"You look a little dizzy." Jack said, holding his arms out a bit to catch her again, knowing what's coming.

"What about you? You're not even in focus." She chuckled before rolling her eyes back as she lost consciousness, falling again into Jack's arms. He shook his head with a sigh before picking her up and placing her in a bed compartment.

* * *

"It's got to be black market. He didn't get all this on coupons." The oldest kid at the table said, which was now packed with many other kids, both boy and girl.

"Ernie. How many times? We are guests in this house and we will not make comments of that kind. Washing up." The girl admonished as she finished carving.

Everyone at the table laughed at him. "Nancy!" He groaned.

She looked at the kid beside her. "I haven't seen you at one of these before."

"He told me about it." He mumbled shyly.

"You sleeping rough?" She asked softly.

"Yes Miss."

She gave him a gentle smile before nodding. "Alright then." She picked up the large plate, covered in meat slices and passed it around, the kids breathing a sigh of amazement. "One slice each! And I want to see everyone chewing properly!" She ordered above the noise.

"Thank you, Miss."

Ernie reached over and grabbed the plate, making the next kid give him a 'Seriously?' look. "Thank you, Miss."

"Thank you, Miss."

"Thank you, Miss." The Doctor's voice rang, making everyone gasp as they shot out of their seat, Clara chuckling beside him.

"It's all right. Everybody stay where they are." Nancy ordered, making them calm down.

"It's good here, isn't 'it? Who's got the salt?"

"Back in your seats. You two shouldn't be here." Nancy glared at them slightly, but they merely smirked at her as the kids got back in their chairs.

"So, you lot. What's the story?"

"What do you mean?" Ernie asked.

"You're homeless, right? Living rough?"

"Why do you want to know that?" Another kid asked. "Are you two coppers?"

"Of course, we're not coppers. What're coppers going to do to you lot anyway? Arrest you for starving?" Clara quipped, making them laugh and Nancy smile.

The Doctor checked his watch, furrowing his eyebrows slightly. "I make it 1941. You lot shouldn't even be in London. You should've been evacuated to the country by now."

"I was evacuated. Sent me to a farm." One kid said.

"So, why'd you come back?"

"There was a man there." He mumbled, making Clara clench her jaw slightly. The Doctor took her hand and rubbed his thumb on it, calming her.

"Yeah, same with Ernie, two homes ago." Another interjected.

"Shut up. It's better on the streets anyway. There's better food." Ernie said.

"Yeah. Nancy always gets the best food for us."

"So that's what you do, is it Nancy?" The Doctor asked, him and Clara giving her a small smile.

"What is?" She asked.

"As soon as the sirens go, you find a big, fat, family meal, still warm on the table with everyone down in the air raid shelter and bingo! Feeding frenzy for the homeless kids of London town, puddings for all…as long as the bombs don't get you."

"Something wrong with that?"

"Wrong with it? It's brilliant. Still, I'm not sure if it's Marxism in action or a West End musical." Everyone blinked at him. Clara then slapped the back of his head, making their eyes widen. "Ow! What was that for?"

"They don't get it yet." She said bluntly.

He gulped in embarrassment. "Oh." The kids sniggered at their exchange.

"Why'd you follow me? What do you want?" Nancy asked, trying to hide her smile at their behaviour.

"I want to know how a phone gets a phone call when the only people with said phone's number is standing by said phone." The Doctor said.

"The phone book?" A kid asked.

"What? No, not that." The Doctor shook his head, making Clara chuckle. "Watch it, missy."

"I'm sorry?"

"I said, watch it missy."

"And no flirting in front of the kids." Nancy admonished, making the kids laugh at them.

"We weren't flirting." They blushed.

"Oh, and we want to find a blonde in a union jack. I mean a specific one. We didn't just wake up this morning with a craving." The kids laughed again, making Nancy look at them incredulously. "Anybody seen a girl like that-" Nancy was suddenly by their side, taking the Doctor's plate from him. "What've I done wrong?"

"You took two slices, and you didn't share with your missus." The kids laughed at their blushing again. "No blondes and no flags. Anything else before you leave?"

"There is actually, thanks for asking." The Doctor said, pulling out a pencil and notepad. "Something we've been looking for, it would've fallen from the sky about a month ago, but not a bomb. Not the usual kind, anyway and it wouldn't have exploded. Probably just buried itself in the ground somewhere and it would've looked something like…this." He said, holding up a drawing of the capsule they were following. They noticed Nancy shiver, but not in fear.

***Knock* *Knock* *Knock***

" **Mummy?"**  Everyone gasped, their eyes widening in shock as Clara got up and pulled back the curtain, seeing a kid with a gas mask standing outside, looking at them with his empty eyes.

***Knock* *Knock* *Knock***

" **Are you in there, Mummy? Mummy?"**

"Who was the last one in?" Nancy asked, her voice now laced with fear.

"Them." Ernie pointed to the duo.

"No, they came through the back. Who came through the front?"

"Me." The kid who sat beside her mumbled.

"Did you close the door?"

"I-"

"Did you close the door?" He shook his head.

" **Mummy? Mummy?"**  Nancy then raced towards the front door, the silhouette of the child outside growing closer.  **"Mummy."** Slamming the door shut, she bolted the locks.

"What's this, then?" Clara asked, making Nancy jump as she and the Doctor stood watching with confusion.

"It's never easy being the only child left out in the cold, you know." The Doctor said.

"I suppose you'd know."

He looked at her sadly, making Clara grasp his hand. "I do actually, yes."

Nancy gulped. "It's not exactly a child."

" **Mummy."**  She raced back inside and got her coat back on.

"Everybody out, across the back garden, under the fence." The kids blinked at her. "Now! Come on, move!" Everyone then rushed out of the room, taking their belongings with them, while one kid sat looking at Nancy with terror in her eyes. "Come on, baby, we've got to go, all right? It's just like a game, just like chasing." She nodded, jumping out of the seat. "Take your coat, go on." She did, rushing to the door, looking back at Nancy with wide eyes. "Go!"

" **Mummy? Mummy? Please let me in, Mummy."**  The gas mask kid reached his hand through the letterbox, showing a large, red scar on the back of his hand.  **"Please let me in, Mummy."**

"Are you, all right?" Clara asked.

" **Please let me in."**

***Smash***

They jumped at the remains of a vase smashed at the door, making the kid recoil his hand out as they turned to look at Nancy.

"You mustn't let him touch ya!"

"What happens if he touches us?"

"He'll make you like him."

"And what's he like?"

She hesitated. "I've got to go."

"Nancy. What's he like?" The Doctor asked.

She looked at them sadly. "He's empty."

_*Rings*_

They looked at the phone beside them with slightly wide eyes.

"It's him. He can make phones ring, he can. Just like with that police box you saw."

The Doctor grabbed the phone and held it to his ear.

" _ **Are you my Mummy-"**_  Nancy took it off and placed it back down.

The radio turned on in the living room, blaring music and making them rush inside. _ **"Mummy? Mummy. Please let me in, Mummy."**_ A toy monkey with a speaker then started its drums in tune with the child.  _ **"Mum-my. Mum-my. Mum-my. Mum-my. Mum-my. Mum-my."**_

"You stay here if you want to." Nancy rushed out, making them move after her before they heard the rattling of the front door, the kid once again reaching his hand through.

" **Mummy? Let me in please, Mummy. Please let me in."**

"Your Mummy isn't here." Clara said.

The devices inside switched off, making them exchange a small glance. "Are you my Mummy?"

"No mummies here. Nobody here but us chickens." The Doctor said with a grin, before glancing behind them. "Well…these chickens." Clara smirked softly.

" **I'm scared."**

Clara's eyes gleamed pity despite her furrowed eyebrows. "Why are those other children frightened of you?"

" **Please let me in, Mummy. I'm scared of the bombs."**

The two exchanged a long, soft look before nodding. "Okay. We're opening the door now."

The kid silently took his hand out as they unlocked the door, before grasping the handle and opening only to find…nothing. Their eyes widened as they stepped outside, trying to find the kid but couldn't see a sign, even in the darkness of night. The Doctor looked at Clara, who still had the sad look in her eyes.

"You alright?" He asked, taking her hand.

"He just…he seems like…" She struggled to get the words out.

"Like a scared little boy who wants his Mummy." He finished for her. She nodded, leaning her head into him as he stroked her hair.

"Doctor? What happened to your hand?" She asked, referring to the burn.

"The console spark when we landed." He said simply.

She grabbed it and kissed it, making him wince slightly but still giving her a soft smile.

* * *

Rose got out of the bed compartment, squinting as she struggled to see her surroundings, despite a few low lights.

"Better now?" Jack asked.

She glanced around, trying to look for him. "You got lights in here?"

"Oh. Sorry." He mumbled, flicking a few switches. The lights came on, making Rose squint for a second. She then saw the interior of a spaceship, yet it was rather packed and strewn with wires, metal and lights, which gave a low, red hue. She then saw Jack sitting on the captain's chair, looking at her expectantly. "Hello."

"Hello."

"Hello."

She shook her head. "Let's not start that again." They laughed.

"Fair enough." He nodded.

"So…who are you supposed to be, then?"

"Captain Jack Harkness." He said, pulling out a leather wallet. "133 Squadron, Royal Air Force and American volunteer." He handed it to her, yet she put her tongue in her teeth as the paper was far too plain for an ID.

"Liar." He blinked. "This is psychic paper. It tells me whatever you want it to tell me."

He sat back. "How do you know?" He asked.

"Two things. One: I have a friend that uses this all the time."

He nodded. "Ah."

"And Two: You just handed me a piece of paper telling me your single and you work out."

He grinned. "Tricky thing, psychic paper."

"Yep. Can't let your mind wander when your handing it over." She passed it back to him.

He checked and somehow, his grin got bigger and more wolfish. "Oh. You sort of have a boyfriend called Mickey Smith, but you consider yourself to be footloose and fancy free."

" _*Scoffs*_ What?" She blushed slightly.

"Actually, the word to use is: Available."

"No way."

"And another one: Very."

"Shall we…uh…try to get along without the psychic paper?"

"That would be better, wouldn't it?" He said, getting out of his chair with a groan as she checked around, nodding as she did.

"Nice spaceship."

He shrugged. "It gets me around."

"Its…very…Spock."

He blinked. "Who?"

She shook her head.  _How does he not know who Spock is?!_  "I'm guessing you're not a local boy, then."

He pressed a few buttons on his wrist pad, which beeped for a few moments before he nodded. "A Cell phone, liquid-crystal watch and fabrics that won't be around for at least another two decades. Guessing you're not a local girl."

She nodded. "Guessing right." She reached for the chair and grasped before pulling back with a wince, checking her hands to see a lot of cuts and bruises.

"Burn your hands on the rope?"

"Yeah." She looked outside to see that they were a few miles above the ground. "We're parked in mid-air! Can't anyone see us?"

"No, we're invisible."

She blinked. "Oh."

"Yeah. Can I have a look at your hands for a moment?"

"Why?" She asked.

"Please?" He implored, making her sigh and hold them out. He took out a small scanner and ran it over her hands, being careful not to touch. "You can stop acting now. I know exactly who you are. I can spot a Time Agent a mile away."

She blinked, holding back a snigger. "Time Agent?"

"I've been expecting one of you guys to show up. Though not, I must say, by barrage balloon. Do you often travel that way?"

"Sometimes I get swept off my feet." She blushed at her words. "B-By balloons." He took a red scarf from around his neck and gently wrapped it around her wrists. "What're you doing?"

"Try to keep still." When he finished, he leaned over and flicked a few switches. Then a small cloud of golden lights appeared in her hands, suddenly making them feel warm as she felt the pain go away, making her giggle in wonder. "Nanogenes. Subatomic robots. The air in here is full of them." He flicked a switch, making them disappear and leaving her hands completely fine again. "They just repaired three layers of your skin." He took the scarf of her wrists and put it around his neck again.

"Well…tell them thanks." She smiled, marvelling at her fixed hands.

He clicked his tongue and winked before grabbing a champagne bottle. "Shall we get down to business?"

She blinked, but more at the champagne. "Business?"

"Shall we have a drink on the balcony?" He pressed a button, which lowered a ramp to the outside, bringing back in some of the chilly, night air, grabbing two glasses and motioning her to follow him. Outside, her eyes widened as she saw the ground beneath them, yet they seemed to hover in the air, feeling something hard under her feet.

"Okay. I know I'm standing on something." Rose chuckled lightly.

Jack pulled out the small device and flicked the switch, causing a shimmer to appear beneath them and revealing the roof of a large ship, tethered to the side of Big Ben.

"Okay…you have an invisible spaceship…"

"Yeah."

"Tethered up to Big Ben…for some reason."

"First rule of active camouflage: Always remember where you parked. Big Ben just makes it more fun." He smirked.

***Pop***

Rose jumped as the champagne cork flew off into the night.

"Woah!" Jack said, laughing as he did before he poured their glasses.

* * *

Nancy walked through the night, looking around her anxiously as she passed through fences and over train tracks until she came to a small hideout, making her give a small sigh of relief. She entered, placing her new acquired food in the storage before standing up and jumping at the sight of the Doctor and Clara standing there with a smirk on their faces.

"How'd you follow me here?"

"We're good at following, us." The Doctor said. "I've got the nose for it."

"People can't follow me if I don't want them to."

"My nose has special powers."

Nancy smirked. "Yeah? That's why it's…uh…"

"What?"

"Nothing."

"What?"

"Nothing." She thought for a moment. "Do your ears have special powers too?"

Clara sniggered beside him. What're you trying to say?"

"Good night, Mister." She turned to leave.

"Nancy." She gave a sigh but decided to listen. "There's something chasing you and the other kids. Looks like a boy but it isn't a boy and it started about a month ago, right?" She squinted her eyes at them, making the Doctor crook and eyebrow. "The thing we're looking for. The thing that fell from the sky, that's when it landed. And you know what I'm talking about, don't you?"

She nodded. "There was a bomb. A bomb that wasn't a bomb. Fell the other end of Limehouse Green Station."

"Take us there."

She shook her head. "There's soldiers guarding it, barbed wire, you'll never get through."

"Try us." Clara said smugly, making him snigger.

"You sure you want to know what's going on in there?"

"We really want to know."

"Then there's someone you need to talk to first."

"And who might that be?"

"The doctor." He furrowed his eyebrows before Clara leaned over.

"She was meaning A doctor." She whispered.

"Ah."

* * *

"You know, it's getting a bit late. I should really be getting back." Rose shook her head as Jack offered to pour her another glass.

"We're discussing business."

She giggled, some of the champagne getting to her head. "This isn't business. This is champagne."

"I try never to discuss business with a clear head." He downed another glass before setting down and standing up with her. "Are you traveling alone? Are you authorized to negotiate with me?"

"What would we be negotiating?"

"I have something for the Time Agency. Something they'd like to buy. Are you empowered to make payment?"

"Well, I-I should talk to my…companions."

"Companions?"

"I should really be getting back to them. Do you have the time?" Jack shook his head before pulling out the device and flicked it, flaring up Big Ben as it chimed. "Okay. That was flash." Rose giggled. "That was on the flash side."

"So…when you say your 'Companions', just how disappointed should I be?" Jack asked, putting his hands on her waist, hitching her breath.

"Okay, we're standing in mid-air…"

"Mmm."

"On a spaceship during a German air raid…" He took one hand and raised it to his lips. "Do you really think now's a good time to be coming on to me?"

Jack nodded. "Perhaps not." He said, patting her hand before letting it go.

"Well, it was just a suggestion." She blurted with a small blush.

"Do you like Glenn Miller?" He asked before flicking a switch, Moonlight Serenade playing inside the spaceship for them. He held out his arms, she accepted, and they took each other in a dancer embrace. "It's 1941, height of the London Blitz, the height of the German bombing campaign, but something else has fallen on London. A fully equipped Chula warship, the last one in existence, armed to the teeth and…I know where it is, because I parked it. If the Agency can name the right price, I can get it for you. But in two hours, a German bomb is going to fall on it and destroy it forever." He stopped their dancing, moving to look her in the eyes. "That's your deadline, that's the deal. Now, shall we discuss payment?"

"Do you know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think you were talking just there." She said breathlessly.

"Two hours, the bomb falls, there'll be nothing left but dust in a crater."

"Promises, promises."

"Are you listening to any of this?"

She cleared her throat. "You used to be a Time Agent, now you're some kind of freelancer."

He flinched slightly. "That's a little harsh. I'd like to think of myself as a criminal." He said, pulling her closer with a wink.

"I bet you do." She giggled.

"So, these companions of yours, do they handle the business?"

"Well, I delegate a lot of that, yeah."

"Well, maybe we should go and find them."

"And how're you going to do that?"

He shrugged. "Easy. I'll do a scan for alien tech." He let go of her and flicked a few switches on his wrist pad.

Rose turned around with a smirk. "Finally, a professional." She chuckled to herself.

* * *

The Doctor pulled out a pair of binoculars, looking over to an enclosed area, surrounded with fencing and barbed wire. Within was soldiers pacing about with lights beaming down onto a large object underneath a tarpaulin.

"The bomb's under that tarpaulin, they put the fence up overnight. See that building over there, the hospital?" Nancy pointed off. The Doctor looked to see the large building she was referring to.

"What about it?" The Doctor asked, handing the binoculars to Clara.

"That's where the doctor is. You should talk to him."

"For now, I'm more interested in getting in there."

"Me too." Clara said.

"Talk to the doctor first."

"Why?"

"Because then maybe you won't want to get inside." Nancy turned to leave.

"Where you going?" The Doctor asked.

"There was a lot of food in that house. I've got mouths to feed and it should be safe enough now."

"Can I ask you a question?" Clara interjected, handing the binoculars back to the Doctor, who pocketed them. "Who did you lose?" She crossed her arms as they turned to look at Nancy.

"What?" Nancy asked softly.

"The way you look after all those kids. It's because you lost somebody, isn't it? You're doing all of this to make up for it." The Doctor sent Clara a soft glance.

Nancy swallowed. "My little brother…Jamie. One night, I went out looking for food, same night that thing fell. I told him not to follow me, I told him it was dangerous but he just…he just didn't like being on his own."

"What happened?"

"In the middle of an air raid? What do you think happened?"

Clara looked down. "Sorry."

"It's not your fault."

The Doctor gave them a sad look for a moment before gazing up into the sky. "Amazing."

"What is?"

"1941. Right now, not very far from here, the German war machine is rolling up the map of Europe. Country after country, falling like dominoes and nothing can stop it. Until one tiny, damp little island says 'No! Not here!'.  _*Chuckles*_  A mouse in front of a lion. You're amazing, the lot of you. Don't know what you do to Hitler, but you frighten the hell out of me. Off you go then. Do what you got to do. Save the world." Nancy smiled at him before leaving. He turned to look at Clara who was gazing at him with a soft look.

"Thank you." She mumbled.

He took her hand. "No problem." He said, kissing her palm before they walked off. Arriving at the front gates of the hospital, he pulled out his sonic and used it on the padlock, which was clasping chains around the gate.

"That's breaking and entering, you know that." She reprimanded softly.

"Sonicing and entering, Clara. There's a difference." He grumbled as he opened the gate and they entered the hospital. Walking through the dark hallways, they opened one wing door and entered, finding the room was filled of people, men and women, lying on the beds asleep but with gas masks on their faces. They exchanged a look before they walked back into the hallway and into another wing. They found the same thing, starting to feel a small shiver down their spines. A door opened behind them, making them turn to look as an old, bald man with a walking stick came out to greet them.

"You'll find them everywhere. In every bed in every ward, hundreds of them." He said.

"Yes, we saw. Why're they still wearing gas masks?" The Doctor asked.

"They're not. Who are you?"

"I'm, uh…are you the doctor?"

"Doctor Constantine. And you are?"

"Nancy sent us."

"Nancy? That means you must've been asking about the bomb."

"Yes."

"What do you know about it?"

"Nothing. Why we're asking. What do you know?"

"Only what it's done."

"These people, they were all caught up in the blast?" Clara asked.

"None of them were." They furrowed their eyebrows at him. Constantine started coughing heavily, stumbling back into a chair in the middle of the room. They moved to help him, but he held up a hand.

"You're very sick." The Doctor commented.

"Dying, I should think. I just haven't been able to find the time. Are you a Doctor?"

"I have my moments." Clara rolled her eyes.

"Have either of you examined any of them yet?"

"No."

"Don't touch the flesh." Constantine warned.

"Which one?"

"All of them." They shared a look before he moved over with her, pulling out the sonic and using it to scan a body.

"How do you know what it's saying?" Clara whispered.

He paused. "It's a tiny bit complicated. I'll explain."

"When?"

"When I give you one." He winked at her, her eyes widening in excitement.

"You would?"

"Oh yeah." She gave him a glowing smile, making him stare at her for just a moment too long.

"I'd still nick yours."

"Oi."

"Conclusions?" Constantine asked, both smirking and rolling his eyes at their interchange.

"Massive head trauma, mostly to the left side. Partial collapse of the chest cavity, mostly to the right. There's some scarring on the back of the hand and the gas mask seems to be fused to the flesh but I can't see any burns."

"Examine another one."

The Doctor walked over to another body and repeated the process. "This is impossible." He mumbled, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Examine another."

He repeated on another body. "This is impossible."

"No."

"Do they all have the same injuries?" Clara asked, catching on.

"Yes."

"Exactly the same?"

"Yes."

"They're identical, all of them, right down to the scar on the back of their hand." The Doctor said. "How did this happen? How did it start?" He asked as they turned back to Constantine.

"When that bomb dropped, there was just one victim."

"Dead?"

"At first. His injuries were truly dreadful. By the following morning, every doctor and nurse who had treated him or had even touched him gained those exact same injuries. By the morning after that, every patient in the ward. Within a week, the entire hospital. Physical injuries as plague, how would you explain that? What would you say was the cause of death?"

"The head trauma."

"No."

"Asphyxiation."

"No."

"The collapse of the chest cavity-"

"No."

Clara's eyes widened. "They're not dead, are they? They're still alive?"

"Correct, my dear. They're not dead." Constantine took his cane and wacked a nearby bucket, making everybody sit up in their beds, staring at them. Their sudden movements made them jump in shock. "It's alright, they're harmless. They just…sort of sit there. There's no heartbeat, no life signs of any kind. They just…don't die."

"And they've just been left here? Nobody's doing anything?" The Doctor asked as they lay back into their beds without a word.

Constantine shrugged. "I try to make them comfortable. What else is there to do?"

"Just you? You're the only one here?"

"Before this war began, I was a father and a grandfather. Now I'm neither but I'm still a doctor."

"Yeah. I know the feeling." The Doctor mumbled. Clara grasped his hand, making him smile sadly at her.

"I suspect the plan was to blow up the hospital and blame it on a German bomb."

"But it's too late."

"Yes. There are isolated cases…" He trails off, starting to cough violently, making them blink. "Isolated cases breaking out…all over…London." They moved forward to help. "Stay back! Stay back!" He demanded, showing the back of his hand, making their eyes widen at the scar. "Listen to me…the top floor…Room 802, that's where they took the first victim, the one from the crash site and you must find Nancy again."

"Why?"

"It was her brother." Their breathing hitched as they started to piece it together. "She knows more than she's saying. She won't tell me but she mi…mi…mu…Mum…my." They stepped back in shock as he started to choke. "Are…you…my…Mum…my?" His mouth opened wide, with a gas mask breather coming out as his eyes teared up in agony. Slowly, his own skin turned charcoal black as it became the gas mask, his own eyes widening before becoming the eye protectors until the whole front of his face was a gas mask, his breathing steadying behind it. His head rolled to the side before his movements stilled completely, his breathing slowing down to a stop.

The Doctor looked at him sadly for a moment, before the sound of Clara sniffling drew his attention. He saw her eyes redden, only a small tear coming out. He grabbed her shoulders to turn her, cupping her face to wipe away the tear.

"Come here." He mumbled, drawing her into a hug.

"That was horrible." She mumbled.

"I know. I'm sorry you had to watch."

"It wasn't your fault." They held each other until they calmed down, still not letting go as they enjoyed the quiet embrace.

" _Hello?"_

They blinked.

" _Hello?"_

"Did you hear something?" Clara asked.

" _Doctor? Clara?"_  They let go at hearing Rose's voice.  _"Where are you?"_  The voices were getting less muffled as a pair of footsteps approached, making them move out of the door to see Rose with Jack.

"Good evening. Hope we're not interrupting." Jack said, shaking their hands. "Jack Harkness. I've been hearing all about you on the way over."

"He knows. I had to tell him about us being Time Agents." Rose blinked at them, making them nod slowly despite their inner confusion.

"And it's a real pleasure to meet you, Mr. & Mrs. Oswald." He clapped the Doctor's shoulder before moving past them into the room, missing their blushing.

"Mr. & Mrs. Oswald? Rose, we're not a couple." The Doctor protested, Clara nodding hastily.

"Come on, it's obvious. Besides, what was I supposed to say? You don't have a name. Don't you ever get tired of Doctor? Doctor Who?"

"Nine centuries in, I'm coping. Where the hell have you been? We're in the middle of the London Blitz, it's not a good time for a stroll." He grumbled as they moved to follow Jack.

" _*Scoffs*_ Who's strolling? I went by barrage balloon. Only way to see an air raid."

"What?" They said in unison.

"Listen, what's a Chula warship?"

They paused, Clara looking at him. "Chula?" He mumbled. "Where've I heard that before? Chula." He shrugged. "No idea. It'll come to me." He winked at her, making her snigger as they entered the room, Jack was scanning the bodies with his wrist pad.

"This just isn't possible. How did this happen?" Jack shook his head as he continued scanning the bodies, while the trio watched with their arms crossed.

"What kind of Chula ship landed here?" The Doctor asked.

"What?"

"He said it was a warship. He stole it, parked it somewhere out there, where a bomb's going to fall on it unless we making him an offer." Rose inputted.

"What kind of warship?"

"Does it matter? It's got nothing to do with this!"

"This started at the bomb site, it has everything to do with it! What kind of warship was it?!"

"An ambulance!" Jack sighed, pressing a few buttons on his wrist pad, bringing up a hologram of the capsule. "That's what you chased through the Time Vortex. It's space junk. I wanted to kid you it was valuable. It's empty, I made sure of it. Nothing but a shell. I saw your time-travel vehicle, and I love the retro look by the way, nice panels. I threw it at you as bait, so I could sell it to you then destroy it before you found out it was junk."

"You said it was a warship." Rose said.

"They have ambulances in wars." He sighed, running his hand over his face. "It's a con. I was conning you. That's what I am, I'm a con man! Thought you were Time Agents but you're not, are you?"

"Just a couple more freelancers." Rose sassed, making them smirk.

"Ah, I should've known. The way you guys are blending in with the local colour. I mean, flag girl was bad enough, but U-boat captain and English teacher?"

"I like this sweater." Clara grumbled.

"And I like this jacket." He grumbled.

"Anyway, whatever's happening here has got nothing to do with that ship."

"What is happening here, Doctor?"

"Human DNA is being rewritten…by an idiot."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. A virus, converting Human beings into these things, but why? What's the point?"

* * *

Nancy re-entered the house, taking her bag to pack some of the food on the table. The radio crackled to life, making her eyes widen.

" _ **Please, Mummy. Please let me in. I'm scared of the bombs, Mummy. Please, Mummy."**_  The front door then slammed open, a pair of footsteps entering the house.  **"Mummy. Mummy."**  Nancy's gaze danced around the room, before moving underneath the table, holding her breath down to a whisper as Jamie's footsteps drew closer.  **"Mummy? Where's my Mummy? Mummy."** Nancy shifted slightly, making an apple tumble out of her bag and into open view. Jamie moved over and picked up the apple, Nancy seizing the chance to rush out and towards the door.

***Slam***

She jumped as it closed in front of her, before she grasped the door handle and repeatedly tried to open the door. Her breath hitched as she found it locked before turning to look at Jamie, who stared at her.

" **Are you my Mummy?"**  He moved forward, Nancy pushed a chair in front of him fruitlessly as he tossed it aside.  **"Mummy?"**

"It's me, Nancy!"

* * *

The bodies jumped out and turned to look at them, before moving out of their beds.

" **Mummy?"**  They started to incoherently say as they moved towards the group, who backed into a wall, looking around frantically for a way out.

"What's happening?" Rose asked. "Why are they like this?"

"I don't know." The Doctor said simply. "Don't let them touch you."

"What happens if they touch us?"

"We become them."

* * *

**"Are you my Mummy?"**

"It's Nancy. Your sister."

**"Mummy."**

"You're dead, Jamie. You're dead." She mumbled in terror as she was backed into the wall, Jamie getting closer and closer by the second.

" **Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy."**  He reached out a hand, moving it towards her face as she tried to recoil away. **"Mummy. Mummy. Mummy."**

**AN: To be continued, eh? ;D And good to see you, Captain Jack. Anyway, thanks for reading and leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	20. The Doctor Dances

The bodies jumped out and turned to look at them, before moving out of their beds.

" **Mummy?"**  They started to incoherently say as they moved towards the group, who backed into a wall, looking around frantically for a way out.

"What's happening?" Rose asked. "Why are they like this?"

"I don't know." The Doctor said simply. "Don't let them touch you."

"What happens if they touch us?"

"We become them."

* * *

**"Are you my Mummy?"**

"It's Nancy. Your sister."

**"Mummy."**

"You're dead, Jamie. You're dead." She mumbled in terror as she was backed into the wall, Jamie getting closer and closer by the second.

" **Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy."**  He reached out a hand, moving it towards her face as she tried to recoil away. **"Mummy. Mummy. Mummy."**

* * *

The Doctor moved forward a few steps. "Go to your room." He said sternly. The people stopped, sending the room back into silence as the trio behind him glanced at each other uncertainly. "Go to your room!" They all tilted their heads sideways like a child who got their hand caught in the cookie jar. "I mean it. I'm very, very angry with you. I'm very, very cross. Go. To. Your. Room!" The people started shuffling back to their beds with their heads hung low, becoming still again as they lay back. He turned look at the three who had their jaws open. "I'm really glad that worked. Those would've been terrible last words." He laughed nervously, making them chuckle with him.

* * *

Nancy watched through the window as Jamie walked out through the streets in silence, her eyes starting to water.

"Jamie. I'm so sorry." She collapsed to her knees, starting to sob. "I'm so sorry." Her voice broke as she placed her face in her hands.

* * *

Rose moved slowly towards one of the bodies but kept her distance. "Why're they all wearing gas masks?"

"They're not. Those masks are flesh and bone." Jack answered.

"How was your con supposed to work?" Clara asked.

"Simple enough, really. Find some harmless piece of space junk, let the nearest Time Agent track it back to Earth, convince them it's valuable so he or she names a price. When they put 50% up front, oops, a German bomb falls on it, destroys it forever. They never get to see what they've paid for, they never know they've been had. I buy them a drink with their own money and we discuss dumb luck. The perfect self-cleaning con."

"Yeah. Perfect." The Doctor mumbled.

"The Blitz is great for self-cleaners. Pompeii's nice if you want to make a vacation of it, but you've got to set your alarm for volcano day." Jack belly laughed, however he let it subside when he saw the stern look on Clara's face, making him gulp. "Getting a hint of disapproval."

"Take a look around the room. This is what your piece of harmless space junk did." Clara admonished.

"It was a burnt-out medical transporter. It was empty."

" _*Scoffs*_ You keep saying that. Empty." Clara muttered. "Come on."

"We getting out of here?" Rose asked.

"We're going upstairs." They moved to follow her.

"I even programmed the flight computer, so it wouldn't land on anything living. I harmed no one." They stopped briefly to look at him. "I don't know what's happening here but believe me, I had nothing to do with it."

"I'll tell you what's happening. A moron went through so much detail and missed something very important. You forgot to set your alarm clock. It's volcano day." Clara growled. The air raid alarm blared outside.

"What's that?" Rose asked.

"The all-clear." Jack mumbled.

"I wish." The Doctor muttered as they left the room.

* * *

Nancy wiped the tears from her face as the sirens sounded outside. She blinked before standing up and hurrying to the back door, only to recoil in shock as a kid in a gas mask stood there. However, he took it off, making her sigh in relief.

"I thought you were Jamie." She breathed before rushing past him, before getting blocked by Arthur and his wife.

"Dad? Dad?" The kid called.

"Bloody kids!" Arthur groaned, as he grabbed Nancy by the shoulders and hauled her back inside.

"Get off me! Get your hands off me!"

"Get in! Get in!"

"Let me go!"

"Get her in there! She nicked!" The wife called as she shut the back door behind them.

* * *

"Mr. & Mrs. Oswald?" Jack called as he and Rose raced through the corridors.

"Doctor? Clara?"

"Have you got a blaster?" They heard the Doctor ask, making them double back to a small flight of steps they missed, seeing the two looking down at them.

"Sure." Jack said as they raced up the stairs, finding the two standing outside a locked, steel door.

"The night your space junk landed, someone was hurt. This is where they were taken."

"What happened?" Rose asked.

"Let's find out. Get it open." The Doctor said to Jack, who smirked before pulling out a blaster with neon blue lights.

"What's wrong with your sonic screwdriver?"

"Nothing." Clara answered for him.

"Are you…testing him?" Rose asked. Clara clicked her neck in answer, making her eyebrows raise a bit. Jack used the blaster on the door lock, causing it to disappear and the door to open, leaving behind a square hole where the lock was.

"Sonic blaster, 51st century. Weapon factories of Villengard?" The Doctor deducted.

"You've been to the factories?"

"Once."

"Well, they're gone now, destroyed. The main reactor went critical, vaporized the lot."

"Like I said, once." The Doctor answered, sending Clara a wink, making her smirk. "There's a banana grove there now. I like bananas. Bananas are good." He grinned.

"You and your bananas." She groaned.

"Oi! What've you got against bananas?"

She shrugged. "Don't know. Maybe you eat them too much?"

He blinked before shrugging. "Okay, fair enough." They went inside the room.

"Nice blast pattern." Rose commented to Jack.

"Digital."

"Square-nosed gun?"

"Yeah."

"I like it." Jack chuckled at her before they moved inside the room. The room was filled with filing cabinets and recording equipment complete with marked findings. The desk in the middle of the room, in front of a glass window was trashed with the glass smashed to pieces.

"What do you think?" The Doctor asked.

"Something got out of here." Jack answered.

"Yeah. And?"

"Something powerful…angry."

The Doctor and Clara nodded to each other slightly. "Powerful and angry."

Jack moved through a door on the left of the glass, finding an equally trashed room, yet filled with drawings of a mother with children's toys and an unmade bed in the corner.

"A child? I suppose this explains 'Mummy'."

"How could a child do this?" Rose asked.

_*Click*_

They looked to see the Doctor standing by the desk, looking down at it with furrowed eyebrows, while Clara moved to his side.

" _Do you know where you are?"_  Constantine's voice came out of the recording equipment.

" _ **Are you my Mummy?"**_

" _Are you aware of what's around you?"_

" _ **Are you my Mummy?"**_

" _What do you want? Do you know-"_

" _ **I want my Mummy. Are you my Mummy? I want my Mummy! Are you my Mummy? Are you my Mummy? Mummy! Mummy!"**_

"I've heard this voice before." Rose said.

"Both of us have." Clara said.

" _ **Mummy!"**_

"Always 'Are you my Mummy?" Like he doesn't know."

" _ **Mummy."**_

"Why doesn't he know?"

The Doctor and Clara exchanged sad looks at this, yet they didn't say a word.

" _ **Are you there Mummy? Mummy!"**_

* * *

Arthur shut the door to the living room, moving inside with a stern look as Nancy sat at the table somewhat shyly. Said table was now clean and empty, now just covered with a green table cloth.

"The police are on their way. I pay for the food on this table. The sweat on my brow, that food is. The sweat on my brow." Nancy refrained the urge to roll her eyes. "Anything else you'd like? I've got a whole house here. Anything else you'd like to help yourself to?"

"Yeah." Arthur blinked at her. "I'd like some wire cutters, please. Something that can cut through barbed wire. Oh, and a torch.  _*Scoffs*_  Don't look like that, Mr. Lloyd. I know you've got plenty of tools in here, I've been watching this house for ages. And I'd like another look around your kitchen cupboards. I was in a hurry the first time. I want to see if there's anything I missed."

"The food on this table-"

"It's an awful lot of food, isn't it, Mr. Lloyd? A lot more than on anyone else's table. Half this street thinks your missus must be messing about with Mr. Haverstock, the butcher. But she's not, is she? You are." Arthur flinched at her accusing tone. "Wire cutters, torch, food. And I'd like to use your bathroom before I leave, please. Oh look, there's the sweat on your brow." She smirked, making him rub his forehead sheepishly.

* * *

" _ **Mummy! Please, Mummy. Mummy!"**_

The Doctor paced about Jamie's room while Clara crossed her arms, her, Rose and Jack watching him.

"Doctor?" Rose asked.

"Can you sense it?"

"Sense what?" Jack asked.

"It's coming out of the walls. Can't you feel it?"

" **Mummy?"** None of them noticed the end of the tape was now rattling on the recording equipment.

"Funny little human brains. How do you get around in those things?"

"When he's stressed, he likes to insult species." Rose told Jack, who nodded despite his confusion.

"Rose, I'm thinking."

" **Mummy."**

"He cuts himself shaving, does half an hour on life forms he's cleverer than. I just leave it to Clara. She gives his big ears a good tug when he's in that mood." Clara smirked while Jack chuckled.

"There are these children, living rough around the bomb sites. They come out during air raids, looking for food."

" **Mummy, please."**

"Suppose they were there when this thing, whatever it was, landed?"

"It was a med-ship. It was harmless." Jack defended.

"Yeah, you keep saying 'Harmless'. Suppose one of them was affected, altered?"

"Altered how?" Rose asked.

" **I'm here."**

"It's afraid. Terribly afraid and powerful. It doesn't know it yet, but it will do." He chuckled nervously. "It's got the power of a god and I just sent it to its room." They now just realised the tape rattling.

"Doctor?"

" **I'm here. Can't you see me?"**

"What's that noise?"

"End of the tape." Clara said, her eyes widening, making the Doctor's eyes synchronise with her. "It ran out about 30 seconds ago."

" **I'm here now. Can't you see me?"**

"I sent it to its room. This is its room." He spun around as they looked through the glass behind them, seeing Jamie standing there, staring at them.

" **Are you my Mummy?"**  He tilted his head as he stared at Clara.  **"Mummy?"**  Clara gulped at his meaning, despite the fear she felt inside her.

"Okay. On my signal, make for the door." Jack said, slowing moving behind the Doctor.

" **Mummy?"**

"Now!" He yelled, but he recoiled as he noticed the banana in his hand. The Doctor grinned cheekily, before he pulled the blaster out of his pocket and used it on the wall.

" **Mummy!"**

"Go, now! Don't drop the banana!"

"Why not?"

"Good source of potassium!" They climbed through the hole.

"Give me that." Jack snatched the blaster back and used it to reverse the hole in the wall.

"Mummy. Are you my Mummy-" The wall resealed again, cutting off Jamie's voice.

They breathed a sigh of relief. "Digital rewind." Jack said. "Nice switch." He tossed the banana to him.

"It's from the groves of Villengard. Thought it was appropriate."

"There's really a banana grove in the heart of Villengard and you did that?"

"Bananas are good." Clara moved beside him and smacked the back of his head, Rose smirking while Jack's eyes widened. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Nicking is meant to be my job!" She admonished.

"Shut up, Clara." He grumbled.

"I'm sorry?" She warned.

"I said shut it."

"Tough. What're you going to do about it?"

***Crack***

They jumped as the wall in front of them started to break.

"Okay, that's a good answer." Clara nodded, making them rush to one end of the corridor, when the door burst open, revealing gas mask people marching towards them. "Other way!" She yelled, making them rush to the other end, yet the door revealed more gas mask people, trapping them beside the cracking wall.

"They're keeping us here till it can get at us." The Doctor stated.

"It's controlling them?" Jack asked.

"It is them. It's every living thing in this hospital."

"Okay, this can function as a sonic blaster, a sonic cannon and a triple enfolded sonic disruptor. Doc, what you got?"

"I've got a sonic, uh…ohm never mind." The Doctor said as he pulled out the sonic.

"What?"

"It's sonic, okay? Let's leave it at that."

"Disruptor, cannon, what?"

"It's sonic, totally sonic. I am sonic-ed up."

"A sonic what?!"

"Screwdriver!" Jack gave him a 'Are you kidding me?!' look as the wall burst apart, Jamie starting to climb through.

Rose groaned and grabbed Jack's hand that held the blaster, pointing it to the floor. "Going down!" They fell through the hole, collapsing to the ground with a loud groan before Jack used the blaster to repair the floor above them.

"You guys okay?" Rose asked.

"Yeah." Jack nodded.

"Yeah. Clara?" The Doctor asked, helping her up.

"You could've used a warning." She grumbled, groaning as she stood up.

"Who has a sonic screwdriver?" Jack asked.

"I do!" The Doctor groaned.

"Lights." Rose rolled her eyes, trying to look for a switch inside the dark room.

"Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks, 'Ooh-ooh. This could be a little more sonic?'"

"What, you never been bored?"

"There's got to be a light switch!"

"Never had a long night? Never had a lot of cabinets to put up?"

"If it makes you feel any better, I like the screwdriver." Clara said.

"Thank you, Clara." He grinned at her.

"Dear god, you two really are children, aren't you?" Jack rolled his eyes.

"Ugh, talk about calling the kettle black." Rose grumbled.

"I heard that." They said in unison as Rose flicked on the lights.

"Mummy!" They jumped as gas mask people sat up in the beds.

"Door." Jack said, making them move to a door at the end of the room which Jack used the blaster on. It gave off weak whirring sounds as they looked at him incredulously. "Dammit! It's the special features. They really drain the battery." Jack grumbled, smacking the blaster as the Doctor used the sonic to unlock the door.

"The battery? That's so lame." Rose grumbled as they locked the door behind them, finding themselves inside a large storage closed with a wheel chair in the centre and a window on the other side.

"I was going to send for another one, but somebody's got to blow up the factory." Jack grumbled in the Doctor's direction, which he merely smirked.

"Oh, I know. First day I met him, he blew my job up. That's practically how he communicates."

"Okay, that door should hold it for a bit." The Doctor said, moving to the window.

"The door? The wall didn't stop it!"

"Well, it's got to find us first. Come on, we're not done yet. Assets, assets."

"Well, I've got a banana. In a pinch, you could put up some shelves." Jack said, sitting down in the wheelchair.

"Window-"

"Barred with a sheer drop outside, seven stories."

"And no other exits." Rose finished.

"Well, the assets conversation went in a flash, didn't it?"

Clara turned to look at Rose. "So, where'd you pick this one up, then?"

"Clara." Rose grumbled with a shameful blush.

"She was hanging from a barrage balloon, I had an invisible spaceship. I never stood a chance." Jack said with a slight smirk. Clara rolled her eyes at him.

"Okay. One: We've got to get out of here. Two: We can't get out of here. Have I missed anything?" Clara asked.

"Nope." The Doctor shook his head.

"Yeah. Jack just disappeared." Rose said, making them look at the now empty wheelchair in slight shock.

* * *

Nancy entered a small hideout, finding some of the kids, including Ernie sitting there patiently, one of them typing out on a typewriter.

"Thought as much. What're all you doing here?! Different house every night, I told ya!" Nancy admonished.

"We thought you were dead or you'd run off."

"I didn't. I knew you'd come back for us." Ernie said. Nancy took their empty food container and emptied her food bag into it. "Jimmy found that old in the junk. He thinks he can write now."

"I'm writing a letter to me Dad." Jimmy said as he typed away.

"You don't even know where your Dad is. And how're you going to send it?"

"I don't know. Stick it in an envelope?"

"You can't even read or write."

"I don't need to. I've got a machine."

"Will you stop making that noise?!" Nancy ordered in irritation, making them slouch in shame. Nancy closed her eyes and breathed. "I'm sorry, Jim. On you go. You write a letter to your Dad if you want to." Jimmy nodded before returning to type.

"I know we should've went somewhere else, but we need you, see? For the thinking."

"And what if I wasn't here? What If one night, I didn't come back for ya? There's a war on. People go out, they don't always come back, it happens. What would you do then?" Nancy knelt to grab the bag again, while Ernie's eyes widened, and he moved forward, snatching the wire cutters from her grasp.

"Wire cutters?"

Nancy snatched them back. "I need you to think about that. Someone's got to look after this lot."

"Why? Are you going somewhere?"

Nancy gave them a grim look. "The bomb site, the one at the railway station." All their eyes widened at her and Jimmy stopped typing to look at her.

"Why?"

"The child. That's where he was killed. That's where it all started, and I'm going to find out how."

"He'll get you, and then he'll come for us. He always comes for us."

"No, Ernie, he doesn't. He always comes after me." His eyebrows furrowed at her. "There are things I haven't told ya. Things I can't tell ya. If you're with me, you're in danger." The keys on the typewriter started clicking, making her heart race in fear. "Even right now, sitting here, you're in danger because of me."

"You're the one that keeps us safe."

"You think so, Ernie? Then answer this. Jim is sitting there, right next to ya. So, who's typing?" Their breathing hitched as they looked at the typewriter, which was clicking away by itself. Once it stopped, Nancy took the paper out and looked at it. Past Jimmy's partial message was the repeated words of 'Mummy? Are you my Mummy?'.

"Is he coming?"

"Ernie, as long as you're with me, he's always coming." She tossed the paper to them, which Ernie caught as he looked at it, with Nancy moving to exit the hideout. "Plenty of greens and chew your food." She said sternly before leaving.

* * *

The Doctor sat down, one arm around Clara who leaned her head into his shoulder as Rose paced about.

"Okay, so he's vanished into thin air. Why is it always the great looking ones who do that?" Rose asked sarcastically.

"I'm making an effort not to be insulted."

"I mean…men."

"Okay, thanks. That really helped." The Doctor grumbled.

"If it makes you feel any better, you're better looking than him." Clara smiled fondly, making him grin at her.

The radio in the room crackled to life, making them give it an apprehensive look.

" _Rose? Doctor? Clara? Can you hear me?"_  They moved to stand beside it, the Doctor searching the radio but finding it's wires completely cut.  _"I'm back on my ship. Used the emergency teleport, I'm sorry I couldn't take you. It's security-keyed to my molecular structure. I'm working on it, hang in there."_

"How're you speaking to us?" Clara asked.

" _Omcom: I can call anything with a speaker grille."_

"Now there's a coincidence." The Doctor muttered, making Clara nod.

" _What is?"_

"The child can Omcom too."

"It can?" Rose asked.

"Anything with a speaker grille. Even the TARDIS phone."

"What, you mean the child can phone us?"

" _ **And I can hear you."**_  They jumped at the voice.  _ **"Coming to find you. Coming to find you."**_

" _Doctor, Clara, can you hear that?"_

"Loud and clear."

" _I'll try to block out the signal. Least I can do."_

" _ **Coming to find you Mummy."**_

" _You remember this one, Rose?"_  Moonlight Serenade began to play, making them look at her which she merely blushed at.

"Our song." She smiled, making them nod before exchanging crooked eyebrows. The Doctor moved over to the window with the sonic while Clara sat down in the wheelchair, rolling about in it with a cheeky smile. "Having fun?" She teased.

"Oh yeah." Clara smiled. She then furrowed her eyebrows and reached out her hands. "Can I see your hands?"

"Sure." Rose said, moving over to her, who took her hands gently under her gaze.

"What're you trying to do, Doctor?" Clara called as he used the sonic.

"I'm trying to set up a resonation pattern in the concrete, loosen the bars."

"That'll take a while." Clara grumbled as she inspected Rose's hands.

"You got a better idea, missy?"

"No. You?"

"No." He blinked before blushing sheepishly. "I actually don't know what to do. I'm just-"

"Improvising, I know."

"Sorry."

Rose rolled her eyes at them despite her light chuckling. She started feeling somewhat tingling like someone getting a massage as Clara ran her hands over hers. "What're you doing?"

"Barrage balloon."

"What?" Rose blinked.

"You were hanging from a barrage balloon."

Rose blinked before realization kicked in. "Oh, yeah, about two minutes after you two left me. Thousands of feet above London, middle of a German air raid and a Union Jack all over my chest."

The Doctor chuckled. "I've travelled with a lot of people but you're setting new records for jeopardy-friendly."

"Rose, you were hanging from a rope, thousands of feet above London, but look at your hands." Clara said, holding them up. "You don't have a cut or a bruise." The Doctor stopped using his sonic at those words.

"Yeah, I know. Captain Jack fixed me up."

"Oh, we're calling him 'Captain', now are we?"

"Well, his name's Jack and he's a Captain."

"He's not really a Captain, Rose." Clara shook her head at him.

"Maybe not to you. You've got your own Captain." Rose winked at her.

"No, I don't." She blushed.

"Okay, seriously, it's starting to get a bit old now." Rose groaned.

"What is?" They said in unison.

Rose groaned again. "Look, do either of you think he's coming back?"

" _*Scoffs*_ Wouldn't bet my life." Clara grumbled. The Doctor nodded with her.

"Why don't either of you trust him?"

"Why do you?"

"He saved my life. Bloke-wise, that's up there with flossing." Clara blinked at her. "I trust him because he's like the Doctor, except he's bolder with dating and dancing."

Clara gazed off before nodding slightly. "Okay, that's fair enough." Rose giggled while she smirked. They heard the Doctor grumble, making Clara turn to look at him. "What?"

"You just assume I'm-"

"What?"

"You just assume I don't… _dance_."

Clara grinned. "What, are you telling me that you do  _dance_?"

"900 years old, me, I've been around a bit. I think you can assume that at some point, I  _danced_."

"You?" She giggled, Rose moving off to the side with a devilish smirk.

"Problem?"

"The big bad Time Lord  _dancing_? Does the universe decide to implode if you  _dance_ , is that it?"

"Well, I've got the moves, but I wouldn't want to boast." The Doctor said smugly.

Clara bit her lip, standing up and pushing the chair to Rose, who winked at her before Clara turned up the volume on the radio, making the Doctor look at her with a blush. "You got the moves? Show me your moves." She held out a hand.

He blinked. "Clara…I'm-I'm trying to resonate concrete." He stuttered.

"We'll have to wait for Captain Jack, cause that'll take too long, so come on. The world won't end just because the Doctor  _dances_."

The Doctor looked at her with dilated eyes and a blush before he pocketed the sonic and took her hands. "Hold on, Captain Jack?"

She rolled her eyes. "If that's his name, then fine. Captain Jack it is. Although, it would be funnier if his last name was Sparrow. And if he drank rum." She paused and squinted her eyes as his clenched jaw. "Are you…jealous?"

"No." He denied.

"Your jealous. Is it because I'm calling him Captain, or is it because I'm not calling you captain?" She flirted.

He clicked his neck and started to waltz with her, yet his movements was somewhat awkward despite his intense staring. "I wouldn't mind that." He flirted.

"Well, I can't call you 'Captain Doctor', that wouldn't make any sense. That just sounds like 'Mister Doctor'." She blinked as he nearly stepped on her toes. "You'll find your feet at the end of your legs. Can you please move them? My feet aren't for stepping on, thank you very much." She said, their personal space growing smaller by the second.

"If ever he's been a Captain, he's been defrocked."

"Yeah? Thank goodness then, eh?"

"Now isn't that just rude, eh missy? How'd he feel if you said that to him?" He quipped.

"I wouldn't care."

"Aww, that hurt." Jack mocked, making them jump. They found themselves inside of Jack's ship, with Rose standing to the side trying to hide her laughter. "Most people notice when they've been teleported. Rose was right, you guys are so sweet…when you're not children." He grinned at Rose, who nodded with a smirk. "And to answer your theory, I quit. Nobody takes my frock. Sorry about the delay. I had to take the Navcom offline to override the teleport security."

"You can spend 10 minutes overriding your own protocols? Maybe you should remember whose ship it is." The Doctor said, him and Clara still not moving from their embrace, making Rose and Jack's smiles grow wider.

"Oh, I do. She was gorgeous. Although, you're quite the lucky man to have Rose with you."

"Oi!" Clara admonished as Rose laughed.

"Sorry, you mock me, I mock you." Jack smirked at her, making her roll her eyes at him despite a smile on both hers and the Doctor's faces. "Like I told her: Be back in five minutes."

The Doctor glanced around as Jack worked underneath the pilot console, before realization creeped into his eyes. "This is a Chula ship."

"Yeah, just like that medical transporter. Only this one is dangerous."

_*Clicks*_

Nanogenes fluttered around the Doctor's hand, making Clara give them a soft look.

"They're beautiful." She breathed.

"They are." The Doctor nodded.

"They're what fixed my hands up. Jack called them…um…" Rose clicked her fingers, scrunching her face.

"Nanobots?" Rose shook her head. "Nanogenes?"

"Nanogenes. Yeah."

"Subatomic robots. There's millions of them in here, see? Burned my hand on the console when we landed. All better now. They activate when the bulkhead's sealed, check you out for damage, fix any physical flaws." He waved his hand, making the Nanogenes disappear.

"Aww." Clara whined.

"Sorry." He teased, making her half glare at him. "Take us to the crash site. I need to see your space junk."

"As soon as I get the navcom back online." Jack shrugged as he sat in the pilot seat and worked away on the console. "Make yourself comfortable and carry on with whatever it was you were…doing."

"We were talking about dancing."

"It didn't look like talking."

"It didn't feel like dancing." Clara grumbled.

"Watch it, missy." The Doctor said as they untangled themselves from each other.

"What'd you say?"

"I said watch it, missy."

"They seriously haven't said anything?" Jack whispered to Rose.

"Nope."

"Dear god, that's going to get old."

"It already is." Rose groaned, making them chuckle.

"What'd you say?" They said in unison.

"Nothing." Rose and Jack mocked in unison.

* * *

Nancy crept up to the bomb site, crouching behind the large, stone fence to hide from view. Creeping around to where the fence ended in debris, turning into metal and barb wire. She knelt, glancing around to see if any soldiers were watching. Satisfied despite her caution, she pulled out the wire cutters and snapped a wire. She glanced around each time she cut barb wire until there was enough space to crawl through, moving quickly to hide in the shadows. Waiting for a long minute, she crept over to the tarpaulin and peeled it back slightly. Lights suddenly blinded her vision, making her cover her eyes as the sound of rifles being cocked were heard around her.

"Halt! Don't move!" A voice shouted, before she felt two hands grasping her shoulders and hauling her away, the bright lights dimming and clearing her vision again.

* * *

"So, you used to be a Time Agent and now you're trying to con them?" Rose asked Jack while the Doctor and Clara sat together in silence.

"If it makes me sound any better, it's not for the money."

"What for, then?"

"I woke up one morning when I was still working for them, found they'd stolen two years of my memories. I'd like them back."

"They stole your memories?"

"Two years of my life, with no idea what I did." The Doctor and Clara exchanged a silent look but said nothing. "Your friends over there don't trust me and for all I know, they're right not to." He said with a sad tone. Rose turned to look at them, who were just gazing at each other softly before leaning back into each other in contempt. "Is that their secret? They can have-"

"Entire conversations just by staring, I know." Rose nodded.

"Yep, you're right. It's already old." Jack smirked.

_*Beeps*_

Jack turned the chair around as the console flared, the sound perking the pair's interest. "Okay, we're good to go. Crash site?" Jack called, already knowing the answer.

* * *

Nancy was hauled through a large, red gate into a small warehouse, where a man sat a table, looking down with his face in his hands.

"As you were. Feeling any better?" The head guard asked.

"Just a turn, sir."

"Chain her up where Jenkins can keep an eye on her."

"No, not in here. Not with him." Nancy protested as she saw the scar on his hand.

"You shouldn't have broken in here if you didn't want to stay."

"You don't understand. Not with him."

"This is a restricted area, Miss. You can just sit here for a bit. We're going to have to ask you a few questions."

"Found these, sir." A soldier said, holding out her wire cutters.

He grumbled with a small smirk. "Very professional. A little bit too professional. Didn't just drop in by accident then, did you?"

"My little brother died here. I wanted to find out what killed him."

The head guard looked at the soldiers standing there. "Take the men, check the fence for any other breaches and search the area. She may not have come here alone."

"Yes, sir." They said in unison as they left, the head guard moving to follow them.

"Please, listen, you can't leave me here." Nancy protested.

"Watch her, Jenkins."

"Yes Mummy."

He blinked. "Jenkins?"

"Sorry. Sir, I-I don't know what's the matter with me."

"Look, lock me up, fine, but not here. Please, anywhere but here." The head guard stared at her before leaving without a word. Nancy started struggling against the handcuffs.

"You'll be all right, Miss. I'm just a little…just a little…just a little…what's the matter with you?"

"Please, let me go."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you've got a scar on the back of your hand."

"Well, yes. But I don't see what that's got to do with anything."

"And you feel like you're going to be sick, like something's forcing its way up your throat." He blinked at her in surprise. "I know, because I've seen it before."

"What's happening to me?"

"In a minute, you won't be you anymore. You won't even remember you and unless you let me go, it's going to happen to me too, please."

"What're you talking about?" He said as his breathing grew heavier.

"What's your mother's name?"

"Matilda."

"You got a wife?"

"Yes."

"Wife's name." He started to chock, making her heart grow cold in terror. "You got kids? What's your name?"

"I-I-I can't-"

"Please, let me go. It's too late for you, I'm sorry, but please, let me go."

"What d-d-do you m-mea-mea-Mmm-Mmm-Mmmu-Mummy!" He yelled in agony as his face turned into a gas mask before he collapsed onto the table unconscious.

* * *

The four walked through the abandoned railway station, seeing a small group of soldiers chatting and pacing about.

"There it is." Jack nodded to the tarpaulin. "Hey, they've got Algy on duty. Must be important."

"We've got to get past." The Doctor said, the three nodding.

"Are the words 'Distract the guard' heading in my general direction?" Rose asked.

"I don't think that'd be such a good idea." Jack shook his head with a smirk.

"Don't worry, I can handle it."

"It's not that. I've gotten to know Algy quite well since I've been in town. Trust me, you're not his type. I'll distract him. Don't wait up." Jack winked as he walked away to the soldiers, Rose staring wide eyed after him.

"Relax, Rose." The Doctor grinned as her wide eyes combined with furrowed eyebrows, making Clara snigger. "He's a 51st century guy. He's just a bit more flexible when it comes to  _dancing_."

"How flexible?"

"Well, by his time, you lot have spread out across half the galaxy."

"Meaning?"

"So many species, so little time." He grinned while Clara crinkled her nose in disgust.

"What, that's what we do when we get out there? That's our mission, we seek new life and…and…and…" Rose stuttered.

" _Dance_." He chuckled at her expression.

Jack walked up to Algy, the head guard with a grin. "Hey, tiger. How's it hanging?"

Algy looked at him, tilting his head. "Mummy?"

"Algy, old sport, it's me."

"Mummy?"

"It's me, Jack."

"Jack? Are you my…Mummy?" Jack stared at him with shock as Algy started to chock, collapsing to his knees, his face turning into a gas mask.

"Stay back!" Clara yelled, the three rushing over.

"You men stay away!" Jack ordered as they came to help Algy, staring at him with horror.

"The effect's becoming airborne, accelerating." The Doctor said grimly.

"What's keeping us safe?" Rose asked.

"Nothing."

The air-raid siren blared again, making Jack groan. "Ah, here they come again."

"All we need. Wait, didn't you say a bomb was going to land here?" Rose asked with wide eyes. Jack nodded at her, making her gulp.

"Never mind about that. If the contaminant's airborne, there's hours left."

"Till what?" Jack asked.

"Till nothing, forever, for the entire human race."

"Can anyone else hear singing?" Clara asked, making them look to the large red door.

" _Rock-a-bye, baby, on the treetops. When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. Down will come baby, cradle and all._ " Nancy hummed as they opened the door. The Doctor motioned for her to come with them, but she simply tugged on her handcuffs. He pulled out his sonic and came over to her. " _Rock-a-bye, baby, on the treetops. When the wind blows, the cradle will rock._ " The Doctor unlocked the handcuffs, making Nancy move out with them towards the tarpaulin. The lights flicked on as they approached while Jack moved the tarpaulin back, revealing the old capsule.

"You see? Just an ambulance." Jack said.

"That's an ambulance?" Nancy asked.

"It's hard to explain. It's…It's from another world." Rose answered, yet it didn't lessen Nancy's bewilderment.

"They've been trying to get in." Jack grumbled.

"Of course, they have. They think they've got their hands-on Hitler's latest secret weapon." The Doctor said. Jack started inputting code into the front panel. "What're you doing?"

"Well, the sooner you see this thing is empty, the sooner you'll know I had nothing to do with it." The capsule sparked, blaring an alarm which made them jump. "Didn't happen last time."

"It hadn't crashed last time. They're the emergency protocols."

"Doctor, what is that?" Rose asked.

Clara looked over at the large red gate, which was beginning to rattle. "We're going to have company. Captain secure those gates!" She ordered.

"Why-"

"Just do it!" Jack flinched but ran to the fence gates, closing and chaining them shut. "Nancy, how did you get in here?"

"I cut the wire."

"Show Rose."

The Doctor pulled out the sonic and tossed it to Rose. "Setting 2,428D."

"What?"

"Reattaches barbed wire. Go!" They rushed over to the side, kneeling at the fence. Nancy held up the cut wire while Rose used the sonic, reattaching each end together.

"Who are you?" Nancy asked. "Who are any of you?"

"You'd never believe me if I told you."

"You just told me that was an ambulance from another world. There are people running around with gas-mask heads, calling for their mummies and the sky's full of Germans dropping bombs on me. Tell me, do you think there's anything left I couldn't believe?"

"The Doctor and Clara aren't together?" Rose quipped.

Nancy rolled her eyes. "Apart from that."

"We're time travellers from the future."

"Mad, you are."

"We have a time travel machine. Seriously."

"It's not that." Nancy sighed as they finished their work, yet they didn't move. "All right, you got a time travel machine. I believe ya. Believe anything, me. But what future?" She nodded to the sky.

Rose grasped her shoulder, making Nancy look at her. "Nancy, this isn't the end. I know how it looks, but it's not the end of the world or anything."

"How can you say that? Look at it."

"Listen to me. I was born in this city. I'm from here in like 50 years' time."

"From here?"

"I'm a Londoner, from your future."

"But…but you're not…"

"Not what?"

"German."

"Nancy, the Germans don't come here, they don't win. Don't tell anyone I told you so, but do you know what? You win."

"We win?"

Rose nodded, making Nancy smile in relief. "Come on." She nodded, leading them back to the others, where Jack had joined them and just opened the capsule.

"It's empty. Look at it." Jack said, motioning inside which was indeed empty.

"What do you expect in a Chula medical transporter? Bandages? Cough drops? Rose." The Doctor nodded to her.

"I don't know."

"Yes, you do." He held up a hand.

Rose's eyes widened. "Nanogenes."

"It wasn't empty, Captain. There was enough Nanogenes in there to rebuild a species."

Jack breathed out loud, his shoulders slouching. "Oh god." He mumbled.

"Getting it now, are we?" He growled, making Jack gulp. "When the ship crashes, the Nanogenes escape. Billions upon billions of them, ready to fix all the cuts and bruises in the whole world. But what they find first is a dead child, killed earlier that night and wearing a gas mask."

"And they brought him back to life? They can do that?" Rose blinked.

"What's life? Life's easy. A quirk of matter. It's nature's way of keeping meat fresh. Nothing to a Nanogene. One problem: These Nanogenes aren't like the ones on your ship. This lot have never seen a Human being before. They don't know what a Human's supposed to look like. All they've got to go on is one little body and there's not a lot left. But they carry right on. They do what they're programmed to do, they patch it up. Can't tell what's gas mask and what's skull but they do their best and off they fly, off they go, work to be done. Cause you see, now they know what people should look like and it's time to fix all the rest and they won't ever stop. They won't ever, ever stop. The entire Human Race is going to be torn down and rebuilt in the form of one terrified child looking for its mother and nothing in the world can stop it!"

"I didn't know!" Jack said simply. The Doctor clenched his jaw, Clara grasping his hand to calm him. Jack ran his hands over his face in guilt, moving off to the side briefly as he took it all in.

"Rose!" Nancy called. Rose ran over but the other three didn't need to look to see what was coming, as the incoherent yells of 'Mummy' grew closer.

"The ship thinks it's under attack, isn't it?" Clara asked. "That's why it's bringing the gas-mask people here."

"I'm afraid so. It's just standard protocol.

"But the gas-mask people aren't troops." Rose argued.

"They are now. This is a battlefield ambulance. The Nanogenes don't just fix you up, they get you ready for the frontline, equip you and program you."

"That's why the child's so strong. Why it could do that phoning thing." Rose concluded.

"He's now a fully equipped Chula warrior, yes. All that weapons tech in the hands of a hysterical four-year-old, looking for his mummy and now there's an army of them."

"Why don't they attack?" Jack asked.

"Soldiers wait for their commander." Clara answered.

"The child?" Jack deducted.

"Jamie." Nancy said.

"Sorry?"

"Not 'The child', Jamie."

"So, how long until the bomb falls?" Rose asked.

"Any second." Jack answered.

"What's the matter, Captain? Bit close to the volcano for you?" Clara sassed, making his guilt increase.

"He's just a little boy." Nancy said sadly.

"I know."

"He's just a little boy who wants his mummy."

"There isn't a boy born who wouldn't tear the world apart to save his mummy and this one can."

"So, what're we going to do?" Rose asked.

"I don't know." The Doctor said simply.

"It's my fault."

"No." Clara shook her head.

"It is. It's all my fault." Nancy choked as tears came into her eyes.

"How can it be your-"

" **Mummy! Mummy! Mummy! Mummy! Mummy! Mummy! Mummy! Mummy!"**

Clara blinked, turning back to the Doctor who also realized, nodding to her. Clara turned to Nancy with a soft look.

"Nancy, what age are you?" She didn't answer. "20? 21? Older than you look, yes?"

The bombs started drawing closer, making them flinch slightly.

"Doctor, that bomb. We've got seconds." Jack informed.

"You can teleport us out." Rose said.

"Not you guys. The Navcom's back online. It's going to take too long to override the protocols."

"So, it's volcano day. Do what you've got to do." The Doctor said simply.

"Jack." Rose said bluntly. He gave her an apologetic look before teleporting away.

"How old were you 5 years ago? 15? 16? Old enough to give birth, anyway. He's not your brother, is he?" Nancy shook her head weakly. "A teenage single mother in 1941. So, you hid. You lied. You even lied to him."

The gates slammed open, Jamie standing there at the front of the horde.  **"Are you my Mummy?"**  He asked, his voice quieting everyone else down into silence as he strode towards them, alone.

"He's going to keep asking, Nancy. He's never going to stop."

" **Mummy."**

"Tell him." Nancy gave her a look that screamed 'How?'. "Nancy, the future of humanity is in your hands. Trust me and tell him."

" **Are you my Mummy?"**  Nancy turned and started walking towards Jamie.  **"Are you my Mummy? Are you my Mummy?"**

"Yes. Yes, I am your mummy." Nancy choked.

" **Mummy?"**

"I'm here."

" **Are you my Mummy?"**

"I'm here." Nancy knelt before him, who stopped moving just to stare at her.

" **Are you my Mummy?"**

"Yes."

" **Are you my Mummy?"**

Nancy took a deep breath. "I am your mummy. I will always be your mummy. I'm so sorry." She pulled Jamie into a hug, causing Nanogenes to circle around them. "I am so, so sorry."

"What's happening?" Rose asked. "Doctor, it's changing her, we should-"

"Shh!" Clara shushed her as they watched.

"Come on, please." The Doctor implored. "Come on, you clever little Nanogenes, figure it out. The mother. She's the mother. That's got to be enough information. Please, figure it out." The Nanogenes stopped circling, then disappearing away, making the Doctor rush over, Nancy loosening the hug. "Oh, come on. Give me a day like this. Give me this one." He took hold of the gas mask and pulled it off, revealing a bewildered Jamie underneath, staring at them with wide eyes. "Ha ha! Ha ha!" The Doctor laughed, grasping Jamie and holding him up in a hug, everyone else gaining grins as they watched. "Welcome back! 20 years till pop music. You're going to love it! Ha ha!" Jamie blinked despite his grin.

"What happened?" A relieved Nancy asked.

"The Nanogenes recognised the superior information, the parent DNA. They didn't change you because you changed them." He handed Jamie to Nancy, who hugged him tight. "Mother knows best." He grinned.

"Jamie." Nancy cried in joy into his shoulder.

The bombs grew even closer, making Rose gulp. "Doctor, that bomb."

"Taken care of it."

"How?"

"Psychology." They heard the whistling of the bomb falling, looking up to see it coming closer before Jack's ship appeared above it, firing the tractor beam onto the bomb and stopping it in mid-air. Jack appeared on the bomb, looking down on them with a grin.

"Doctor!"

"Good lad!" The Doctor nodded at him.

"The bomb's already commenced detonation. I've put in stasis, but it won't last long."

"Change of plan, don't need the bomb. Can you get rid of it? Safely as you can."

Jack nodded. "Rose?"

"Yeah?" She called.

"Goodbye." He disappeared for a moment before reappearing again. "By the way, love the t-shirt." Rose pulled down the shirt with a shy smile. "And Clara?" Clara looked at him. "He's lucky to have you, you know. You are gorgeous." He winked, making her grin cheekily at him. Jack disappeared again with the tractor beam as his ship flew off into the sky.

The Doctor stepped forward, holding up his hands which were now being circled by Nanogenes, making everyone look at him in awe.

"What're you doing?" Clara asked.

"Software patch. Going to e-mail the upgrade. You want move, Clara? I'll give you moves." He clicked both hands, sending the Nanogenes towards the horde, who stumbled to the ground for a moment, before they slowly stood up, taking off their gas masks. "Everybody lives, Clara. Just this once! Everybody lives!" They laughed with joy as he rushed forward to the group, one of the people standing up being a full recovered Constantine. "Dr. Constantine, who never left his patients. Back on your feet, constant doctor. World doesn't want to get by without you just yet and I don't blame it one bit. These are you patients, all better now."

Constantine looked around incredulously. "Yes. Yes, so it seems. They also seem to be standing around in a disused railway station. Is there any particular reason for that?"

"Well…c-c-cutbacks." The Doctor stammered sheepishly. "Listen, whatever was wrong with them in the past, you're probably going to find that they're cured. Just tell them what a great doctor you are. Don't make a big thing of it, okay?" He grinned at him before rushing off, making Constantine blink.

"Dr. Constantine." He turned around with shock to see an old woman approaching him.

"Mrs. Harcourt. How much better you are looking."

"My leg's grown back. When I came to the hospital, I had one leg."

"Well, there is a war on. Is it…possible you miscounted?" Constantine shrugged, making her blink for a few moments.

"Right, you lot! Lots to do, beat the Germans! Save the world! Don't forget the welfare state!" The Doctor called to them, making Constantine smile before they all starting to move away from the area. He knelt on the capsule, inputting code into the computer. "Setting this to self-destruct, soon as everybody's clear. History says there was an explosion here. Who am I to argue with history?"

"You're the first in line." Clara quipped, making him wink at her.

* * *

They rushed back inside the TARDIS, the Doctor racing around the console with a beaming grin.

"The Nanogenes will clean up the mess and switch themselves off, because I just told them to. Nancy and Jamie will go to Dr. Constantine for help, ditto. All in all, all things considered, fantastic!"

"Look at you, beaming away like you're Father Christmas." Rose grinned as Clara laughed.

"Who says I'm not? Red bicycle when you were 12." He mouthed 'Her idea', pointing to Clara.

"What?" Rose blinked.

"And everybody lives, Clara! Everybody lives! I need more days like this."

"Doctor…" Rose started.

"Go on, ask me anything. I'm on fire!"

"What about Jack?" He paused, looking at her sombrely. "Why'd he say goodbye?" The Doctor said nothing, still working on the console.

"Doctor." Clara grasped his arm, making him stop to look at her. "One chance. Give him one chance." She said simply. He stared at her in deep contemplation, weighing the two choices.

* * *

"Okay, computer. How long can we keep the bomb in stasis?" Jack asked as he sat in the Captain's chair, his ship flying through space.

" _ **Stasis decaying at 90% cycle. Detonation in three minutes."**_

"Can we jettison it?"

" _ **Any attempt to jettison the device will precipitate detonation. 100% probability."**_

Jack blinked for a moment as his heart stopped. "We could stick it in an escape pod."

" _ **There is no escape pod on board."**_

"Okay, I see the flaw in that. I'll get in the escape pod."

" _ **There is no escape pod on board."**_

"Did you check everywhere?"

" _ **Affirmative."**_

"Under the sink!"

" _ **Affirmative."**_

He sighed. "Okay, out of 100, exactly how dead am I?"

" _ **Termination of Captain Jack Harkness in under two minutes. 100% probability."**_

"Lovely. Thanks. Good to know the numbers." He grumbled sarcastically.

" _ **You're welcome."**_

"Okay then. I think we'd better initiate emergency protocol 417."

" _ **Affirmative."**_  On a small pad nearby, a martini with an olive appeared, making him smirk as he grabbed it and took a sip.

"Ohh, a little too much vermouth. See if I come here again. *Chuckles* Funny thing. The last time I was sentenced to death, I ordered four hyper-vodkas for my breakfast. All a bit of a blur after that. Woke up in bed with both my executioners." He popped the olive into his mouth. "Hmm, lovely couple. They stayed in touch. *Chuckles* You can't say that about most executioners. Anyway…thanks for everything, computer." He raised his glass in a toast. "It's been great." He downed the glass in one gulp, relaxing back into his chair, closing his eyes and entering a calm state of peace. The jazz music playing in the background helped.  _Wait, jazz music?_  He turned the seat around to see the TARDIS doors open, the Doctor and Clara awkwardly waltzing at the console while Rose waved her hand.

"Well, hurry up then!" She called, making him rush through the doors, pausing as he took it all in with surprise.

"Okay, and…turn." The Doctor failed that, getting her arm caught. "Oi! Watch it!"

"Sorry." He grumbled.

"Try to do it again and this time, don't get my arm caught up my back, please?"

Rose scoffed. "Obviously. There's no extra points for a half-nelson."

"I'm sure I used to know this stuff." The Doctor grumbled before he looked at Jack. "Close the door, will you? Your ship's about to blow up, there's going to be a draft." Jack closed the door as the Doctor piloted them away. "Welcome to the TARDIS."

He nodded slowly. "Much bigger on the inside."

"You'd better be." The Doctor teased, making Jack mock glare at him.

"What the Doctor is trying to say, you may join us." Clara said, holding her hand, which he took with a smirk.

"Don't worry, there's enough room in this gorgeous girl for all of us." Rose giggled, making them grin.

"Clara! I've just remembered." The Doctor said, beaming a grin at her.

"Remembered what?"

He changed to a more upbeat song, clicking his fingers in tune. "I can dance. I can dance."

"Doctor, I think Jack would like a dance, you know, to welcome him on board?"

"I'm sure he would, Clara. But who with?" Clara bit her lip to hide her giggling before she took his outstretched hand, the two now dancing much more fluidly. Jack and Rose leaned against each other, chuckling as they watched.

"They may be children, but at least they're fun." Jack whispered.

"That they are." The two shared a grin.

"Ooh!" Clara yelped in surprise as the Doctor dipped her, making them laugh as they stopped dancing. "You so did that because you were jealous!" She giggled.

"I was not jealous, missy." He denied despite his grin.

"Yeah, sure." She leaned her head on him as Rose and Jack clapped, making them mock bow at them. "The pleasure was all ours." Clara said.

"Shut up, you!" Rose quipped, the four laughing as the song came to an end.

**AN: Welcome to the TARDIS indeed, Jack. Anyway, thanks for reading a leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	21. Nightmare in Silver

The TARDIS materialised inside a large room, modelled after the moon landing, complete with American flag in the centre. The four stepped out of the TARDIS, looking around in confusion. Clara exited last, now dressed in a white shirt, black jeans and a long, leather jacket with her hair tied up in a small bun and crimson lipstick.

"First time out and we go to an amusement park?" Jack grumbled.

"Oi! I promised you a time-space machine, so here we are. Hedgewick's World. The biggest and best amusement park there will ever be."

"Doctor why are we here?" Clara asked.

"We've got a golden ticket." He said obviously, handing her said ticket. She gave him a 'Are you kidding me?' look. "What? I like amusement parks." He grinned childishly. "What's wrong with amusement parks?"

"You're too old for them?"

"No, I'm not, missy." He reprimanded.

"What part of the ride would this be?"

"Anti-gravity." Jack answered, making the Doctor look at him with raised eyebrows. "What? It's the moon, so it'll be anti-gravity."

The Doctor blinked a few times. "Okay, you've got me there."

"Psst!" They turned around to see a man in a top hat emerging out of a door in the wall. "Excuse me. I don't suppose you happen to be my lift off planet? Dave's Discount Interstellar Removals?"

"Afraid not." Clara shook her head.

"Yeah, they were meant to be here six months ago. Well, that's Dave for you, you see? Unreliable." He rolled his eyes.

" _Stay where you are!"_

"Oh dear." He closed the door as soldiers came running into the room, surrounding the four.

"Throw down your weapons and identify yourselves!" The leader, a blonde woman ordered.

"Great. More guns." The Doctor rolled his eyes at Clara, who nodded with a blank look.

"Who are you? This planet is closed by Imperial order."

"How about this?" The Doctor winked at Clara, pulling out the psychic paper and making the blonde's eyes widen.

"Oh. Welcome, Proconsul. Wish they'd told us you were coming. Does the Emperor bring us any new orders?"

"No, I'm afraid not."

She looked down in disappointment. "Of course. Then we shall have to stick to our current orders. If you need any help, my platoon will gladly be of assistance."

"Very much appreciated." He grinned. "Well, carry on, Captain."

She saluted him, making him inwardly wince. "Platoon! Let's move out." She ordered, making the soldiers rush out with her. "Come on! Two, three, four! Two, three, four!"

"God, I hate saluting." The Doctor groaned to Clara when they left.

"Sometimes, I don't blame you."

"Well then, Doctor…" Jack started, making him turn before recoiling as Jack saluted him.

"Please don't." He whined.

"You shouldn't have said anything." Jack gave a sly smirk. The wall door opened again, the man coming out with a shy look.

"Have they gone? Sorry, it's the uniforms. They give me the heebie-jeebies." He shuddered. "Come on." He motioned the group to follow him. They opened a large door, revealing the abandoned and ruined amusement park outside. "They can't stop me being here, but they don't like it."

"I told you it was amazing." The Doctor said, his tone growing lower. "Well, it used to be."

"It closed down. Wish I'd known that before I landed here. Let me show you my collection. Follow me." He led them into a large, authentic room, complete with artefacts, outfits and models alike. "Welcome to my ship, Webley's World of Wonders. Miracles, marvels and more await you. I am Impresario Webley. You see before you waxwork representations of the famous and the infamous." Webley thought for a moment as they glanced around. "Do any of you play chess?" The Doctor raised his hand childishly, but Webley pointed to Rose. "Do you, my dear?"

"Ummm…yeah. I've played." Rose said with slight uncertainty.

Webley motioned them into a large room, where a chess table was set up with a clothed figure in one seat. "Now, let me demonstrate to you all the wonder of the age, the miracle of modernity. We defeated them all a thousand years ago but now he's back to destroy us all." He said dramatically, making them snigger. "Behold…the enemy!" He pulled the cloth, revealing a Cyberman staring at them.

"Cyberman! Get down!" The Doctor yelled, making them duck.

"What're you doing?" Webley asked. "There's no need to panic, my friends. We all know there are no more living Cybermen. What you are seeing is a miracle. The 699th wonder of the universe…well…as displayed before the Imperial Court. Right now, he's only here to destroy you…at chess." He motioned to the table. "He is free of all devices, but he has never been beaten."

"I'm sorry, what?" Rose blinked.

"You, my dear are going to fight this Cyberman at chess." He pulled Rose to sit down at the table. "Now, I would charge you for this game…but I'm afraid we haven't had many people here, so until there is more visitors, we're making it temporarily free."

"Lucky me then." Rose quipped.

"However, there is a reward involved if you also answer the riddle. The Cyberman sitting in front of you is dead. Completely braindead with no activity and yet…he moves. You will get three Imperial Pennies if you beat the Cybermen at chess, however if you can guess the riddle, whether you can beat it or not…you gain one Imperial Penny. Now, you are on the starting side so, what will be your first move?"

The trio behind her moved up in anticipation.

"Stop that, you're not helping." Rose mocked growled, making them chuckle.

"Sorry." Jack backed off with his hands raised, despite his grin. Rose bit her lip before moving her hand out to start the match.

_Pawn to G4._

**Pawn to D5**

_Pawn to B4_

**Bishop to G4, eliminates Pawn**

_Pawn to E4_

**Bishop to D1, eliminates Queen**

They winced as that happened.

"Dammit." Rose grumbled.

_King to D1, eliminates Bishop_

**Pawn to E4, eliminates Pawn**

_Pawn to B5_

**Queen to D4**

_Pawn to H4_

**Queen to A1, eliminates Castle**

_Knight to C3_

**Knight to F6**

_Pawn to H6_

**Knight to D7**

_Castle to H4_

**Castle to D8, makes King move to C8**

_Castle to E4_

**Knight to E4, eliminates Castle**

_Knight to E4, eliminates Knight_

"Is that technically cannibalism?" Jack quipped.

"Probably." The Doctor smirked.

"Hush." A nervous Rose snaps.

"Sorry." They say in unison.

"You've got this." Clara rubs Rose's shoulder.

"Thanks." She smiles.

**Pawn to E6**

_Knight to G5_

**Knight to E5**

_Knight to F7, eliminates Pawn_

**Knight to F7, eliminates Knight**

_Knight to F3_

**Bishop to A3**

_King to E2_

**Queen to C1, eliminates Bishop**

_Bishop to H3_

**Knight to G5**

_Bishop to E6_

**Knight to E6, eliminates Bishop**

_Knight to H4_

**Knight to G5**

_Knight to G6_

**Castle to E8. Check**

"Oh dear." The Doctor mumbled.

_Knight to E5_

**Castle to E5, eliminates Knight. Checkmate**

"Dammit!" Rose growls, making them jump slightly. "Sorry." She mumbles.

"Well, better luck next time." Jack said.

"Sorry, my dear. But…you can still get a penny if you solve the riddle."

Rose thinks for a moment.

"It has to be-Ow!" Clara cuts the Doctor off by elbowing him in the ribs.

"Shush!" She reprimanded.

Rose clicked her fingers. "Remote control?"

Webley grinned. "Correct, my dear." He tossed her an Imperial Penny before moving to the table and opened a panel, revealing tech inside wired to the Cyberman. "An artificial intelligence designed to play chess, using the Cyberman as a puppet."

"That's…not bad." Rose nodded.

"As long as it wasn't living." The Doctor muttered.

"Speaking of which, I have two more Cybermen in my collection." Webley led them to two models that were covered in cloth, which he pulled to reveal two more Cybermen. "These ones however are completely stone dead. Frankly that's something to be thankful about. A living Cyberman wouldn't end well for anybody."

"That's rather true." Jack nodded.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "You know of the Cybermen?"

"Well, I've heard of them, when I was a Time Agent. But we've been careful not to encounter them."

"Good choice."

"Who's that meant to be?" Clara pointed to another model, which was a man dressed in Roman inspired clothing.

"Emperor Ludens Nimrod Kendrick, etc., etc. the 41st." Jack informed her. "Known as the Defender of Humanity and the Imperator of known space."

"He looks a bit full of himself."

"A lot of leaders are." The Doctor said distantly. He moved closer to the Cybermen, seeing something moving on under its armour. He plucked it between two fingers, causing a small sound like squealing which he pulled out, revealing a small, metallic insect writhing about. Jack's eyes widened as he looked at it.

"Doctor, is that-"

"I'm afraid so." They exchanged a grim look.

"What's going on?" Clara whispered.

"It's a Cybermite. They're the Cybermen's spies…and I don't think they're quite as extinct as they seem. Webley?" He called, attracting said man's attention. "Where are the soldiers?"

Webley blinked. "They're at the barracks."

"Doctor, why do we need soldiers?" Rose asked.

"Because these Cybermen are a fully-fledged empire. And if my hunch is correct, they're not dead. They're dormant. Come on." He led them out of the room, Webley staring at them incredulously.

"Well, don't bring the soldiers here." He mumbled, heading over to the chess table to reset the pieces. "At this rate, I'll have to start charging people again when they come here. Of course, it's hard to do that when barely anybody comes." The Cyberman in front of him grasped onto his arms, holding him in place while his heart rate rocketed through the roof. "That's not funny. I didn't program you to do that. Let go of my hands!" He demanded fearfully. Cybermites came out of the Cyberman's head, crawling down and across Webley's arms, starting to scurry across his face, making him tremble. "Please, get off!" He cried.

" **Where did the new arrivals go to?"**  The Cyberman demanded.

"What?" He cried. "You shouldn't be able-"

" **Where are they going?"**

"The barracks! Now please, just let me go!"

" **Upgrade in progress."**

"Aaaaaah!" He cried in agony as the Cybermites burrowed into his face.

* * *

"Was this really the biggest amusement park in the universe?" Rose asked Jack as the group walked through a large, ruined warehouse.

"Yeah. Hedgewick had bought the planet cheap. It had been ravaged during the Cyberwars."

"And who were they fighting?"

"Cybermen. They see themselves as Humanity's next evolution. They're stronger, faster, can adapt to survive at a greater rate and they're amongst the greatest fighters in the universe. You can fight to a draw, then they'd upgrade. Fix the weaknesses and then destroy you."

"An enemy that can use your army as spare parts?"

"Afraid so. Some early Cybermen could be disabled by gold or cleaning fluid but they long since countered that."

"But we won." Clara interjected. "We wouldn't be here if they didn't win. How?"

Jack opened a large door outside and pointed up at the sky, at a swirling mass of white cloud surrounding a large, empty, black space. "Look up there, at that corner of the sky. What do you see?"

"Nothing. It's just black. No stars, nothing."

"It used to be the Tiberian Spiral Galaxy. Millions of star systems, a hundred million planets and a billion trillion people. But it's not there anymore. All because the Cybermen appeared."

"That's horrible." Rose said.

"Yeah. I feel bad about it myself." He said, looking down.

"Why?" Clara asked.

"Because instead of mourning a billion trillion dead people, I just feel sorry for whoever had to press the button to blow it all up."

Clara glanced at the Doctor, who gave her a sad look before they walked away.

* * *

Inside the barracks, a female soldier approached the blonde Captain with a large device.

"I can't fix this."

"It can't be broken. It's a solid state sub-ether ansible-class communicator. Just run the diagnostics."

"There's nothing left to diagnose. It's not broken, it's empty. All the components are gone."

"Well, we must have replacement parts somewhere."

"Not enough to build a new one." The Captain sighed, running a hand over her face as another soldier approached.

"Captain, the weather controller is malfunctioning again. There's storms, heatwaves, snow." The door to the barracks opened, the TARDIS crew marching inside.

"Ah, Captain, what was your name?" The Doctor asked.

"Alice Ferrin."

"Well, Captain Alice…we've got a problem." He pulled out the dead Cybermite.

Her eyes widened. "That's got to be prop. All the Cybermen are extinct."

"There's a difference between dead and dormant Captain. Now, if the Cybermen are using Cybermites, what would they be looking for? Think."

Alice blinked, staring off for a moment. "They'd be scanning the brainwaves of everyone they can find to locate a host for the Cyber-Planner."

"What's a Cyber-Planner?" Rose asked.

"Think of him as the Cybermen's Emperor."

***Slam***

They looked over to the door, seeing a Cyberman standing there, staring at them.

"Cyberman!" Alice yells, getting all the soldiers attention. "Attack formation!" She orders, the soldiers grabbing their guns and lining up, cocking their rifles towards the Cyberman.

"Aaah!" One soldier runs towards the Cyberman with a large, metal Warhammer, brining it down upon the Cyberman's head, but it catches the Warhammer before it makes impact.

"No!" Alice yells fruitlessly as the Cyberman grabs the soldier's neck with one hand, lifting him off the ground while tossing the Warhammer aside.

The Cyberman turns its head to stare at Clara, before straightening its back.  **"Target located."**  It snaps the soldiers neck, sending him collapsing to the ground.

"Open fire!" In unison, they pull their triggers, causing the lasers to impact upon the Cyberman's body, damaging and denting it.

" **Upgrade in progress."**  The armour on its body pops out small fins, before it rushes forward at immense speed, passing through the laser bolts in mid-air and straight towards Clara. Clenching its fist, it charges an electrical shock before grasping Clara by the head, the shock sending her straight into unconsciousness before it lifted her body up and carried her out of sight.

"That's a Cyberman. A real Cyberman." Alice breathes.

"We need to find a place to hold up. If there are more Cybermen, they'll be sending reinforcements." The Doctor says, pacing up the room. "Captain, what's a good place on this planet that can be fortified?"

"Natty Longshoe's Comical Castle. Because…it's a castle." She shrugged.

"Fair point. Get any weapons and technology you have in here and take them to the castle."

"Doctor, where's Clara?" Rose asked.

He spun around, gazing frantically around the room but couldn't find a sign. "Clara? Clara?!" He yelled. "Clara?!"

"Sir, we need to get to the castle."

"I can't leave Clara! I need to find her!"

"We need to regroup at the castle. Then, we can send a squad to look for her but until then, we can't do anything."

"Then I'll look for her myself." He said sternly.

"Doctor…don't." Jack warned, stepping in his way.

"Get out of my way-"

"Doctor!" Jack yelled, silencing him. "Get everyone to the castle, then we look for Clara. All right?"

The Doctor clenched his jaw before nodding. "Fine." He spat as he went with the soldiers to gather their equipment.

"Will she be alright?" Rose asked.

"I…I don't know." Jack answered. Rose took a deep breath while Jack turned to Alice. "Captain correct me if I'm wrong, but I take it that your platoon doesn't do much fighting."

"What do you expect?"

"What?" Rose asked.

"We're a punishment platoon. That's why the Empire sent us out here, so we can't get into trouble."

"Why did you get sent out here?" Rose asked.

"We didn't follow orders." Alice simply said.

"Captain, can we report this to said Empire?" Jack asked.

"No communicators. I'm afraid we're on our own." She looked over at the Doctor. "Will he be fine? Those two seemed rather…"

"Close?" Alice nodded. "He won't be fine if we can't find her. Either way, we need to hurry before the Cybermen catch up."

"Sir." She saluted before moving off. "Quickly everyone! Only take what we need!" She ordered.

* * *

Clara's head rolled as she groaned, emerging from the drowsiness of sleep. She blinked a few times before opening her eyes, which slowly widened as she took in her new surroundings of a large, steel room with blue lighting. She tried to move, however she found her legs and arms restrained to the chair she sat in. Filled with bewilderment and fear, she gasped as she saw Webley standing before her, however he had steel across half his face, which beeped repeatedly with a blue light as he stared down at her, emotionless.

"Where am I?" She asked, her fear growing by the second.

He merely smirked, despite his emotionless gaze. "We needed children, but the children had stopped coming. However, you will do nicely until we can acquire him."

"Where am I?" She repeated.

"Oh, don't worry about where we are, my dear." He mocked cooed. "You are sorely needed."

"Where am I?! What do you want with me?!" She cried.

"Hush." He placed a finger on his lips. "Listen carefully. As the battle raged between humanity and the Cyberiad, the Cyber-Planners built a Valkyrie to save critically damaged units, bring them here and one by one, repair them."

"That's where all those missing people are at, then?" She asked, anger growing to side with her terror. "You use them as scrap?"

"Ohh, that's putting it harshly. They're used to repair the army until we can acquire a new leader. Someone with a marvellous brain to be host to the new Cyber-Planner. And since we've had all this time to ourselves, we've spent so long upgrading our units. The next model will be undefeatable."

"So, why am I here?"

"We found that the perfect host for a Cyber-Planner was children. The infinite potential found within their brains was perfect for our needs. However, we no longer have need for them. The Cybermites have been scanning the brains of you and your friends. The blonde and the Time Agent are useless to us however, you and the Time Lord…you are perfect. The Time Lord's biology is utterly unique. An unfamiliar pulmonary setup, hyper conductive nervous system and remarkable brain processing speed. However, there is but one small problem…"

Clara smirked boldly. "You don't know how to convert him?"

"I'm afraid so. Cybermen take very few people, sometimes only one, but enough to scan and identify the species and how to convert them to our army. So very long ago, we started with just Humans, but we've evolved since then. Time Lords however, we've never encountered and since you're friend is the only one we've found, well…we're not going to waste him on simple knowledge gathering."

"Do I need to ask again? Why am I here?"

"Haven't you figured it out?" Clara blinked at him. "You are here because without the Time Lord, you are the next best candidate for the Cyber-Planner. But we've noticed how…close you two are. If there is anyone on this planet that knows Time Lord biology, it would be you."

"What makes you think that I will tell you?"

Webley chuckled darkly, before reaching into his pockets and pulling out two handfuls of living Cybermites. "You don't need to." He said simply.

"Don't you dare." She warned. "Don't you dare!" He threw the Cybermites onto her body, which crawled over her clothes, making her tremble as she tried to shake them off. "Get them off!" She cried fruitlessly until they reached her face and started to burrow themselves. "Aaah! Stop it! Doctor! Help me! Aaah!" She screamed in agony as they drilled and drilled until-

Clara blinked as she found herself in a dark space, surrounded by symbols, with memories of her whole past from childhood to now fluttering about.

" _Untie me, Webley."_  She blinked as she heard her own voice, yet the tone was ice cold.

"Get out of my head." She growled, receiving no answer.

" _How marvellous. *Chuckles* Dear me, this girl's brain is a mess. The hormones are off the charts. I'd have to completely rework the neural interface to do anything in here. But she is remarkably clever and oh the things she's seen. Amazing."_

Clara clenched her fist, gaining control of her body where she found it was standing and untied from the chair. "Get out of my head!" She demanded before she lost control. "Stop going through my mind!" She yelled, spinning around inside the empty space before stopping with a shock. Before her stood an exact replica of herself, yet with half a face of silver steel and eyes pitch black, sending cold shivers down her spine.

"You can try to stop me." Cyber Clara smirked coldly. She closed her eyes, causing pain to shoot through Clara as the memories and thoughts of her and the Doctor sped through her mind. "Clara, Clara, Clara." She tutted. "The dreams you've had of this man. Blimey, I'd blush if I actually felt anything." Clara cried as more pain shot through her, the memories now of her parents and Danny. "Dear me, you let your own parents die? You distracted your own boyfriend to his death? That is just-"

"Enough!" Clara yelled. After a moment, Cyber Clara's eyes widened before an impressed smile came onto her face.

"A complete mental block. You're learning, dear." She shrugged impassively. "Of course, I've got to get past it so it's rather a waste of time."

"What is this place? A hive? You're getting signals from every Cyberman in your whole army."

"Aw, relax Clara." She fake cooed. "If you just relax, you'll find this a perfectly pleasant experience. You're being incorporated into the Cyberiad as a Cyber-Planner."

"Get out of my head!" Clara yelled.

"Sorry. No can do, Clara. You have information that I need. Just give me what you know, and I'll set you free." She implored.

"No." Clara growled, her fear now being replaced by anger.

Cyber Clara clenched her jaw. "Then I'll have to break through your mental block to acquire that information. And once I'm done, your body will be completely useless, your brain melted away."

"And with it, the information."

Cyber Clara blinked. "What?"

Clara smirked. "You were too busy taunting me that you weren't actually looking for what you wanted. And if you try to attack my brain, which would kill me, I would quite literally take that secret to the grave. And along with it, you would die too. Webley said it himself, none of those other people are capable of being a Cyber-Planner host, so if I die and you don't get the information…your army would remain asleep. How long are they willing to wait until they can get a capable leader?" Clara taunted.

Cyber Clara clenched her fists in contained rage before sighing. "Give me one form of proof that you have the information I require."

"Fine. I'll allow you access to memories of Time Lord regeneration." Clara closed her eyes, allowing the faces of all nine Doctors to float through her head. Opening her eyes again, she stared defiantly at Cyber Clara. "Proof enough?"

"Yes. Now, Clara, Clara, Clara." Cyber Clara drawled, making her roll her eyes. "Only one of us can control this head and we're at a stalemate. You better think of something fast or I will risk losing it all for killing you."

Clara squinted her eyes before contemplating. "Stalemate." She muttered. "How much of this brain do each of us control?"

"49.881%. 0.238 is still in the balance. You should consider yourself lucky, your number was lower a minute ago." Cyber Clara said smugly.

Clara ignored the taunt. "Do you play chess?"

Cyber Clara cocked an eyebrow. "The rules of chess are in my memory banks. You're proposing that we play chess to end the stalemate?"

"Winner takes all. Neither of us can gain that portion of the brain without winning." Cyber Clara smirked before holding out her hand. "Ah-ah-ah." Clara tutted, making Cyber Clara's jaw clench. "First, the stakes."

"If I win, I can the entire of your brain without a fight, and along with everything you know about Time Lords."

"If I win, you leave my brain, deactivate yourself, your army and leave my friends and those soldiers alive and unharmed. Do we have terms and think very carefully before you answer. If you gain the Doctor's body, he could regenerate right then and there. That would burn you out of his head along with every single Cyberman that your connected to."

Cyber Clara went silent for a few moments before grinning coldly. "Oh, I'm sure of what I want."

"Then we have terms?" Clara held out her hand.

"We have terms." Cyber Clara shook her hand, then closed her eyes to gain control of her body.  _"Webley. Bring us a chess set."_

Clara jerked as she felt control of her body again, where in front of her on a table sat the readied chess set.

" _Your move."_

_Pawn to D4_

**Knight to F6**

_Pawn to G4_

**Pawn to H6**

_Pawn to B4_

**Pawn to E5**

_Pawn to E5, eliminates Pawn_

**Knight to G4, eliminates Pawn**

"There. That was easy."

"The game has just started." Clara rolled her eyes.

_Pawn to F3_

**Queen to H4, check**

"Oh." Clara mouths.

"Your on a slippery slope now, Clara. You know that you can't win." Cyber Clara taunted.

"I know things you don't." Clara smirked, slyly reaching her hand into her pocket. "For example, did you know that very early in the evolution of the Cybermen, they could be disabled by exposure to certain elements like gold or cleaning fluid? What's interesting and slightly moronic is that you're still running that code."

Cyber Clara laughed with dark joy. "Really? That's your secret weapon? Cleaning fluid?"

"Nope. Gold." She smacked the golden ticket onto the steel part of her face, paralyzing Cyber Clara. "Oh, thank you Captain Jack." She sighed in relief.

"What're you doing?" Webley protested.

"Don't you dare." Clara warned and this time, he listened. "I've still got a chess game to finish but I also have friends that I need to get to. So, if you don't mind Webley, where are my friends?"

"Natty Longshoe's Comical Castle."

"Then we're going to find them."

* * *

Closing the gates to the large medieval castle, Jack and Rose walked up to the Doctor, who was standing on a balcony overlooking the outer courtyard.

"Doctor?" Jack tried, not getting a response. "Doctor?"

"What?" He spat.

"We'll get her back. Okay?" The Doctor ignored him. "Okay?" He repeated.

"Okay."

Jack sighed. "Stay with him, Rose."

Rose nodded slightly as Jack moved off to the soldiers. "Alright. What do we have for weapons?" Alice motioned to all their rifles and a large beam cannon. "Only one Cyber gun?"

Alice sighed. "The Cybermen have been extinct for a thousand years. Even one anti-Cyber gun is a miracle. We're lucky the rifles can actually damage them."

"Yes, until they upgrade to make them redundant."

Alice sighed before pulling out small devices out of the cases. "These are hand pulsers. Touch the back of a Cyberman's head, the electromagnetic pulse deactivates it."

"Then be sure everyone gets one." Jack saw a small case with a black device inside. "What's this?"

"The last resort. By official Imperial order, if we can't kill any identified Cybermen, we implode the planet."

"We only use it if we have no other choice. Is that clear?"

Alice rolled her eyes slightly before sighing. "Yes sir."

"Now, if we do have to use it, how does it work?"

"Trigger unit." She pulls out a small red switch and hands it to him.

"Rose." He calls, making her rush over. "Look after this."

"Why not give it to the Doctor?"

Jack looked over at his turned back. "He wouldn't agree to guarding it. He'd destroy it."

"Sir!" A soldier called, rushing over to them from the gates. "We've got two civilians outside."

"Who?" Jack asked.

"It's Miss Clara." The Doctor perked up, rushing over to them with a look of anxiety on his face.

"Is she alright? Is she okay?" He asked frantically.

"I think you'd better see for yourself, sir." The soldier said grimly, making them rush to the gates and opening them. Behind it was Clara and Webley, standing with patience.

"Clara?" The Doctor asked softly.

Clara gained a beaming look of relief at the sight of him. "Doctor." He pulls her into a tight hug, while one of the soldiers snuck up behind Webley and disabled him with a hand pulser.

"What happened to you?" He said, cradling her face in his hands.

"I'm supposed to be the Cyber-Planner."

"I'm sorry, Clara." He said, a few tears prickling his eyes.

"Now don't start, Doctor. It wasn't your fault." She quipped lightly, making him smirk. "Firstly, I need to be tied up to a chair."

He blinked. "Sorry?"

"I have a chess game to finish." She shrugged.

He blinked a few more times. "What?"

She sighed. "Long story."

* * *

Now in the throne room, Clara was tied around the waist to a chair while the chess pieces were placed back in their last positions."

"Thank you." Clara said to Jack. "And I know what you're thinking, but no."

Jack frowned, trying to hide his wolfish smirk. "I didn't say anything-"

"You were thinking it. It's annoying. Stop it." She ordered like an irritated parent.

"Sorry." Jack smirked.

"Clara are you playing chess with yourself?" Rose asked.

"Yes. Cyber-Planner's in my head so we're taking turns at…well…taking our turns." She punned unintentionally. "But don't worry, I'm winning." She smiled reassuringly. "Now, in advance, I do apologise."

"For what?" Jack asked.

"For this." She ripped off the gold patch, allowing Cyber Clara to take control of her body.

"Actually, she has no better than a 25% chance of winning at this stage in the game. She made some very abysmal calls at the beginning." Cyber Clara looked up, grinning a murderous smile at them, sending cold shivers down into their hearts. "Well, hello there to you two humans and one Doctor. Fantastic!" She taunted, making his jaw clench. "I'm the Cyber-Planner."

"Clara?" Rose whimpered in fear for her friend.

"Afraid not. I'm working the mouth now. Oh, my stars!" She mocked. "You should see the state of this brain. It's a hormonal mess and it's all big ears' fault."

"My ears are fine." The Doctor growled.

"You're not Clara. What've you done to her?" Rose demanded.

"I've only entered her mind. We've yet to decide who is in charge. But…I know who you are." She smirked at Rose. "Rose Tyler. Boring little Bad Wolf from so long ago. Tell me, what would your father say if he could see you know?"

"Well, I guess this considers us even." Rose mumbled.

Cyber Clara blinked. "What do you mean?"

***Slap***

"Ow!" Clara cried. "Okay. If Jackie slaps as hard as you, I feel sorry for doofus." The Doctor smirked softly.

"Clara, the stakes. What're you fighting for?" Jack asked.

"If I win, the army deactivates, I get my mind back and we all live safe and sound. If she wins, she gets my mind and the knowledge she's after."

"What's she after?" Rose asked.

"More who." Clara grinned coldly as her eyes returned to black. "Clara's a good host for me but I know one better. Time Lord's, what an interesting yet pompous race however your brain is magnificent."

"But you don't know how to convert me?" The Doctor deducted.

"No. But you and her, this flesh girl, you're close. If anyone has the answer, it's her."

"So why haven't you fought for it?" The Doctor asked. Cyber Clara clenched her jaw, making him smirk.

"Enough." She groaned, almost childishly. "I have a chess game to finish and you have to die pointlessly, and very far from home." She closed her eyes and breathed, before flinching.

"Stop that. What're you doing?" Clara demanded.

"Waking them up." The eyes of the group before them widened.

"That wasn't in the terms!" Clara growled.

"You said to leave your friends alive and unharmed. Technically, as Cybermen, they will be alive and unharmed. Now, wakey-wakey, boys and girls. Wakey-wakey." Cyber Clara fake cooed. The group rushed from the room.

* * *

"Right. Captain?" The Doctor called as they moved over to the soldiers by the front gate. "Your platoon is armed, yes?"

"Yes."

"We'll need to be. More Cybermen are on the way."

"Doctor, what is that cable?" Rose asked, pointing down to the said cable on the ground.

Alice shrugged. "Power line."

The Doctor grinned at her. "Good observation, Rose."

"Thank you."

"Captain, unhook the end, drop it into the moat and turn it on."

"Yes sir."

* * *

_King to D2_

**Knight to F2**

_Pawn to F4_

**Bishop to B4, eliminates Pawn**

_King to E3_

**Knight to D1, eliminates Queen**

_King to D4_

**Pawn to D5**

_King to D5, eliminates Pawn_

**Pawn to B5**

_Bishop to G2_

**Bishop to B7, check**

Clara clenched her jaw as the end game came closer.

"Emotions, Clara Oswald. Don't you see? They are a weakness." Cyber Clara growled. "And now, I will show you exactly why."

* * *

" _Hey, Rose!"_

"I'll see what she wants." Rose shrugged.

"Wait then." Alice said. "Jackson!" She called to a nearby soldier, a young man with short brown hair.

"Yes ma'am?"

"Go with her. I need you two here." Alice said to the Doctor and Clara.

"Fine. But if she's in danger-"

"You're free to rush to her help. Yeah, I know." Alice rolled her eyes playfully, making them grin.

"Be careful, Rose."

"Sure will." She said before leaving with Jackson.

* * *

They entered the room, seeing Clara in control.

"Rose, you know the Cybermen are coming, right?'

"Yes."

"Will you be fine?" She asked.

"Yeah."

Clara shrugged. "Well? What do you have?"

"One big gun, a bunch of those hand pulsers and a big, black bomb that implodes the planet."

"And I'm going to guess that said bomb has a remote?"

"Yeah." She pulled it out with her right arm.

"Great. Pass it here."

"No."

"Why not?"

"In case you're not you right now."

"Don't worry. The Cyber-Planner's hibernating between moves right now." She put her finger to her lips playfully.

"Prove you're you. Tell me something that only Clara knows." Rose said, placing both her hands on the table.

Clara took a deep breath. "Rose. I suppose…I'm the only one who knows how I feel about you right now."

Rose blinked incredulously. "Nice try. But I know who Clara likes."

***Slap***

Clara clicked her jaw, looking back at her with her eyes turning black. "Oh, Rose." She fake cooed, holding up her hand, showing the trigger, making her Rose's eyes widen. "You shouldn't have done that." She crushed it in her hands, turning it into dust, before grinning coldly and snatching Rose's arm in a tight grip.

"Doctor!" Rose called. "Doctor! Jack!"

"Let her go!" Jackson ordered, aiming the rifle at her head. "Let her go or I will fire!"

"Too bad." Cyber Clara smirked before shoving Rose to the ground. Snatching the gun, she yanked hard, making Jackson stumble before she smacked his face with it. He collapsed to his knees with a groan beside her as she grasped his neck with one hand, choking him while the gun was tossed aside with the other.

"Rose! Rose!" The Doctor called as he, Jack and Alice rushed into the room. "Let him go!"

"No."

"Let him go now!"

"No."

" _Don't kill him, please!"_

"Sorry, Clara."

" _Please! Don't do this!"_

"Actually, I'm not sorry." Cyber Clara grinned coldly before grasping his neck with both hands and snapping it, making Jackson tumble to the ground dead. Switching back to Clara, she looked down at her hands with horror, trying and failing to find any words. She jerked again as Cyber Clara took back control, the group watching them with shock.

Inside their head, Clara sank to her knees, starting to cry. Cyber Clara knelt beside her with a look of impassivity.

"Why?" Clara cried. "Why did you have to do that?"

"I didn't." Cyber Clara said simply. Clara stared at her with wide, tear filled eyes. "I could've let him live if I wanted to, but I didn't. I'm trying to make you see, Clara. To give you a choice."

"What choice?" Clara choked.

"Do you know what being a Cyberman feels like?" Clara shook her head. "Nothing. There's nothing to feel, because you don't need to feel. I've seen your memories, Clara. Even after all this time, you're still sad over your parents. As a Cyberman, you don't have to be anymore." She stood up, holding a hand to Clara. "Join us. And you won't need to feel pain, sadness or guilt anymore."

Clara sniffed, staring up at her for a few moments of contemplation. Finally, wiping the tears from her face to create a mask, she stood up and crossed her arms. "No." She said finally.

Cyber Clara rolled her eyes. "You answer in weakness or strength? Doesn't matter anymore. Your friends are now going to die and all you can do, my dear," She mocked, "is watch. And I'm afraid that when all this is over, you will not be getting a painless death." Cyber Clara grinned coldly at her. "I've learnt so much in this head of yours, but now, it's time of the endgame."

"What do you mean?!"

"I mean…good news, boys and girls. They're here!" She cried in maniacal joy.

* * *

The TARDIS group stood on the walls of the castle with Alice and the soldiers, looking down upon the large army of Cybermen with shaking nerves.

"Well, great." Jack groaned.

The Cybermen marched forward, the first line stepping into the moat and seizing up in electricity before collapsing face first into the water.

"Okay. That worked." Rose smirked.

From the army, one Cyberman walked up to the edge of the water and looked down into it.  **"Upgrade in progress."**  In unison, they clanged their fists to their chest before walking into the moat, completely unharmed.

"Okay. There goes that." Alice grumbled. "Everyone! Take defensive positions!" She ordered, before grabbing the anti-Cyber gun and pushing it to Jack.

He took it from her with amused surprise. "Yes ma'am." He quipped, making her smirk.

* * *

"They're nearly here, Clara. Now, you can either keep moving to protect your King, limping on for a little longer or you can just give up now."

"Or…I can win against you in three moves."

Cyber Clara blinked, looking over the board frantically. "How? I see you losing in two moves. How can you possibly win in three?"

Clara grinned, reaching into her pockets slyly to pull out the Doctor's sonic and a hand pulser. "Were you not paying attention?"

"How?!"

"You figure it out. Or don't you have the processing power?"

* * *

***Slam***

The gates of the castle crashed open, allowing a small group of Cybermen in at any time.

"Open fire!" Alice ordered, making them fire their rifles upon the Cybermen, which dented and damaged their helmets, causing their bodies to crash to the floor with loud slams. Jack raised the anti-Cyber gun and fired, the beam disintegrating Cybermen into atoms. Despite their efforts, more still came.

" **Upgrade in progress."**  Now the rifles stopped damaging their armour, only leaving small, black scorch marks.

"What're we going to do?" Rose asked in fear.

"Doctor, this gun won't last much longer!" Jack yelled as he fired another shot.

" **Please stand by. You will be upgraded."**  Their march however started to slow with small jerks.  **"You…will…be…upgrade…"**  Their speech slowed to a stop, making the group look at each other in relieved confusion.

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Clara." He mumbled, racing off as the rest followed him.

* * *

"What're you doing?" Clara asked.

"Oh, Clara, Clara, Clara. I'm pulling in extra processing power. Three million Cyberbrains working on one tiny chess problem. How long do you think it's going to take us to solve it?"

"That's cheating." Clara grumbled.

"No, no, no, no. I'm just pulling in the local resources. There's no way you can get to mate in three moves. You're lying!"

"Oh no, I'm not." Clara chuckled smugly as she used the sonic to activate the pulser. "Move one: Turn on sonic screwdriver."

"Sonic what?"

"Move two: Activate pulser."

"What pulser?"

Clara slipped the pulser on. "Move three: Use it on myself." she went to slap it against her face, but her other arm caught it.

"No! That's cheating!"

"You want to know what cheating is?! I lied! I don't know anything about Time Lord biology!"

"But you lied!"

"Sorry!"

***Slap***

Clara cried in agony as electricity flowed through her head, causing the Cybermites on her face to shatter onto the table in ashes before slumping back into the chair in emotional exhaustion.

The group ran in, the Doctor rushing up first. "Clara? Clara?"

"Hello, Doctor." She mumbled weakly.

"Which one are you? Are you Clara?"

***Slap***

He clicked his jaw as his cheek stung. "Okay, fair enough." He untied her from the chair before pulling her into a hug.

"Doctor, we've still got the Cybermen. If Clara got rid of the Cyber-Planner, then they might just create another anyway." Jack informed.

"I'm afraid so." The Doctor said grimly.

"Which means we need to implode the planet." Alice stated. They all turned to look at her.

"I don't think you noticed but the remote is destroyed." Rose said.

"But I can activate it with a verbal command. Before I do that however, I need you to get you, your friends and my platoon out of here. When I issue the command, the bomb will implode immediately. I won't be able to leave."

The soldiers moved forward to stand before her. "We have our orders to stick with you, ma'am. So, we're staying."

"No. You're new orders is to-"

"With all due respect ma'am…shut up." Alice paused before grinning.

"Alright then." She turned to the Doctor. "You got here in a ship, yes?"

"Yes."

"Then you need to leave."

"We can't just leave you here!" Rose protested.

"I'm afraid you must. I'm not going to let you stay here and neither will my platoon. Now, with all due respect, get off this planet." She ordered.

The Doctor looked at them sadly before nodding. "Take care then."

"You two. And you better get out of here quick. We don't have long until the Cybermen reactivate again." Alice said as Jack led Rose out of the room while the Doctor carried Clara after them. "Soldiers, you know the drill. Distract the Cybermen long enough for them too leave. Then, we blow the planet to kingdom come."

"Yes ma'am." They said in unison before leaving the room, bolting the door shut leaving her with the black device. As the TARDIS group rushed back to the moon landing replica, they entered the TARDIS and quickly took off, while Alice took the bomb and placed it on the table, as the sounds of her men fighting the Cybermen was heard through the door.

"This is Captain Alice Ferry, Imperial ID 1-9-Delta-1-3-B." The bomb whirred to life.

***Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Slam***

She saw the door smashed open, Cybermen on the other side. "Activate the desolator." The bomb sounded an alarm, ticking down from five, while the Cybermen cocked their heads at her. She smiled smugly at them. "See you in hell, assholes!"

The planet exploded in a storm of fire, sending chucks of rock in all directions of space, while the TARDIS flew away through the Vortex.

 **December 24th,**   **2013**

The TARDIS landed outside of Clara's house, while the Doctor walked up to Clara, who had been silent through the trip.

"Are you okay?" He asked, grasping her shoulders. She looked at him, giving him a smile yet tears started to prickle her eyes. He took a deep breath before closing his eyes. "Look, I um…"

"I know." She nodded.

He blinked. "You know?"

"Yeah. Planets to save, civilizations to rescue, creatures to defeat. Run a lot. Or were you thinking of something else?" She asked, hoping he would see her pleading eyes, but he simply blinked.

"Yeah…something like that." He said, hoping he would hear his uncertain worry, but she simply nodded.

"Alright then. Till the next time, eh?"

"Till the next time." He nodded. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Clara exited the TARDIS and closed her front door behind her. She heard the TARDIS dematerialise outside, making her collapse onto her knees, sobbing loudly.

"Doctor. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I love you. I love you, Doctor. Come back. Please, come back." She cried, wrapping her arms around herself as she rocked back and forth, her tears flowing out of her eyes like a fountain.

* * *

The Doctor walked around the console in silence, working on the controls with a distant gaze while Jack and Rose stared at him with worry.

"Doctor?" Jack called, but silence followed. "Doctor?" This time, he looked up. "Will she be okay?" He said nothing, looking down at the console again.

"Doctor?" Rose called, making him look up again. "She'll be okay, won't she?"

He gazed at them sadly before returning to work on the console.

***Knock* *Knock* *Knock* *Knock***

The Doctor and Jack jerked awake, blinking in surprise as they looked at each other.

"Did we just nod off?" Jack grumbled.

"Yeah, I think so." The Doctor nodded. They heard a groan, looking to see Rose sitting on the chair, rubbing her eyes.

"I'm sorry, but did either of you hear a knocking?"

***Knock* *Knock* *Knock* *Knock***

" _Coo-wee?!"_  They looked at each other with furrowed eyebrows.

***Knock* *Knock* *Knock* *Knock***

" _Hello? Doctor? You know it can't end like that, hm?"_  They stood up slowly, moving towards the TARDIS doors with trepidation.  _"We need to get this sorted and quickly. She's not all right, you know, and neither are you. I'm coming in."_  The door opened, as a large man in a Santa Claus outfit strode into the TARDIS, snowflakes billowing in after him while the trio looked at him with their jaws dropped. "Ah! There you are. I knew I'd get around to you eventually. Now stop gawping and tell me…what do you want for Christmas?"

"What the fuck?" Rose breathed.

"Language!" Santa admonished. The Doctor smirked slightly before returning to his gaze of shock.

**AN: I hope you enjoyed my different take on Nightmare in Silver. But I can't tell you how much I'm excited for the next chapter. It's going to be great XD Anyway, thanks for reading and leave a review if you wish. :)**


	22. Last Christmas

**1:00am, December 25** **th** **, 2013, Chiswick**

***Crash***

Clara jerked awake at the sudden sound outside. She blinked away the grogginess of sleep, wiping the dried tears from her eyes. Feeling emotionally exhausted, having cried herself through to sleep, that even her pillow was soaked with her tears, she looked outside her window.  _Please be the Doctor. Please be the Doctor._  She found herself sighing with disappointment yet furrowing her face in confusion as Santa Claus was standing by a crashed sleigh, while two short men that appeared to be Elves, were bickering to him.

"Moron." Santa groaned. "Numbskull. Elf."

"Oi! That's racist!" The first said in shock.

"Of course, it's not racist, Wolf. You're an Elf." Santa sassed. "Come on, Ian. Chimneys!"

Clara put on a large, woolly jacket and opened the front door, seeing them outside, the snow falling all around them.

"I'm sorry." Ian said.

"I'm just checking that you can see these massive chimneys."

"They're hard to miss."

"Well, as you've clearly demonstrated, Ian." Santa rolled his eyes.

Clara looked up at the jingling sounds, seeing the mewling reindeer flying about.

"Donner! Donner and Blitzen!" Wolf called. "Come on down here, boys. Rudolph!"

Santa ran his hand over his face. "Just…just clear all the tangerines up. Pick 'em up. All of them, Ian. Wolf get them back down here before somebody notices."

"You know that no one actually likes the tangerines, don't you?" Ian pointed out.

Santa looked at him in shock. "How dare you! That's my signature gift!" He blinked for a moment. "Well…and the walnut."

Ian groaned before moving to pick up a handful of tangerines, his gaze falling upon Clara. "Uh…sir? We've been seen."

Santa and Wolf turn to look at her, their eyes widening. "Hello." Santa said.

"Hello." Clara said with uncertainty.

"Hello…Human." Ian stuttered.

"You can't call her Human!" Wolf reprimanded.

"It's not racist. They don't mind it."

"Hush up, both of you." Santa said, trying to adopt a stereotypical, old man voice. "Oh, sorry about this, my dear. We-We…are just three passing…perfectly ordinary…roof people doing some emergency…roof things. Carry on. Merry Christmas." He cleared this throat to hide his sheepish blush. "If-If it is Christmas. I mean… _*Chuckles*_ I don't much care for things like that myself. I mean… _*Blows Raspberry*_  Christmas!  _*Chuckles*_ "

"Are you…Santa…Claus?" Clara asked.

"Me? Me?  _*Chuckles*_ No! Oh, no. That's…that's ridiculous.  _*Chuckles*_  No, no, no-"

"Rudolph! Rudolph, what're you doing?! Get down here now!" Wolf demanded as the reindeer continued to circle overhead.

Santa sighed. "Oh, alright, fine. Yes, it's me. Ha! Guilty. How did you recognize me?" He asked.

"You know how you grew the beard as a bit of a disguise?" Wolf inputted. "People have picked up on it."

"No, shut up." Clara snapped, making the Elves flinch.

"Sorry." Ian mumbled.

"Is it me or does she sound a bit cranky?" Wolf asked.

"Stop it." Clara snapped again, putting them in silence. "Seriously? You're Father Christmas? You're real?"

"Of course, I'm real." Santa shrugged. "How do you think those presents got under the tree every year? By magic?"

"Well, I thought it was my-"

"Mum and Dad!" They all said in unison, making her eyebrows furrow.

"Well, of course it was." Ian said.

"I mean, it makes perfect sense." Wolf said.

"Yeah, your Mum and Dad, one day a year, for no particular reason, just out of the blue, suddenly decide to give you a great big pile of presents."

"No. It's because they love you so much." They shared a chuckle. "It's a lovely story dear, but I'm afraid it's time to start living in the real world."

Santa pulled out a small notebook and flicked through the pages. "Okay…where is it? Mmmmmmmm, ah, right. Here we are, Clara Oswald. Mostly favours travel books, science kits, strict ban on hair products." Clara leaned over to look. "Ah-ah-ah!"

"Sorry." She mumbled.

"Marginal for the naughty list, 1993 and a believer until the age of nine." He put the notebook away with a disappointed look on his face. "Oh Clara. Why did you stop?"

She gave him a sad smile. "Because you're a fairy-tale. I grew out of fairy tales."

He gave her a knowing smile. "Did you, Clara? Did you really?"

Clara blinked before her eyes widened as she heard the TARDIS materialising behind her. Her heart raced as she spun around, a soft look of awe and relief spreading across her face as the door opened, the Doctor stepping out.

"Stay there for a moment." He said to Jack and Rose from behind him, who were looking at Clara with worried faces. He strolled towards Clara, whilst she looked at him as if she's seen him for the first time. "Clara, I need you to step inside the TARDIS."

"That was good, with the box." Ian muttered in the background.

" _*Scoffs*_ Not often we get upstaged on a rooftop."

"Fred and George Weasley shut it." The Doctor said to them.

"We're not twins." They grumbled in unison.

"Doctor?" The Doctor looked back at her, as she started to get tears in her eyes. "You're here? You're really here?"

"Yes, I'm here." He said, cradling her face in his hands. "I'm back. Now, get inside the TARDIS. Please, Clara." Clara blinked at him, before smiling gently as she nodded, moving into the TARDIS quietly whilst the Doctor turned to look at Santa. "I know what this is. I know what's happening and I know what's at stake." He said in warning.

Santa shook his head. "I don't think you do, Doctor. But I promise, before this Christmas day is done, you will be glad of my help."

The Doctor scoffed. "Happy Easter." He quipped before moving to the TARDIS.

"Oh, brutal." Wolf said.

"Cool exit line, though." Ian nodded.

"Be sure to save some room for a tangerine, Doctor."

"Haven't you learned? Nobody likes the tangerines." He closed the door, smirking at the offended look on Santa's face, whilst he walked to the console, seeing Rose with her hands-on Clara's shoulders as Jack worked on the console.

"It's okay. You're alright." Rose reassured her.

"I'm really back here? This isn't…" She trailed off as the TARDIS went into lift-off, a dreamy look on her face. "I'm back. That noise. I never knew how much I loved it."

The Doctor walked up to her and cradled her face again, making her gaze at him lovingly. "There's something you have to ask yourself and it's important. Do you really believe in Santa Claus?"

She smiled. "Yeah. Right now, yeah. I think I do."

The Doctor grinned at her before kissing her forehead. "Then come along, Clara. We've got places to go." He took her hand and led her to the door. "Tweedledee and Tweedledum? You coming?"

"Oi! Don't call me that!" Rose groaned.

"That's just rude!" Jack groaned.

**Research Facility, North Pole**

A woman with short, dirty blonde hair and a headset stood inside a small corridor, with both doors closed. She stood in front of one, her breath shaking as she waited.

"Ashley, what've you got for me?" She asked.

" _You're now 20 feet from the Infirmary. In a moment, as soon as you're ready, I'll disable the security protocols."_ Ashley said.

" _Your neural link is good and holding. We stand ready to abort and extract at the first sign of an anomaly."_ Another female voice said.

" _We're going to be with you every step of the way, Shona."_ A male voice now floated through her headset.

" _We're all depending on you and we know that you won't let us down. Shona, I'm opening the door."_

The door in front of her opened, revealing another door behind it, the one directly into the Infirmary. She felt her fear rise, making her shudder.

"I need the toilet!" She complained.

" _No, you don't. We're monitoring your bodily functions."_

"And how're you monitoring that, Fiona? Cause that's rude. That is…perverted."

" _Do you remember my briefing, Shona?"_  The man asked.

Shona walked to the next door and waited. "Yeah. Well, no. I remember some of it."

" _Some of it?"_  Ashely scoffed.

" _How much?"_  Fiona asked.

"Till Albert put his hand on my knee and then I was just grossing out."

She heard silence, imagining them looking at Albert with shock.

" _It was intended as a comfort."_  He said in the background.

" _*Scoffs* For whom?"_  Fiona quipped.

"All I could see was his nose, with all the little hairs coming out of it. Have you seen those? It's like he's got insects trapped up there all trying to escape with their wee, wiggly legs-"

" _Okay, we get it."_  Ashely groaned, making Shona smirk.  _"Let's just go through this again. There are four sleepers inside the infirmary. You're fine so long as they don't wake up."_

" _She's in range."_  Fiona informed.

" _Okay Shona, I'm unsealing the Infirmary. From now on, everything you think and feel, everything you see will be available to them. Most of it's fine, like traffic noise when you're sleeping, if you don't think about them, as long as you don't look at them."_

The door opened with a hiss, revealing the infirmary inside, with the row of four filled beds lined up against the wall by the door.

"I thought there was going to be music." Shona whined childishly. She could almost hear them rolling their eyes in the background.

" _We've got your playlist ready to go. And no, we won't be doing Christmas carols."_  Fiona said.

"Why not?"

" _Because it's Christmas. We're not going to be that on the nose."_  Fiona quipped.

"Okay, fair enough."

" _Just focus on the words of the song. Try to remember what comes next. That'll work like interference." Ashley interjected._

" _Okay, I'm picking a random song. Here we go."_

" _Keep your eyes on the floor, shut them when possible. Focus on the music and move forward through the infirmary."_

_Every whisper_

_Of every waking hour_

_I'm choosing my confessions_

_Trying to keep an eye on you_

_Like a hurt lost and blinded fool, fool_

_Oh no, I've said too much_

_I set it up_

Moving through the door, which shut behind her, she closed her eyes and let the song float through her mind, humming out loud to the lyrics and moving to the beat.

" _Consider this. Consider this, the hint of the century. Consider this._ " She hummed.

" _Oh, dear lord, she's not actually-"_

" _If dancing works, it works."_

" _This is ridiculous!"_

" _The slip that brought me to my knees failed. What if all these fantasies come flailing around? Now I've said too much. I thought that I heard you laughing. I thought that I heard you sing. I think I thought I saw you tr_ -Aaah! Aaah!" She cried as the door opened, the TARDIS group standing outside and looking at her in confusion.

" _Shona? Shona, what's wrong?"_

"We've got ghosts!"

" _Ghosts?"_

"Yeah. There's a U-boat Captain, a cheerleader, Han Solo and a girl in her nightie." This made them groan.

"This isn't a nightie! It's pyjamas!" Clara groaned.

"I don't look anything like Han Solo!" Jack groaned.

"What's wrong with this jumper?!" The Doctor groaned.

"I'm not a bloody cheerleader!" Rose shrieked, making them look at her in surprise.

"Well…you've got the hair colour for it." Shona shrugged sheepishly.

"What're these?" The Doctor asked, pointing to the sheet covered bodies.

"No, no, no! You're making me think about them! Don't make me think about them!" Shona cried, holding her hands over her headset.

"Doctor, what are they?" Rose asked.

The bodies slowly rose up from their beds, the sheets slipping down to reveal people, yet their heads were covered by a large, grey crab with claws, which shifted and growled with every movement. The Doctor took out his sonic and scanned them.

"Deaf…blind…they can only see us if we see them, if we think about them." The Doctor pondered. "Oh, telepathic. They can home in on their own images in someone else's brain. We're being hacked."

"What does that even mean?" Rose asked.

"Rose, the visual input from your optic nerve is being streamed to their brains. Close your eyes. Don't look at them, don't think about them." They all closed their eyes, scrunching their faces as they did.

"They're still coming, aren't they?" Clara asked.

"That's because we're still thinking about them. So long as you do, they can still home in. Think about something else."

" _That's me in the corner. That's me in the spotlight losing my religion._ " Shona hummed fearfully.

"Why is she singing?" Clara groaned.

"She's trying to distract herself. 504 minus 17."

"Sorry, what?"

"Plus 20. Just do it."

"507."

"Minus 14, times four."

"1972."

"Stop being so good at arithmetic!"

"I can't help it!"

"Think! What were you doing before I came back? What were you doing before I came back with Jack Sparrow and blonde cheerleader? Come on, Clara. Think-"

***Slap***

They jumped as the Doctor held his cheek, staring at Rose. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"I'm not a goddam cheerleader, okay?! Why does everyone think that cheerleaders are always blonde?! Cheerleaders aren't always blonde! I never even was a cheerleader! I don't even have the act to be a cheerleader! What makes you look at me and think that I'm a cheerleader?!" Rose ranted, the crabs stopped walking as everyone looked at Rose in surprise.

The Doctor smirked. "Has anyone told you that you sound just like your mother?" Clara sniggered while Jack crooked an eyebrow.

The door slid open with a hiss, with Ashley, Fiona and Albert rushing in with large rifles.

"Go! Run, now! Now, now!" Ashely commanded, making Jack, Rose and Clara rush towards them while the Doctor tapped Shona on the shoulder.

"Come on! Quick! Hurry up!" They rushed over to the three, as a large group of the crabs dangled from the ceiling from milky white webs, flickering their claws as they descended upon the group.

"Here they come!" Albert cried, the group screaming in terror as the crabs went straight for their faces.

"Doctor!" Clara cried as they came closer and closer-

***Boom***

They all jumped as the wall of the Infirmary shattered apart in a blast. They blinked, looking around for the creatures but there wasn't one in sight, except for the ones on the standing bodies. A tangerine bounced through, making them blink at it. Then a small group of moving slinky toys came bouncing after, making them furrow their eyebrows. Then another group, this time a bunch of toy robots came buzzing in.

"What?" Rose mouthed. Jack shrugged at her. They heard the trotting of hooves on the snow outside, making them look again to see Rudolph come up with Santa hoisted on a saddle.

"Hiya!" He cheered. "Whoa! Whoa!" Rudolph settled down, allowing him to dismount and enter the base, Wolf and Ian following behind, both armed with a balloon animal and a toy gun. "Well now. What seems to be the problem?" Everyone looked at him with a mixture of awe and bewilderment. "This is the North Pole. We don't want any trouble here."

***Neigh***

"Hey, Rudolph!" He called, pulling out a car key and pressing the lock button, his red nose turning off like a light. "Easy, son." He looked at the crabs, before rolling his eyes. "Oi! Sleepy heads! It's midnight. It won't be Christmas yet. Go back to bed." He clapped his hands twice, making them move silently back to the beds.

"Who the hell are you?" Ashely asked.

"Oh, take a guess. Go on, push the boat out." The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Tooth fairy? The Easter Bunny?"

"Shut your mouth, wise guy, or you get yours." Ian warned.

"You're holding a balloon animal." Wolf said.

"That's a toy gun."

"Yeah, but at least it's unsuitable for children under four. Parts small enough to swallow, so-"

"Fred and George Weasley shut it." Santa warned.

"That was my line." The Doctor whined.

"Well now, I stole it." Santa sassed.

"Oh!" Ian and Wolf said in unison before high fiving each other.

"Okay now, this is ridiculous. Am I dreaming?" Shona asked.

"Oh, very good." The Doctor mumbled.

"I need to know exactly who you are and what's happening here." Ashley said.

Santa smiled before moving her rifle to point away from him. "Hello Ashley. Lead scientist on a polar expedition.  _*Gasps*_  That microscope really paid off, didn't it? Now…your Mum and Dad wanted me to get you a toy one but sometimes, I take a chance."

"Who are you? Why are you dressed like…that?"

Santa blinked. "Why do you think?"

"No, come on, this is mental. This is totally not happening." Shona shook her head.

"I've got three words, Shona. Don't make me use them."

"What three words?"

Santa sighed. "My Little Pony."

Her eyes widened. "Shut up, you."

"Yeah? I've got lots more, babe." He sassed.

"I will mark you, Santa."

"Not before I do." Jack said with a wolfish grin before holding out a hand. "Captain Jack Harkness. And who are you?"

"Santa Claus." He winked at Jack flirtatiously.

"Pleased to meet you, Santa Claus."

"Oh, don't start!" The Doctor and Clara said in unison.

"We were only saying hello!" They said in unison.

"Okay, Doctor, are you going to explain?" Rose asked, making everyone silence again. "What is going on?"

"It's an invasion, Miss Tyler." Santa walked back out to Rudolph.

"An invasion of what? Elves?"

"Whoa! That is racist!" Wolf said.

"Elfist." Ian inputted.

"Do you want me to do worse?" Rose warned in her 'Jackie' tone. This made them flinch and her smirk.

Santa came back inside with a glass jar, which contained one of the creatures inside it and had the label 'Specimen' on it. "You've seen them before, haven't you Doctor?" He handed the jar to the Doctor.

"I've heard of them. The Kantrofarri. Also known as the Dream Crabs."

"I'm afraid so. Depending on how many of those are already on Earth, humanity may well have seen its last day. So, are we going to stand about arguing whether I'm real or not or are we going to get busy saving Christmas?" Santa reprimanded.

" _*Gasps*_ Santa goes bad ass!" Ian fanboyed.

"Oh, he's giving me the feels."

"Shut up!" Santa ordered. "That's a verbal warning. Please, stop it." They blinked sheepishly.

* * *

Fiona worked on the main computers in the control room, while Albert pulled out a Turkey leg as Shona talked to Santa and the Elves.

Shona said to Santa with a notepad. "If you are Santa, what're you doing here?"

Santa shrugged. "It's the North Pole and I own it."

"He means the actual pole." Ian interjected.

"Yeah. It goes right through the middle of the workshop." Wolf nodded.

"And I've got a selfie with it." Ian pulled out a phone, showing said photo of him standing beside a long, stripy pole in a snow filled workshop.

"The North Pole isn't an actual pole." Shona shook her head.

"Of course, it is. Look."

"If it was an actual pole, it would not be stripy."

"It's got to be stripy, otherwise you couldn't see it moving around." Wolf shrugged. "It's basic physics."

* * *

The Doctor placed the Crab on a wooden table inside a research room, everyone crowding around to look at it.

"Is it dead?" Clara asked. "Or is it dormant?"

"Let's hope it's dormant." The Doctor said grimly.

"And it's alien." Rose said.

"Oh, definitely."

"So, how can you have heard of these things?" Ashley asked.

"Guess."

She smirked. "Because you're extra-terrestrial too."

"Do you believe that?"

"Well, Santa Claus is standing with us, so yeah."

"Fair enough."

"Why is it called a Dream Crab then?"

"Theorize."

"Because it generates a telepathic field…"

"And?"

"Altered perception…"

"Meaning?"

Ashley blinked for a few moments.

"Meaning we can't trust anything that we see or hear." Clara said, trying to not break her own heart at her words.

The Doctor glanced at her, noticing her hidden meaning. "Go to the window." He told Ashley.

"Why?"

"Because it gets worse."

She moved to the window, blinking as she saw the TARDIS outside. "What is that?" Ashley asked.

"That's how me and my friends got here."

"In a box?"

"Technically, in a telephone kiosk." Jack sniggered, making the Doctor roll his eyes.

"How?" Ashley asked.

"Because it's a spaceship in disguise." The Doctor shrugged. "Do you know what the big problem is in telling fantasy and reality apart?"

"What?"

"They're both ridiculous."

"So, we don't know what is real and what isn't?" Clara asked.

"I'm afraid so."

"Are we in danger?" Rose asked.

"We are well past danger, Rose. If I'm right…we're dying."

"So how do we stay alive?" Clara asked.

"I like her." Ashley whispered to Rose.

Rose nodded. "That's Clara for you."

The Doctor looked at Ashley. "I need you to show me how you first encountered them and what happened to those people in the infirmary. I notice you all wear mini-cams so there must be footage."

"Is it possible that we're about to work with someone who might be a dream?" Ashley asked.

"If it helps, so am I."

Ashley nodded. "We'll see what we can pull up." She motioned her group to move to the computers as they started working away.

"Oh, one moment." The Doctor said. "What's this polar base for? Why're you all here?"

"It's a long story." Ashely shrugged.

* * *

The TARDIS group walked into the control room, where they blinked at Albert who was munching on a Turkey leg.

"Sorry. Starving." Albert grumbled.

"Why aren't you out there delivering presents?" Shona asked Santa.

"Technically, I am."

"Well, you're not cause you're standing right here."

"Oh, Shona, grow up love. There's not just one Santa delivery team. How could there be? There are 526,403,012 children all expecting presents before the morning. So, that's 22 million children per hour. That's impossible, obviously. I've got a second sled."

"Hold on, reindeer can't fly. They just can't."

"Of course, they can't. It's a scientific impossibility. That's why I feed mine magic carrots." Shona grumbled to herself as she put the notepad away. She turned back to Santa with her mouth open, ready to ask a question before sighing.

"Are you alright?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I've just given up trying to talk sense into beardy-weirdy."

"You don't seem much like a scientist."

"Well that's rude, coming from a cheerleader." Shona teased.

"I'm not a cheerleader." Rose groaned. "How come you're here? What brought you to the North Pole?"

Shona shrugged. "It's a long story, isn't it?"

The Doctor exchanged a look with Clara, who nodded weakly. "You missed a killer question."

"What do you mean?" Shona asked.

"Beardy-weirdy?"

"Yeah?" Santa asked.

"How do you get all the presents in the sleigh?"

"It's bigger on the inside." Santa grinned.

"Oh!" Ian and Wolf said in unison as the Doctor grumbled to himself.

"Doctor." Ashley called, making them look at the monitors. The footage began playing on screen of people dressed head to toe in woolly gear, walking through caves of ice.

"What're we looking at?" Jack asked.

"Footage from a week ago. A side expedition from our main mission." Fiona informed.

"What is your main mission?"

"Long story." The TARDIS crew exchanged knowing looks, starting to piece it together. "There's an ice cave directly beneath this base. Now, look at what we found." Pressing a few buttons, she changed the footage to the people finding Dream Crabs frozen in the roof of the caves. "Dormant at first…"

"Until you looked at them too long. Until you thought about them."

"Exactly."

"Sleeping, probably been buried down there for centuries." The Doctor said.

"And it wakes up when you think about it?" Rose asked.

"Yes. They can detect their own mental picture in any nearby mind."

"It's like it responds to the presence of any data concerning itself."

"Well that was always the legend. You think about a Dream Crab then the Dream Crab will come for you."

"This is where it gets really nasty." Albert said, gulping another mouthful of Turkey.

"Only now?" Rose grumbled.

On screen, the Crabs shifted and cracked through their ice barriers, before shattering them and descending upon the camera, making it cut off with static.

"And then…" Fiona switched the footage to the people lying in the Infirmary.

"They're a bit like facehuggers, aren't they?" Albert asked.

The Doctor looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. "Face…huggers?"

"Yeah, you know, Alien." The Doctor shook his head. "The horror movie, Alien."

"There's a horror movie called Alien?" Albert nodded, making the Doctor's look change into shock. "That's really offensive! No wonder everyone keeps invading you!" Clara laughed, making the Doctor wink at her.

"First, they just slept. A couple of days just lying there."

"And then…they became aggressive."

"If we got close enough, yeah." Ashley nodded.

"It would take the Dream Crab a little while to take control. Depends on how much of the hosts brain was…"

"Was what?"

"Digested." He said grimly, making them shudder.

"How much are they suffering under those things?"

"Not at all." They all looked at him in surprise. "Let me clarify: The Dream Crab induces a dream state. It keeps you happy and relaxed in a perfectly realized dream world as you dissolve. It's merciful, I suppose."

"Compared to what?" Albert asked.

"Compared to that Turkey leg you keep slobbering over." Albert blinked sheepishly before putting it down. "Could you please rewind it for me? I need to see them dormant. Clara, could you fetch me the dead one?"

"I'll make you a cup of tea while I'm at it." Clara quipped.

"Oh, yes…and perhaps a punch in the face too." The Doctor smirked.

"Actually, I would've yanked on those ears of yours." Everyone sniggered.

"Oi! Leave them alone!" Clara smirked at him before moving to leave the room.

"How do we kill them?" Jack asked.

"If a Dream Crab is feeding and the host breaks free, they die. Food has teeth too." He smirked before his eyes slowly widened.

"What's wrong?" Ashley asked.

"We're thinking about them. How long have we been thinking about them."

"For…quite a long while now."

Screams of a familiar voice echoed through the room, attracting their attention and sending cold daggers into his hearts.

" _Aaah! Doctor!"_

"Clara!" He raced from the room, everyone following him. "Clara!"

* * *

Clara walked into the research room, blinking as she found the table empty, the glass case and the Crab gone.

"Doctor." She called into the silence but received no answer. She looked at the floor, furrowing her eyebrows as she spotted shattered glass. She crawled under the table to look closely at it. She started breathing irregularly as she picked up the broken 'Specimen' label, which amplified as she heard scuttling above the table, each step the claw made a loud tapping sound that made her flinch. She hugged her legs close to her chest and closed her eyes, mumbling to distract herself. "100 minus 42 is 58, times three is 174, minus 32 is 142 divided by seven is 20 and-and-and a bit." She shook her head, her breathing turning into fearful whimpering. "Think about something else. Think about something else. The Doctor. Doctor…Doctor, I love you. I'm sorry I've never told you. I'm so sorry I lied to you, but I need your help. I love you and I need your help. Please." The Crab scratched and tore at the table, burrowing a hole through. "Aaah! Doctor!"

" _Clara! Clara!"_  The Crab tore through the hole and descended upon her face.

Clara blinked as she sat up in her bed, still in her pyjamas yet the sun was shining through her bedroom window. Looking around in confusion, she felt her face, not feeling a Dream Crab there but a slight pain in her right temple. Footsteps approached her bedroom door, making her look at it, until it opened. Her eyes widened in shock.

"Mum?" She blinked.

"Get up, sleepy head." Ellie admonished playfully. "Sleeping in on Christmas? That's blasphemy that is." Clara couldn't help it, letting loose a torrent of joyful tears. "Darling? Are you alright?" Ellie knelt on the bed, rubbing Clara's arm.

"I-I…" Clara struggled to find words as Dave came to her bedroom dressed in a Santa outfit. "Dad?"

"Ho, ho, ho!"

"Oh, Dave! What are you wearing?" Ellie asked, scrunching her face in disgust.

"It's a Santa outfit."

"Why are you wearing a Santa outfit?"

"Because it's Easter, and I'm Father Easter." Dave mocked.

"Watch it."

"What do you think I'm wearing this for?"

"Because you're a moron?" Clara laughed, making Ellie snigger.

"Oi! Don't laugh at me!  _*Sigh*_  Come on, Clara! Hurry up!"

"Hurry up where?" Clara asked, unable to hide her grin any longer.

"To the Indian Orient Express-Where do you think? Downstairs. It's Christmas! Which means…presents?" Clara giggled.

"Come on, lazy. Get up." Ellie said, pulling Clara out of the bed, making her shriek like a little girl, as they laughed at her.

"Shut up!" She admonished with a sheepish blush as they raced ahead of her and out of the room. She moved to the door but paused as out of the corner of her eye, she saw a blackboard sitting in her room, with the words 'Clara!" writing on it.

"Mum? When did you get me a blackboard?" She called.

" _How did you know we got you a blackboard? You haven't even opened up your presents yet!"_

She grabbed the eraser and wiped away, which changed the message to 'Wake up!'

" _Clara!"_

"Just a minute!" She erased again, the message now saying 'Please, wake up!'

" _You're not falling asleep on us again, are you?"_

"No!" She wiped. 'Clara, please! Wake up!' She jumped as her whole room was now covered in blackboards, all saying those words repeatedly.

" _Clara!"_  Her heart leapt as she heard that northern accent she adored.  _"Clara! Wake up! Please!"_ And just like that, it all ceased. The blackboards disappeared, and she couldn't hear his voice again.

Ellie popped her head through the doorway again. "Are you off on the nostalgia train?"

Clara blinked. "A little bit, yeah."

"Well, we're going to have to kick you off, because you forgot your wallet, doofus."

"Don't call me doofus!"

"I can, because you are one." Ellie sassed. "Now, hurry up! We'll die of old age if you keep staying in here!" She quipped as she left, missing Clara's hurt face as she realized the unintentional double meaning before she composed herself and followed. Closing the door, she missed another blackboard that said the same message again.

* * *

The Doctor knelt by Clara's unconscious body, her face covered by the Dream Crab while everyone else piled around him.

"Clara! Clara, wake up! Please! Clara!" He cried fruitlessly.

"We tried to waken the others, but no stimulus worked." Ashley mumbled.

"Okay. We get it off her. We kill it. How do we kill it?"

"There's no way to kill it without killing your friend too."

"We have to find a way!" The Doctor pleaded. "Santa! In the Infirmary-"

"I told them to go back to bed, that doesn't mean I can get it off her."

"But you can get in there unharmed, yes?"

Santa's eyes widened. "Doctor, if you go into the dream with her, there's a good chance that both of you will die."

"She's dying! I need to save her! Please! Please, help me save her."

Santa sighed. "If I can commit a bajillion house breaks in one night, then yes, I can get back in the Infirmary."

The Doctor gave him a look of relief. "Thank you."

* * *

Clara and her parents sat on the sofa in front of the TV as a movie played, while night fell outside with the festive snow. On screen, a man in a pirate outfit and a young blacksmith stood over a man lying down on a pile of pigs. He pours a bucket of water on him, making the pigs squeal in surprise as he jumps.

" _Curse you for breathing, you slack jawed idiot!"_  He yells, holding up a small knife. He glanced at the pair, before relaxing slightly. _"Mother's love! Jack! You should know better than to wake a man when he's sleeping. It's bad luck."_ The man said breathlessly.

" _Ah. Fortunately, I know how to counter it."_  Jack said.  _"The man who did the waking buys the man who was sleeping a drink. The man who was sleeping drinks it while listening to a proposition from the man who did the waking."_

The man blinked incredulously for a few seconds before nodding absentmindedly.  _"Aye, that'll about do it." Jack_ grasped his hand and hauled him to his feet, while the blacksmith took another bucket of water and tossed it onto the man.  _"Oh! Blast, I'm already awake!"_

"That was for the smell." The blacksmith said unknowingly in unison with the Oswald family, who giggled at the man's bewildered face before he shrugged.

***Knock* *Knock* *Knock* *Knock***

They groaned, Dave grabbing the remote to pause the movie. "Danny?"

Clara nodded, yet it didn't feel right accepting it. "Going by the timing, I'd say so."

"Clara." Ellie warned. "If you let him and Dave anywhere near a subject they agree upon, we will not watch Shawshank ever again."

"Mum!" Clara whined.

"Go on." Ellie smirked.

"Fine." Clara grumbled, getting up to answer the door. Opening it, her breathing hitched as the Doctor stood on the other side. "Doctor."

"It's not real, Clara." He said as he moved inside.

"Who are you?" Ellie asked.

"I'm the Doctor. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." They said in unison despite their confusion.

"Clara, they're not real. You know it. It's a dream and it's killing you." He said, grasping her shoulders.

Clara was torn, wanting to believe him yet wanting to throw him out. "Please, stop it." She pleaded.

"They're not real, Clara. None of this is real. What's real is there is a Dream Crab wrapped around your face, eating you alive from the inside. You're dying."

Clara took a breath. "If this is a dream, how can you be here? How can we both be having the same dream?"

"Guess." He said simply.

Her eyes widened. "No. No don't tell me. Please, don't make me do this Doctor."

"You have a pain right here." He pressed a finger gently to her right temple. "It's like a brain freeze from eating too much ice cream. You know what that is."

"Why are you doing this? Why are you saying this?" Ellie asked as she and Dave came over.

"Because it's true. How long do you think you've been here?"

"All day."

"No. Barely five minutes. Remember the movie Inception. Dreams within dreams, Clara, each level has time go faster than the level above it. Everything around you isn't real. Your parents aren't real. They died protecting you in an alien invasion."

"An invasion I failed to avert." Clara mumbled, tears starting to come into her eyes.

"Stop it, Clara. We're not doing that again."

"How long has she got?" Ellie asked, making them look at her.

"Minutes, until it's irreversible."

"Then give me one." Ellie said simply. The Doctor nodded then stepped aside as Ellie came up to Clara. "We're a dream and you know we are, right?"

Clara nodded, yet she started to sob. "I don't want you to be." She cried.

"But you have to let us go, Clara."

"Can't I be with you again?"

Ellie smiled sadly. "One day, maybe. But not now. You must let us go. I'm sorry that I must break my promise. If you ever get lost, I won't be there to find you. But…then again, you don't need me." She smiled knowingly, flickering her gaze to the Doctor. "As soon as he entered, you two forgot that we were even in the room." Clara sniggered through her tears, the Doctor smiling softly. "I know that you won't always be brave, and I know what you went through at the castle." Clara cried, remembering the poor kid. "But you don't have to always be brave. Just stay with him, and it'll be fine, even when it's not. Am I clear?"

"But when I wake up, you won't be there." Clara whimpered.

"Do you know why people get together at Christmas? Because every time they do, it might be the last time. Every Christmas is last Christmas, and this is ours. For us, this is a bonus. At least we got to watch Captain Jack one last time."

"Oh, you don't want to meet the real one. He's a bit of a disappointment compared to that one." The Doctor quipped.

Ellie smiled, before drawing her into a hug. "Goodbye, my darling."

"Goodbye, Mum."

They parted, Dave coming over to embrace her. "Take care, Clara."

"Goodbye, Dad."

They parted, Dave turning to look at the Doctor. "Now you take care of her, or I will look for you-"

"And you will find me, and you will kill me. Yes, Mr. Neeson." He rolled his eyes, making them chuckle. The Doctor walked over to Clara and grasped her shoulders. "Now Clara, you have to try. Accept that this isn't real and try."

Clara nodded as they closed their eyes.

* * *

Everyone in the room jumped as the Crabs fell off their faces and disintegrated into ash. They gasped for breath while the Doctor crawled on his knees, grasping Clara's shoulders.

"Clara! Clara! Clara, look at me! Clara! Breathe, breathe." Clara regained her breathing and looked at him, the tears returning. "Come here." He mumbled, drawing her into a hug as she broke down again, clutching at him like he was her life support, everyone else watching in silent respect. "What happened at the castle, it wasn't your fault."

"No." She mumbled.

"It wasn't your fault."

"How could it not be?" She cried.

"It wasn't you who killed Jackson, okay? And it wasn't you who killed your parents." He took her face in his hands again. "You should've stayed with us, not return home. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to worry. I didn't want you to stay and worry over me."

"Haven't you learned, Clara? I always worry about you." He held her again, kissing her head as he waited for her to calm down. When her sobs subsided, despite her irregular breathing, he relaxed his hold yet didn't let go.

Some time later, they were standing by the table yet still hugging each other, while the science group examined the ash on the floor. Rose and Jack walked up to the pair.

"Are you two okay?" Rose asked.

"No." Clara mumbled as they eased their hug somewhat.

"May I?" Jack asked the Doctor. He nodded, making Jack come over to inspect their heads. "There doesn't seem to be a wound. It must've closed after you broke free."

"But the pain's still there." Clara said, rubbing her right temple softly.

"Yeah, the ice cream pain. I've got that." Shona pointed out.

"But only that one spot there? Doesn't that strike you as odd?" Jack asked.

"Well, we've all go it." Albert said.

"So, why do we all have that pain?" Rose asked.

"Inception." Rose blinked at him.

"She's from 2005." Clara whispered, making Jack nod.

"Okay. Have you ever woken up from a dream and discovered that you're still dreaming?" Everyone looked at the Doctor with wide eyes. "Dreams within dreams, all possible especially since we're dealing with creatures who have turned our dreams against us."

"Well, I don't know about anybody else but I'm pretty certain I'm awake right now." Fiona shook her head.

The Doctor groaned. "Come on, think. How did we all meet back in the Infirmary? All those Crabs coming down from the ceiling, attacking us. How did we survive that?"

"We were rescued." They shrugged.

"By whom? Who rescued us and is not in the room with us right now?" They turned around to look, seeing no sign of Santa and his Elves. "Come on." They all followed him out of the room, moving through corridors into the storage pantry, where Santa was talking on the phone.

"No, no, no, no, I need you to do the East Coast right now. Well, you must otherwise you're going to be delivering to the islands in broad daylight. Yeah, please try to remember that our mug shots are on every Christmas card." He mouthed 'Sorry' to the group and moved out of the room. "Yeah, just get it done. Head toward the northern lights. Yes, I remembered to switch them on."

The Doctor grabbed a few manuals and handed them out to the science group. "The Herman Ziegler test, the only reliable dream test that I know of. I take it that none of you have memorized your base manual?"

"I haven't read it." Shona said sheepishly.

"Well then, these books should be identical in the real world. But as they don't exist in your memory, in a dream they can't be, agreed?" They nodded at him. "Clara, give me any two-digit number."

"57."

"Turn your books to page 57 and look at the very first word."

"Turn to page 394." Jack quipped.

"Shut up, Snape." They said in unison, making him chuckle.

"Alright, say your first word when I point at you." He pointed to Ashley.

"Isotope."

Fiona blinked. "Extremely."

"Inside."

"Chocolate." They all blinked at Shona. "Why did I get chocolate?"

"This can't be right. We must've got it wrong, that's all." Albert denied.

"We'll do it again. Clara?"

"24."

They flicked their pages. "We."

"Are."

"All."

"Dead."

Their breathing shuddered. "Since the attack in the Infirmary…nothing has been real?" Ashley asked. "We've been dreaming the whole time?"

"Oh, for Easter's sake!" Santa groaned in the doorway, making them turn to look at him and the Elves. "Of course, you've been dreaming. Have you been paying attention?  _*Scoffs*_  Rudolph, the North Pole with stripes. Come on!" They nodded at each other and said in unison. "This is a dream!" Santa stepped towards them. "How much more obvious do you want me to make it? Cause I can text the Easter Bunny, you know."

"You're trying to help?" Rose asked.

"As you stand here chatting, chatting, chatting, your lives are ending! Unless you wake up and free yourselves from these dreadful creatures, they're going to kill you!"

"You're a dream whose trying to save us?" Shona asked.

"Shona, sweetheart, I'm Santa Claus. I think you just defined me. I have watched over you all your lives. I've taken care of you from Christmas to Christmas."

"But you're not real." Fiona said.

"And yet, that never stopped me."

"This makes sense." The Doctor nodded. "The Dream Crab tries to make the dream as real as possible to trap you inside. It creates dreams within dreams, so you can never be sure if you're awake. But your brain knows something is wrong. Your subconscious fights back, this is your mind trying to tell you that this isn't real."

"And so, it gives you me." Santa concluded. "Sweet Papa Crimbo with his comedy elves, flying reindeer and a time traveling alien dressed as a U-boat Captain."

The Doctor blinked as Rose and Jack sniggered at him. "What? No, no, no, hang on."

"Living in a phone box that's a spaceship in disguise. Do you see how none of this makes any sense?"

"Leave him alone." Clara said, making Santa crook his eyebrow.

"Alright then, Miss lovey dovey." Santa quipped.

"Oi!"

"All of you, come near. Join hands."

"What?" The Doctor blinked. "No, no, no-"

"Doctor just shut up and do as you are told." Clara said.

"Yes ma'am." He quipped.

"Can you two love birds stop bickering for a moment?" Santa groaned.

"We're not-"

"Shut up!" He groaned. "Both of you, do as you are told, now hurry up."

"Why?" Fiona asked.

"Why? Right now, all of you are deep inside this dream and it's a shared mental state. The Crabs are drawing power from the multi-consciousness gestalt-"

"No, line in the sand!" The Doctor whined. "Santa Claus does not do the scientific explanations!"

Santa raised his eyebrows in challenge. "Alright then. As the Doctor would say 'Oh, it's all a bit dreamy-weamy-'"

Ian and Wolf placed their hands over Santa's mouth. "He doesn't say that yet."

"Oh." Santa said simply.

"Can we just get to the point?" Ashley groaned. "Right now, we have life forms wrapped around our faces and apparently they're digesting our brains. When you speak, how do I know it's not the Dream Crab?" She asked Santa.

"Oh, good question. Spoken like a scientist." Santa nodded.

"Can I put it another way?" Clara asked. "Why would the part of our brain that is trying to keep all of us alive choose you for a face?"

Santa sighed. "Anyone else asking that question?"

"Yep." Shona nodded. "Why you?"

"Why me?" He waved his arms above his head in exasperation. "It's Christmas day, at the North Pole and you're dying. Who you gonna call?" They blinked at him. "Just one last time, eh? One last Christmas? As if you're lives depended on it, please! Ho, ho, ho! Believe in Santa." They all sighed in defeat and moved into a large circle, joining hands.

"Alright, so what do we…" Ashley trailed off as they noticed that Santa and the Elves have disappeared. "Where did they go?"

"We're waking up. That part of the dream is over. We're on our own now."

"When we wake up, what will we expect?"

"Only a few moments will have passed at the most, the attack is still in progress."

"I'm scared." Shona said.

"Shona…fear is a superpower." He said. Clara sent him a beaming look, which he grinned at.

"Well, what do we do?" Albert asked.

"That pain in your right temple, amplify it. Make it worse. Head towards it."

They all closed their eyes. "Good luck everyone and stay calm." Ashley said. "God bless us, everyone."

* * *

They all gasped for breath as they shot up in the Infirmary, the bodies standing over them buckled over in pain.

"Out! All of you, run!" The Doctor ordered, making them all rush for the door. Clara shrieked as one grasped her arm.

"Doctor! Help!" She cried.

"Clara!" He and Jack grabbed onto Clara and yanked her out of the Crab's grasp.

"Out! Out, now!" Ashley yelled, making them rush through the door before shutting it behind them.

"Everyone alright?" He asked.

"Yeah." They all nodded.

"Those people in there, can we save them?" Ashley asked.

"I'm afraid their beyond our help." The Doctor said grimly.

"Doctor?" Clara drew his attention. "If Santa was only in the dream, why was he on my roof?"

His eyes slowly widened. "Four. Four patients and four manuals." He rushed to the control room, everyone sighing and following him. He found the manuals and picked them up again. "Four manuals. One each."

"Yes, why?" Ashley asked.

"Can't you all figure it out? Shona, what were you doing in the Infirmary before we got here?"

She blinked. "It's a long story."

"Ashley, what is the primary mission of this polar base?"

"It's a long story."

"Fiona, what brings you to the North Pole at your age?"

"It's a long…" She trails off, their eyes slowly widening at the repetition. "Story."

"Okay, why are they giving the same answer, cause that's a tiny bit freaky." Clara said.

"Here's something freakier. Why did we come here?"

"It's a long…" Her eyes widened. "Doctor?"

"Inception, Clara. When you're dreaming, do you ever find yourself in a brand-new place, with no idea how you got there?" They all gulped.

"No." Clara mumbled.

"I'm afraid so, Clara. It's the dream protecting itself, to stop you from asking the right questions. For example, why do you all have four manuals when you have a crew of eight?"

"But we woke up!" Albert protested.

He shook his head. "I warned you. Dreams within dreams."

"This isn't a dream. I know it isn't." Fiona denied.

"No one knows that they're not dreaming. Not one of us, not ever. Not for one single moment of our lives. Clara, page number and make it a good one."

She smirked at him. "Nine."

"Oh, ha ha." He grumbled before tossing the manuals at the crew.

"Very."

"Very."

"Very."

"Dead."

"So, who's going to be the first to admit it?"

"Admit what?" Ashley asked.

"That the pain is still there."

"Actually, I think it's getting worse." Shona grumbled, rubbing her right temple.

"Of course, it is. There's an alien eating you from the inside." The Doctor grumbled sarcastically.

"Doctor, what're they doing?" Jack asked, pointing to the bodies in the Infirmary, who were getting up out of their beds.

"Obviously: Getting up. Reason: Possibly sensing the end game." He turned to the crew. "Look at them. Go on, look at them. Look at them properly, at who they are." He drew the silence out dramatically as they looked at the monitors. "They're you. The sleepers are you."

"How can they be us?" Shona asked.

"Because we're dreaming, all of us. This base isn't real, nobody is standing in this room. Me, Jack and Rose are probably asleep in my TARDIS. Clara is off napping in her bed at home. God knows where the rest of you are, scattered all over the world. But wherever you are, the Dream Crabs have got us and we're all being networked into the same nightmare."

"What're they doing?" Fiona asked, the bodies on the monitors moving closer to the cameras.

"They represent the part of your mind that has already surrendered to the attack. These are dream images of what's coming to kill you."

"That's me? That's actually me?" Albert asked.

"Yes, that's you." The Doctor paused as Albert walked to the monitors. "Don't get too close." He warned.

"Why not?"

"Don't' get too close!" Albert's Crab reached a hand through the monitor and grasped his face, pulling him inside where he disappeared without a trace. The rest of the science crew started moving absentmindedly towards the monitors. "Outside! All of you, run! Now!" He shook them out of their daze, moving them towards an exterior door and outside into the snow. Closing the door behind him, he used the sonic to bar it before he led them to the TARDIS.

"We'll freeze to death out here." Fiona grumbled, hugging herself to keep warm.

"But it's just a dream." Shona protested.

"This dream just killed your friend, so start taking it seriously."

"Where's Albert? Where is he?" Ashley asked.

"He probably just woke up somewhere in the real-world dead." He said grimly. "If we don't wake up now, we'll do the same."

***Bang***

They looked to the door, which had a large dent in it from the inside.

***Bang***

"The TARDIS! Come on! Come on!" The Doctor said, moving them to the box.

"Doctor! It's not the real TARDIS!" Jack protested.

"Let's hope that I dreamed it really well then."

***Bang***

Before they made it to the doors, they opened. The Crab covered bodies of the TARDIS group came marching out, making everyone stop in their tracks.

"It's us!" Rose shrieked.

"Of course, it's us! We're dreaming too!"

***Slam***

"Oh my god." Shona breathed as they looked at the open base door, which a massive group of Crab walkers came marching out.

"How is that possible? How can there be so many?" Fiona cried as more Crab walkers appeared in every direction all around them.

"The logic of a nightmare." The Doctor said simply. Ashley reached into her coat and pulled out a flare, igniting it and bathing the area around them in a bright, orange light.

"So, tell us how to wake up. Cause you're always talking like you're so clever, going on and on. So, tell us what to do!" Shona rambled.

"We have to leave this place!"

"How?!" Fiona asked.

"Come on! It's Christmas, the North Pole! Who're you gonna call?!" They looked up at the sound of sleigh bells ringing, seeing Santa's large sleigh flying through the sky towards them, drawn by all his reindeer, with Rudolph at the front.

"Hiya! Whoa! Whoa!" Santa cried as the sleigh came down to a stop in front of them. "Hurry up! Get in the sleigh!" They all piled in, sitting in pairs beside each other, with Jack in the front by Santa, the Doctor and Clara sitting behind him. "Don't worry! I know all your home addresses! Yah!" He flicked the reigns making the reindeer gallop along the snow, gaining momentum before they ascended into the air.

"Whooo!" They all cried in joy as the sleigh ascended higher and higher into the clouds, hovering in the night sky above the land below.

"So, what happens now? This is us just waking up, right?" Clara asked.

"It could be. Well, I hope so. Just focus on this. Do you believe in Santa Claus?"

She beamed at him. "I've always believed in Santa Claus, but he looks a little different to me." She hugged him tightly, right after seeing his eyes widen in glowing shock.

"Aww!" Everyone cooed.

"Shut up!" They blushed in unison. The sleigh flew across the sky, making them end up above London.

"Look! It's the London Eye." Clara pointed to said building with a smirk.

"Don't you dare." The Doctor warned playfully.

"Hey, Jack, do you want to take the reins?" Santa asked.

"What?" Jack asked.

"Do you want a go?"

Jack grinned. "Yeah, all right!" He took the reins, which made the reindeer bellow as the sleigh started to descend.

"Whoa! Higher! Higher!" They all cried.

"Sorry!" Jack called as he made the sleigh narrow miss the tops of the snow-covered homes below.

"Easy! You go this way!" Santa admonished.

"I said I'm sorry!"

"Go to Big Ben!" Rose called.

"Sure thing!" He swung the reins, making it head towards the large clock tower.

"We're going to hit it!" Santa warned.

"We won't!" Jack grinned.

"We're going to hit it!"

"No, we won't!" Jack swung the reins, making them encircle the tower.

"Whooo!" Clara whooped.

"I'm still the better pilot!" The Doctor called.

"You wanna bet?!" Jack stood up in the sleigh. "Let's try this! Hold on!" He swung the sleigh to move down towards the busy streets.

"Watch out!" Santa cried as the sleigh soared above the traffic.

"I've always wanted to say this." Jack grinned before looking towards the people below. "Yippee-Ki-Yay, Motherfucker!"

"Language!" They all admonished, despite their giggling.

"Alright, that's enough!" Santa said playfully, taking the reins back.

"But-but-"

"No!" Santa pointed a finger at him while using his other hand to raise them back into the sky.

"How can you ride this without looking?" Rose called.

"Because I'm-"

"Santa Claus! We know!" Jack grumbled childishly, holding back a joyful smirk. "Actually…you know…" He struggled, starting to gasp for breath.

"Yeah, yeah, take a breath." They all fell into a comfortable silence for a moment. "They're still hugging each other, you know." Santa said, nodding behind him to the Doctor and Clara.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Of course, they are."

"Now, one question. Why is the rum always gone?" Santa winked.

"I'm not a drunk pirate!" He scoffed.

"I work in a shop!" Shona called, making everyone look at her.

"I'm sorry?" Ashley asked.

"I thought I was a scientist, but that's rubbish."

"Finally, something that makes sense." Fiona grumbled.

"You're horrible, you are."

Ashley blinked. "Perfume."

"What?"

"I'm an account manager, for perfume. Does this mean we're waking up?"

"I think so." The Doctor nodded. "With any luck, we'll all wake up in our proper times and places."

"Times?" Clara asked.

"We could all be in different time zones. Time travel is always possible in dreams."

"So, we might not know each other? Not any of us?" Shona asked.

"No. I'm afraid not."

"Well, you know what we should do? We should swap numbers. We should have a reunion."

"Fiona!" Ashley called. They looked at the end to see her gone.

* * *

"Gran? Gran? Dinner's ready!" Fiona woke up inside of a sunny living room, seeing a young girl at the door.

"Sorry. I must've dozed off." Fiona said, making the girl smile before she left. Fiona looked down before gasping as she found herself sitting in a wheelchair, unable to feel her legs. She sighed, grasping the wheels of the chair and rolling herself out of the room, past the crumbled ash of a Dream Crab.

* * *

"Um…I'm pretty sure I can remember my number, so…if you memorize it, then you text me, we can go for a curry…"

"The chances that you remember any of this are very slim." The Doctor shook his head.

"Now, don't stay that! We'll remember, won't we Ashley?" She looked around, seeing the empty spot behind Rose. "Ashley?"

* * *

Ashley yawned as she rose up in her bed, dressed in her nightie and with a large, bushy haircut. She looked beside her to see the Dream Crab disintegrating into ash.

"Aaah!" She yelped, getting out of bed before taking a few deep breaths to compose herself.

* * *

"Am I next? Is it me now?" Shona asked.

"Shona, you're going home, you're surviving." Rose said.

"But do you want to hang out? We can hang out sometime."

"Sure."

"Santa, can I stay a bit longer?" They all turned to look at Santa, who kept his eye on the horizon.

"Oh, I'm afraid not." Santa shook his head. They looked back to her but found her gone.

* * *

Shona shot up in her made up sleeping spot on her couch, blinking as she heard the Dream Crab disintegrating into ash on the floor. She looked around with confusion at her messy, cramped flat before gazing at the pile of ash.

"Gross." She grumbled. She breathed out loud, before picking up a piece of paper from the table. It said at the top 'Christmas Day Itinerary'. Below it was a list.

DVD (Alien)

DVD (The Thing from another World)

Dad comes around

DVD (Miracle on 34th Street)

Game of Thrones marathon.

Forgive Dave?

She contemplated before picking up a red felt pen and placed a tick beside number 6.

* * *

Clara moved out of the Doctor's embrace to look at him. "It's a pity we have to wake up, really. It's not really something you do every day, is it?"

"If we stay, we die Clara."

She looked out over the horizon, smiling fondly. "You can be such a downer." She looked back, finding herself alone with Santa on the sleigh.

* * *

The Doctor, Rose and Jack gasped as they shot up, finding themselves looking at the base of a volcano in bewilderment.

"Why were we here?" Rose asked.

"Can't remember." The Doctor shook his head before his eyes widened. "Clara!" They raced back into the TARDIS, which shortly thereafter dematerialized.

* * *

"You really should be waking up too, Clara." Santa said, as Clara now sat beside him.

"Just a little longer."

"Why?" She bit her lip, searching for the answer. "Time to tell him, eh?" Santa smiled knowingly. "It should be. Everyone else knows you two are in love."

"But what if-"

"Ignore those questions Clara. Yes, everyone gets those. 'Oh, will he or she love me back?' Blah, blah, blah. Honestly, after all you two have been through, just grow a pair and admit to it, okay?"

"Yes sir." She smiled at him gently.

* * *

The Doctor, Rose and Jack entered Clara's bedroom, while she lay in her bed, her head covered in the Dream Crab. "Oh Clara. I should've known that you would be the one to sleep in." He teased lightly before moving to her side. "Okay, I should be able to do this now. One of the advantages of being awake. So, just hold still and I'll zap the Crab's neural centres." He pulled out his sonic and pressed it against the Crab.

***Screech***

They winced at the sound of the Crab dying. "That ought to hurt." Jack mumbled.

"Okay. Here we go." He grasped the Crab and pulled it off, which created a squelching noise, making them shudder.

"Ew." Rose complained.

"The Dream Crabs must've got to us first, then found you in our memories. The others must've been collateral damage. Jack, could you please?" He handed the Crab to Jack, who took it with a face, tossing it out of the window, which disintegrated into ash out in the snow. "Good to see you properly at last. How long has it been? Don't tell me I've missed something, like the one year with Rose. I'm not exactly looking forward to another slap."

"But you do deserve it." Rose mumbled.

The Doctor went to protest, but noticed that Clara didn't say anything, reaching weakly for the bedside lamp. His eyebrows furrowed as his gaze fell upon her grey hair. "Clara?"

"Oh, you know, about 62 years." Clara said softly, turning on the light. She turned to look at them, their eyes widening as they saw that she was much older than when they last saw her. "Doctor." She reached for his hands, pulling him towards her. "I have missed you very much, you stupid old man." She chuckled lightly, drawing him into a hug.

"I've missed you too." He mumbled, the guilt now beginning to brew within him.

* * *

Now sitting on the sofa in the living room, Jack and Rose sitting at the table, Clara waited for the Doctor who came in, carrying a bundle of hats.

"These are Christmas hats, I've seen people use them. You put them on and absolutely anything seems funny."

"It most definitely would work on you." Clara quipped.

"That it would. You wanna try?" She nodded. He handed Rose and Jack a pair before taking a hat and placed it gently on Clara's head.

Clara looked at him with a distant smile, as he looked at her like he was there for those 62 years. "Can you really see no difference in me?"

"Clara Oswald, you'll never look any different to me." Clara beamed at him. "So, how was it then?"

"How was what?"

"The 62 years that I missed."

"Oh. How was my life, you mean."

He gulped. "Is there a Mr. Clara?"

"No, but there were plenty of proposals."

He sniggered. "They all turned you down then?"

She gave him an offended look. " _*Scoffs*_ I turned them down." She blinked, going back through the nostalgia. "I travelled. I taught in every country in Europe. I learnt to fly a plane." She smiled knowingly.

He gave her a smirk before grabbing a Christmas cracker and sitting down on the sofa arm beside her. "Regrets?"

"Oh, hundreds.  _*Chuckles*_ I just wish there were time for a few more."

"Fair enough. They're always the best part." He gave her an end of the Christmas cracker. "Not exactly sure why people like these so much."

"Why do people like Tug of War?" She asked.

"Good point." He breathed inward. "I guess, no one was good enough then, eh?"

"There was one man, but I was never brave enough to tell him that I love him."

He took a sharp breath. "Why not?"

"He was impossible." She said simply.

He blinked at her, his hearts racing before he grasped her hands and helped her pull the cracker before slouching his shoulders. "Didn't you already know?"

"Know what?"

"He also loves you, Clara. More than anything." Her eyes radiated joy at him. "I'm sorry, Clara. I was stupid. I should've told you sooner. I should've gotten back earlier. I wish that I had."

"I know. I should've as well. I wish that we had more time." Clara said softly.

"You could've come and lived in the TARDIS with me."

"No more Wednesdays?" She breathed.

He nodded, cradling her face in one hand, she leant into his touch looking at him in adoration. He searched his mind for something to say before opening his mouth.

"Dear Doctor and Clara…how much do you both wish for that?" Santa asked, drawing their widening attention to him as he strode into the room with the biggest grin of smugness on his face.

"No." The Doctor breathed. "We're not still-"

"Were you not paying attention to Tweedledee and Tweedledum?" Santa asked.

They looked around the room, seeing no sign of Rose and Jack.

" _Doctor!"_

" _Doctor get up!"_ He looked up, hearing the voices of Jack and Rose echoing around him.

"That's your cue. Wakey-wakey."

* * *

He gasped as he shot up, the Dream Crab falling off his face, with Jack and Rose kneeling beside him. He looked at them before he started beaming.

"Clara." He got up and raced with them into the TARDIS.

* * *

Racing back into her bedroom, the Doctor pulled out his sonic and used it on the Dream Crab. He ignored its screeching of pain before grasping the Crab and pulling it off. Clara shot up in the bed, gasping for breath, her face now back to normal.

"Doctor…am I young?" She asked.

"No idea." He quipped. She smirked as Rose grabbed a mirror and placed it in Clara's hands, who gave a sigh of relief at her look.

"Is that any good?" Rose asked.

"Oh yes, that's good."

"Looking younger every day, Clara." Jack winked.

"Shut it." She warned. Turning to look at the Doctor, she felt her heart skip a beat at how intently he was staring at her. "Doctor?"

"The TARDIS is outside."

"So?"

"So, all of time and all of space is sitting out there in a big blue box, with no more Wednesdays. Please, don't even argue." He pleaded. Clara beamed at him as he held out a hand in anticipation. She looked at it before sighing. Grasping his jacket in both hands, she pulled him in, placing a searing kiss on his lips. He shuddered in surprise, before relaxing and grasping her head in both hands before they parted for air.

"Merry Christmas, Doctor." She whispered against him.

"Merry Christmas, Clara Oswald." They grinned at each other childishly before racing out of the room.

Rose and Jack sighed in unison. "About bloody time." She groaned before they hurried after them.

"Look at you, all happy." Clara giggled.

"You know what's rarer? Second chances. I never get a second chance, so what happened this time? I don't even know who to thank."

"No, I think you do." She smiled knowingly.

He sighed in defeat. "Alright then. Thank goodness for Santa Claus. You happy now?"

"More than happy." She led him inside, Rose and Jack following before the TARDIS dematerialised, the group missing the tangerine lying on Clara's windowsill.

* * *

"Where are they?" Rose asked Jack as they searched through the corridors of the TARDIS.

"No idea." Jack shrugged. "I mean…it's pretty obvious-"

"Yes, I know." They paused, hearing muffled voices.

" _Oh, Doctor!"_

" _Clara!"_

They blinked at each other. "Oh." They squeaked in unison.

"We should just-"

"Leave them alone, yeah." He nodded before they raced away like two children in trouble.

* * *

The Doctor and Clara in his bed, completely bare as they snuggled into each other.

"What're you thinking about, Doctor?" She whispered into his chest.

"That I might be the luckiest man in the universe?" He said obviously.

"Ugh, now that's cheesy."

He rolled his eyes. "We admitted our feelings to each other on Christmas with the help of Santa. I'm sure cheesiness already flew out of the window." She sniggered lightly.

"Well, I'm sure you can come up with a place for us to go." She rose up to look at him.

He nodded. "I think I already have the place." He placed a kiss on her lips.

"Don't say it's right here. That's even worse than cheesy."

"Too bad, it's right here." He turned her over and trailed kisses down her neck.

"What about Jack…and...oh, Doctor…and Rose?" She struggled to hold back her moans.

"They'll be fine." He growled, making her shudder before continuing their love making, neither of them noticing the TARDIS beeping softly.

 _*Beeps*_  (Took them long enough. I thought I was going to have to trap them alone together for a while. Ah well)

**AN: Ahh, yes Rose and TARDIS, about damn time. Now that felt good to finally write. XD Anyway, as always, thank you for reading and leave a review if you wish. :)**


	23. The Crimson Horror

**The Crimson Horror**

**Yorkshire  
** 1893

A young man is standing in a long hallway, holding a young woman in his arms.

"Edmund, please don't do this!" She cried, placing a kiss on his lips to distract him.

"Don't fret Effie, all will be well. But we must get to the bottom of this dark and queer business no matter what the cost. Remember, if I have not returned in an hour, you must fetch the police. Okay?"

"Alright." He gave her one last kiss before departing away and through a door on the other end, which was gleaming crimson light through its round window. Effie waited for only 2 minutes before the elevator shaft beside her opened. An old woman with five younger accomplices emerged to greet her. "Mrs. Gillyflower." She breathes.

"We have come about your husband, my dear. A tragedy." Gillyflower says, radiating a sad look of pity.

"My husband?"

"Your…late husband."

She shook her head. "There must be some mistake. My husband is quite well-"

_"Aaah!"_  She glanced at the crimson door in horror before turning back to Gillyflower, whose sad look turned less genuine and more mocking.

"We're so very sorry for your loss." She clicked her fingers, her accomplices seizing Effie and dragging her to the same door.

"No, please! Let me go! Please!" She cried as she disappeared through the door.  _"Aaah!"_

* * *

Inside a morgue, a young man with a moustache stood over a stone slab, where the master drew back a white sheet to reveal Edmund. However, his face bore an expression of horror, while his skin was coloured deep crimson red, covered in small scars like cracks in the earth.

"Oh, hellfire, that's put me right off me mash." The master chuckled morbidly. "Another one."

"Another?" The man asked.

"He's not the first one I've had in here looking like that. "The Crimson Horror". That's what they're calling it."

"I have no interest in the deplorable excesses of the penny dreadful." He turned to leave.

"Hey, hey." He clicks his fingers with his words before holding out a hand. "Payment in advance, flower." The man took out a handful of coins and placed them in his hand, the master grasping his wrist as he did to pull him in closer. "You see, I'm taking a big risk right now. They'll have me vitals for fiddle strings if they knew I'd let you come to look at one of their precious stiffs."

The man wrenched back his arm. "This stiff was my brother. I've come up from London to bring him home."

"Oh aye? But you want to know how he got killed, yes?"

"I've got no interest-"

"Yes, yes, I heard you the first time. What you should do is see the one who delves into these strange miss happenings."

"And who would that be?"

The master gave him a smirk. "I think you know who "The Great Detective" of London is, young man."

**13 Paternoster Row, London**

Madame Vastra and Jenny sat in their contemplation room, overflowing with plants as they listened to Rose and Jack's tale, sipping on cups of tea. Rose and Jack were now dressed in attire befitting of their current era, complete with a suit and black frock dress.

"You're serious?" Jenny mumbled in surprise. "Santa Claus got them together?"

"Basically, yeah." Rose nodded.

"But…didn't Clara die?" Jenny asked.

Rose and Jack blinked. "How do you mean?" Jack asked.

"We knew Clara. She was a barmaid and a governess." Vastra informed, drawing back her veil to sip at her tea. "She helped the Doctor when we could not. Yet she gave her life to save him in the end. Killed by the Ice Governess."

"Ice…Governess?" Rose blinked.

"Have they not explained it?"

Rose shrugged. "Well they did just admit that they love each other  _*Mumbles Finally*_ , so…"

"They just haven't gotten to it yet?" Jenny finished. They nodded.

"But they should be back by now. They've been gone for nearly a week." Rose said in worry.

"Don't worry, my dear." Vastra reassured. "If the Doctor is in trouble, then we shall rush head first into that danger to save him. But sometimes…the danger must come to us."

***Knock* *Knock* *Knock***

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear."

"That's a bit creepy, you know? Like…really creepy." Rose blinked.

Strax went to answer the door. "This should be one of our contactors, Mr. Thursday. He's been telling us of the mysterious death of his brother and the disappearance of his wife in Yorkshire, a small place called Sweetville. Perhaps, this could be the lead we require."

Strax opened the front door to see Thursday, the man from the morgue standing there, not looking at him and holding out a small card.

"I have travelled from Yorkshire expressly to see Madame Vastra on my investigations. Would you be so kind as to announce me my good man?"

Strax took the card. "Who shall I say is calling?" Thursday looked up at him before gasping.

"Dear lord." His eyes rolled back into his head as he collapsed into the doorway. Strax blinked as Jenny came to the door.

"Strax." She groaned.

"It wasn't me. It asked for permission to enter and then it fell over." Strax defended.

"Well, he's here to see Madame, so bring him in anyway. It's just a shock, he'll be up in a minute." Jenny motioned.

"Fine." He grumbled, picking up Thursday and pulling him inside to lay him on a couch. They waited patiently for the man to awaken, who groaned as he did.

"So sorry. I'm…not entirely sure what happened there." Thursday mumbled.

"You just came with a shock, you'll be fine. Now, if you would like to come on through, Madame Vastra is waiting." Jenny said.

"Thank you." He took a glance at Strax before following Jenny into the room. Vastra, now with the veil drawn, looked at him and motioned him to a seat. "Thank you for agreeing to this meeting, Madame Vastra. I'm told you're the investigator to see if there are strange goings-on."

"I read of your brothers death. Another victim of "The Crimson Horror", I believe?"

"So, it is claimed. He was a newspaper man. He and his wife, Effie were working undercover at Sweetville. Tell me madam, do you know what an Octagram is?"

" _*Chuckles*_ It's a silly superstition, sir. The belief that the eye can retain an image of the last thing it sees." Thursday took out a photo of his brothers face on a morgue table and handed it to her. She glanced at it before throwing back her veil, seeing something undiscernible in his eyes, yet his skin was coloured crimson. "I haven't seen these effects since…"

"Would you like me to prepare the dark room ma'am?" Jenny asked.

"Yes, thank you my dear."

"Oh gosh!" Thursday grumbled. They looked at him to see his eyes roll back into his head, as he stumbles out of the chair and onto the floor, narrowly missing the glass table.

"Okay, that is not shock. That's light-headedness." Rose sniggered. Jenny giggled making Vastra playfully glare at her.

"Sorry ma'am." She squeaked before hurrying from the room, Vastra shaking her head at her behaviour.

"Are you two…" Jack trailed off.

"Yes. And married." Vastra said simply.

"Ah. Makes sense."

* * *

They searched through their new findings in the dark room, their frustration growing more immense by the second.

"There's got to be something." Vastra muttered under her breath.

"Devil's in the details." Jack said.

"I'm sorry?"

He blinked. "It's a future saying."

"Well I'll be blowed. I think Madame, that we'd better make plans to head North." Jenny said. They came over to the new picture she just hung up.

"Well, what do you know? We have a lead after all." Vastra said with a smirk. The picture was a close-up of the pupil, which inside had the Doctor looking back out, his hands reaching out and his jaw dropped in shock.

* * *

Now sitting in a large carriage, Jenny and Rose with Vastra while Jack sat on the other side with Strax, they conversed their new plans.

"According to my research, Sweetville's proprietor holds recruitment try-outs for her little community. She's only interested in the fittest and the most beautiful." Jenny beamed at Vastra while Rose cocked an eyebrow. "Now, to not attract attention, we shall only send two of us in there."

"You may rely on us, ma'am." Strax said. Everyone blinked at him.

"I think Vastra was speaking about Jenny and Rose." Jack informed. Vastra nodded in thanks.

"Jenny and Rose." Strax mumbled, scrunching his face in offended disgust. "If these weak and fleshy boys are to represent us-"

"Ah." Vastra placed her hands-on Jenny and Rose's to stop them from blurting out.

"I strongly advise the issuing of scissor grenades, limbo vapour and triple blast brain-spitters."

"What on Earth for?" Vastra asked.

He shrugged. "Just generally. Remember, we are going to the North." He said dramatically.

Vastra and Jenny exchanged furrowed looks while Rose snorted. "Don't let Clara catch you saying that."

* * *

Standing outside the entrance to the hall at the front of Sweetville, Jenny and Rose entered with a large group of people while Jack, Vastra and Strax stood to the side.

"If our stratagem succeeds, Jenny and Rose will infiltrate deep into the black heart of this curious place."

"And how will they locate the Doctor?" Strax asks.

"To find him, they need only ignore all keep out signs, go through every locked door and run towards any form of danger that presents itself."

"Business as usual?"

"Business as usual."

"How long will they be in there?" Jack asked.

"This hearing will go on for almost an hour before they can get inside. Until then…" Vastra thought for a moment. "We need to visit the morgue. I have an idea why it's called "The Crimson Horror", but I need confirmation. Jenny best be alright in there." She said in soft worry.

"If they don't make contact by the time we return, I suggest a massive frontal assault on the factory madam." They blinked at Strax, who gulped sheepishly. "Casualties could be kept to perhaps as little as 80%."

"I think there may be subtler ways of proceeding, Strax." Vastra shook her head slowly.

"Suit yourself." Strax shrugged as they walked back to their carriage.

* * *

Rose and Jenny sat next to each other in the crowded hall, while Gillyflower and her accomplices stood at the front of the hall. Beside them was a poster covered in a sheet while a circular curtain stood on the other.

"How much longer does this have to go on?" Rose groaned to Jenny.

"Hopefully, not much longer." Jenny whispered, holding back her groan of irritation.

"Bradford, that Babylon of the moderns with its crystal light and its glitter. All a-swarm with the wretched ruins of humanity. Men and women crushed by the Devil's juggernaut. Moral turpitude can destroy the most delicate of lives. Believe me, I know." An accomplice drew back the circular curtain to reveal a young woman with her back turned. Unlike Gillyflower who was dressed in black, she was dressed in white. "My own daughter, Ada, blinded in a drunken rage by my late husband." Ada turned to the audience, revealing her heavily scarred face and milky white eyes. The audience gasped at this, some calling out "Disgraceful" as they saw her. "Her once beautiful eyes are now pale and white as mistletoe berries." Gillyflower took out a tissue to dab her eyes. "And what my friends is your story? Will you be found wanting when the end of days is come? When judgement rains down upon us all? Or will you be preserved against the coming apocalypse?" The audience murmured in fear, making her hold up a hand to silence them. "Do not despair. I offer a way out. There is a different path. Sweetville." The poster sheet was drawn back, revealing a landscape painting of Sweetville. This made the audience gasp in awe, while Rose and Jenny exchanged looks with each other. "Join us! Join us in this shining city on the hill!" Gillyflower proclaimed. The people shot up out of their seats and towards the front, where on a podium in front of her was a list, with a quill and they rapidly began to sign it.

Rose and Jenny stood in the line, patiently as it quickly dwindled. "Rather impatient, are they?" Rose murmured.

"Or Gillyflower's just playing into their superstitious fears. People can believe in all manner of things."

Rose cocked an eyebrow. "Yet they'll fall over in shock at the sight of your mistress."

"Stop it!" Jenny blushed, earning a snigger from Rose. They reached the podium, Gillyflower looking at them warmly.

"You wish to join us, my dears?'

"If it's all the same with you, ma'am." Jenny and Rose signed in turn.

"Oh yes, dears. You'll do very nicely." They curtsied before leaving the room.

* * *

Rose and Jenny stood in a long line, waiting anxiously for it to end. They gave each other a nodding glance as a door came up in the long hallway to their right, as a young woman with horribly maintained teeth came up behind them.

"I'm dead nervous, aren't you? They must be sure, you see. Only the best for Sweetville. I hope me teeth don't let me down. I'm Abigail."

"Pleased to meet you." Jenny nodded, her and Rose exchanged a slightly uncomfortable look.

"You two not from around here, are you?"

"No. We're up from London."

"Ah. Different here, I bet."

"Oh yeah. A bleeding horse market." They chuckled lightly.

"Do you know anyone who's come to live here?" Rose asked. "In Sweetville, I mean."

Abigail nodded. "I had a pal who come here three month back. She wrote to tell me how perfect it all were." She blinked, gazing distantly for a moment. "Funny, though. I've not heard a peep from her since."

"Next please!" A voice at the end of the line called.

"Hang on. We're moving." Abigail moved past them in agitation as Jenny motioned Rose to the door, where she pulled out her lock picking pouch. "What're you doing?" Abigail whispered.

"Do us a favour, cause a distraction." Jenny said.

"What?"

"Swoon. Have a funny turn. Fit of the vapours."

"Are you two crackers?"

"Go on." Jenny reached into her dress pocket and pulled out a Guinea. "There's a Guinea in it for you."

Abigail took it immediately. "Done." She began to gasp dramatically before collapsing to the ground, earning everyone's attention as they frolicked around her, murmuring amongst themselves loudly. Jenny and Rose used this opportunity to pass through the door unseen, closing it silently behind them. They moved quickly to a large, green door and went through, holding their hands to their ears at the loud, rhythmic clanging of machinery. Except there wasn't any. Moving through the large hall, they found it completely empty, except for a group of large speakers hooked up to each other, playing the same noises repeatedly. Back at the green door, they saw a small group of workers moving through, carrying large bottles of crimson liquid.

* * *

Vastra and Jack stood inside the morgue as the master drew back a curtain to rummage through his findings.

"Them new manufacturers can do horrible things to a person. Horrible. I've pickled things in here that'll fair turn your hair snowy as top of Buckden Pike."

"You know what we're looking for?" Vastra said, holding back a roll of her eyes.

"Oh, aye. All them bits found in the canal. "The Crimson Horror"." He found a glass bottle containing the crimson liquid from the factory. Vastra turned around with Jack, drawing back her veil to gaze at it.

"It hardly seems possible." Vastra murmured.

"What is it?" Jack asked.

"It is poison."

"Eh?" The master murmured.

"I have seen these symptoms before, long ago."

"Oh, aye? How long?"

Vastra quickly cocked an eyebrow playfully at Jack before turning back to the master, who gazed at her face in shock. "About 65 million years."

* * *

Rose and Jenny moved out of the elevator, into a hallway with a crimson light glaring through the door at the end. They nodded, moving to peer through yet-

***Clang***

They jumped as the noise of banging chains echoed above their heads, rather close by. Deciding to move through the other door, which when opened revealed a short, spiralling staircase. They ascended to the top cautiously, seeing another hallway, yet the floor was strewn with hay and the doors were made like containment cells.

***Clang***

They moved to the first door and tried to open it to no avail. Rose knelt and opened the latch at the bottom. They jumped as a crimson arm reached out and tried to grasp them, before they shut the latch in haste. Rose and Jenny gave each other an uncertain nod before Jenny leant into the door.

"Alright, mate. You just stay calm now. We could open this door. Would you like that?"

***Clang***

"I thought you might. But you and we have got to come to an arrangement, savvy?"

***Clang***

Jenny grabbed a tool from her lock picking pouch and proceeded to unlock the door. "Now, you stand well back, do you hear me? We don't mean no harm to you, but you try anything funny and we'll leave you here to rot. Is that understood?"

***Clang* *Clang***

"Alright." Jenny opened the door, her and Rose moving inside slowly before they gasped. "Doctor?"

Said man was standing there in chains yet his skin was coloured crimson. He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a painful groan, so he reached his arms out yet his movements were stiff, like old wood scraping against itself.

"What happened to you? Where's Clara?" Rose asked.

"Aaah. Ah." He groaned.

"Can't you speak?" Jenny asked.

Despite the pain, he shook his head.

"How do we get him out?" Rose asked Jenny.

"Aaah." The Doctor reached an arm to the corner by the door, where his clothes lay.

"Sonic." Rose jumped, grabbing the clothes and pulling the sonic out, using it to unclasp his chains.

"Give me a hand." Jenny said. She and Rose grabbed his arms and slowly led him out of the room, his every step creating a creaking sound in his legs. Descending the stairs, they moved to the crimson lit door, opening it as the elevator behind them opened, Ada coming out with a bowl of food. She turned her head in confusion at the noise before proceeding to the flight of stairs.

They moved through the door, seeing another hallway but with glass windows on one side. Peering through them, they saw the actual factory, where people unconscious and suspended in latches were being lowered into large vats of the crimson liquid.

"Oh my god. Is that what happened to you?" Rose asked the Doctor.

He nodded weakly with a groan.

"How do we reverse this?"

He raised his hand to a door in the side, making them move through it. Behind was another corridor, with three open doors. This sight made the Doctor start groaning, rushing towards the first.

"You sure?" Jenny asked.

"Aaah!" He groaned. They moved him inside.

"Here." Rose said, placing his clothes into his arms and his sonic into his hands, before they closed the door and waited.

* * *

Ada reached the top of the stairs, moving to the first door, which due to her blindness, was unable to see that it was open.

"You are all I have, monster." She whispered gently. "But all will be well. Imperfect as we are, there will be room for us in the new Jerusalem." She went to place an affectionate hand on the door yet frowned as she couldn't feel it. Using her walking stick, she felt her way through the hay, until it hit the unclasped chains on the floor. She let out a breath, kneeling to pick up the chains. "No. No!" She cried. "Where are you monster? Where are you?"

* * *

Jenny and Rose jumped as steam billowed out from behind the door, the blue light of the sonic illuminating it like ice cold morning mist. Then, it stopped. They waited and waited until the door slammed open, the Doctor jumping out, perfectly normal again, his clothes on with a beaming grin on his face.

"Ha ha! You missed me?!" He cried, before jumping around the room like a kid on a sugar rush.

"Doctor!" Jenny exclaimed, her and Rose grinning madly.

"Just when I thought the Victorian lock-picking chambermaid and her cheerleader wouldn't ever turn up, here you are." Rose smacked him hard for his comment.

"Don't call me a cheerleader." Rose growled.

"Sorry, but I do have to thank you for that. You've no idea how agonizing it was to be stiff as a board." The Doctor said, still grinning despite the sting.

"Your…welcome?" Rose mumbled.

"Right. Mrs. Gillyflower, we've got to stop her. But first, Clara. I've got to find Clara."

"Clara? What happened to her?" Jenny asked.

The Doctor blinked. "Did you-"

"Yes. Me and Jack already explained." Rose groaned.

"Okay. It's a bit of a long story. I'll try to keep it short."

One Week Ago

_The Doctor and Clara appeared from the TARDIS, Clara dressed in a dark purple frock dress, complete with a frill hat._

_"Okay, so we get…Yorkshire, 1893." The Doctor mumbled._

_"You've made a habit of this, not knowing where your going." Clara bemused._

_"Oh, that's always been the point…albeit there are times when I wish I knew where I was going. I once spent a hell of a long time trying to get a gabby Australian to Heathrow Airport." He said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, walking with her out of the stone alleyway._

_"What for?"_

_"Search me."_

_"Will Rose and Jack be fine?"_

_"Yeah. Vastra and Jenny are good friends of mine. Strax…still not sure yet." They chuckled._

_"Aaah!"_

_They glanced at each other before grinning madly._

_"Fantastic!" They rushed out of the alleyway, towards the source of the scream. On a stone bridge, a group of people were amassed at the side, looking down into the water as a body lay face down within. One of the women was screaming in horror, while Edmund was being restrained by officers._

_"It's another one! Don't you see? Another victim! Why won't any of you listen?!" Edmund exclaimed._

_"We'll listen." The Doctor said with a smug smile._

* * *

_The Doctor, Clara and Edmund approached the gates of Sweetville._

_"Mrs. Winfred Gillyflower, an astonishing woman. Prize-winning chemist and mechanical engineer, so why?"_

_"Why has she decided to open up a match factory in her old hometown?" Clara finished for him._

_"And no one who ever goes to live there ever seems to come out." The Doctor and Clara exchanged a small look at those words._

_"To the morgue, then!"_

* * *

_The master withdrew a white sheet, revealing a young woman staring up at them in horror, and her skin coloured crimson red._

_"Same as the rest. All dead from causes unknown and their flesh…" Edmund trailed off._

_"Glowing, like something manky in a coal cellar." The master finished. "They keep turning up in the canal. "The Crimson Horror"."_

_"Oh! I like that name." The Doctor breathed as he took a magnifying glass and brought it up to the woman's eyes, which shone an image of Mrs. Gillyflower. "Do you know the old Romany superstition, Clara, that the eye of a dead person retains an image of the last thing it sees?" Clara cocked an eyebrow before taking the glass and repeating his motion. "Nonsense, of course. Unless the chemical composition of the body-"_

_"Has been massively corrupted." Clara finished. "Yeah, the crimson skin speaks for itself."_

_"Alright then, Ms. Know it all." The Doctor said playfully, making her smirk._

* * *

_The Doctor held up a small vial of the crimson liquid into the light, Clara and Edmund watching._

_"This is nasty, an organic poison. You really think it's connected to Sweetville?"_

_"Yes, I do." Edmund nodded._

_"Well then, we need a plan."_

* * *

_The Doctor and Clara, with their arms linked stood in front of Gillyflower in her main office. In the centre of the back wall was a large piano._

_"Mr. & Mrs. Oswald. Oh yes, you'll do very nicely." She said, holding back the menacing gleam in her eyes._

_"Oh, grand! Smashing! Hey, the missus and I couldn't be more chuffed, couldn't we love?" The Doctor said, attempting a Yorkshire accent._

_Clara giggled but leaned into him. "Don't."_

_"Don't what?"_

_"You can't Yorkshire."_

_"Sorry." He mumbled._

* * *

_Winfred lead them through the main courtyard, where on either side was rows of houses lined up against each other._

_"Sweetville will provide you with everything you need. You won't have to worry about a thing ever again."_

_"The name, Sweetville…" Clara started, to his surprise masterfully executing a Yorkshire accent._

_"Yes?"_

_"Why not name it after yourself? After all, it's your creation."_

_"It is named in tribute to my partner."_

_"Your late partner?"_

_"No. My…silent partner. Mr. Sweet likes to keep himself to himself. Shall we move on?"_

_"Who lives here?" The Doctor asked._

_"*Chuckles* Oh, names don't matter here. All you need to know is we only recruit the brightest and the best." She opened a door, revealing a living room yet in the centre was a large, glass capsule. Within were a man and a woman, sitting completely motionless at the table. The Doctor and Clara were suddenly seized from behind, cloths placed over their mouths as they attempted to fight off the drug attack. "Don't worry, my dears. It will be completely painless." She smirked as they lost consciousness._

_What came next for the Doctor was a blur of pain and crimson red, until he found himself lying on the cold floor, his joints stiff like old oak and his jaw clasped together in an iron grasp. All he could do was reach out his hand, as he heard Gillyflower's voice float through his ringing ears._

_"Like pretty maids all in a row. The process improves with every attempt. Mr. Sweet is such a clever old thing. Oh! Into the canal with the rejects, Ada."_

_"Yes, Mama." The tapping of a walking stick came closer and closer, making the Doctor give a small groan of pain. The tapping stopped, and he felt a hesitant hand enclose his, a gasp of surprise coming from Ada as he slowly closed his hand around hers._

* * *

_The Doctor now stood still in the cell, his wrists being clasped in irons by Ada._

_"Sometimes the preservation process goes wrong. Only Mr. Sweet knows why. And only Mama can talk to Mr. Sweet. But if you're very good, you can stay here. You'll be my secret. My special monster." She ran her hand gently over his face, giving him a soft smile before turning to leave. He raised his arms out, trying to scream in protest, but all that came out was guttural groaning as she shut the door._

_What followed next for him was a blur of the same motions. Trying to improve his movements to be less stiff, three meals a day from Ada's leftovers, all the while praying and pleading for Clara to be okay. One day, the door slammed open. A crimson coloured Edmund was standing there, screaming in agony as he stared at the Doctor before collapsing to the ground outside, the door swinging shut again._

* * *

"Poor Edmund must've come looking for us and then fallen into a vat of the pure venom." The Doctor finished, him, Jenny and Rose now looking through a glass window at one of the large vats. "Or was pushed. He didn't stand a chance."

"What is that stuff, though?" Jenny asked.

"Deadly poison. And Mrs. Gillyflower has been dipping her pilgrims in it to protect and preserve them. Process didn't work on me, probably because I'm not Human. I ended up on the reject pile."

"Preserve them against what?"

"Well, according to her, the coming apocalypse."

"So, she's…" Rose trailed off.

"Yeah, she's…" He whistled, twirling his finger by his temple.

"When the end of days has come and judgement rains down upon us all…" Jenny quoted.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"No, what?"

"Something Mrs. Gillyflower said in one of her sermons."

He furrowed his eyebrows at that. "Odd. Anyway, we've got to find Clara." They moved to the door, leading them out of the room. "Where's Vastra, Jack and Strax at?"

Jenny blinked. "They should be here by now."

The Doctor smirked. "I'm betting you ten Guineas that it's Strax's fault."

"Oh, come on. It not his fault all of the time." He cocked an eyebrow at her, making her gulp sheepishly. "Okay…it's his fault most of the time."

* * *

Within a stone alleyway, Strax led the carriage to a stop, glaring daggers at the horse.

"Horse! You have failed in your mission! We are lost, with no sign of Sweetville! Do you have any final words before your summary execution?!" The horse sniffed, licking its chops. "The usual story." Strax rolled his eyes as he took out his laser rifle. "Fourth one this week, and I'm not even hungry."

"Sweetville, sir?" Strax looked to the right side of the alley, to see a young boy in tattered clothes staring at him.

"Do you know it?"

"Turn around, when possible. Then, at the end of the road, turn right."

"What?"

"Bear left for a quarter of a mile, and you'll have reached your destination."

Despite his confusion, he lowered his rifle and held out a hand, making the boy climb into the carriage. "Thank you. What is your name?"

"Thomas, sir. Thomas Thomas."

Strax blinked. "I think you will do well, Thomas Thomas." He urged the horse to move again. "Why are you called Thomas Thomas?"

"My parents were jesters."

"Ah."

* * *

Now in the courtyard, the Doctor began rattling on the doors, searching frantically for Clara.

"Are we actually talking about the same person? The same Clara?" Jenny asked.

The Doctor hushed her. "I couldn't see much from where I was, but I think she survived the process. So, she must be here somewhere."

"But Clara died. The Ice Lady…Doctor!" She snapped, as he rattled another door.

"Shh! It's complicated!" He hushed, moving to another door which was unlocked. Bursting through, his eyes widened at Clara sitting inside the capsule. Rose following in after, while Jenny looked at her with shock.

"Oh my god! Clara!" Rose exclaimed.

"Out of the way!" The Doctor ordered, as he picked up a chair and shattered the glass to pieces. "We need to reverse the process!" He said, picking up Clara bridal style and led them out of the room.

* * *

Gillyflower ascended the stairs and into the open cellar, where Ada knelt on the floor, sobbing her heart out.

"What is the meaning of this?" She snapped.

"Oh, Mama. I have been foolish. I have a formed a…sentimental attachment."

" _*Scoffs*_ An attachment? To whom?"

"A man. Unlike the others, he survived rejection. He must be strong, worthy of salvation."

"Wrecker! Berserker! You have loosed a reject onto the outside world."

"I have disappointed you." Ada mumbled.

"My plans must be accelerated. Nothing must interfere with the great work."

"But please say there is still room for me in your new Eden, Mama. Promise me that."

"I'll set my pilgrims onto him." Gillyflower ignored her, moving to leave.

"No!" Ada grasped her ankle in protest.

"Kindly do not claw and slobber at my crinoline. You know I cannot bear to look at sick people."

"Promise me you will not abandon me, Mama. Promise me that."

"Do you not yet understand? There can be no place for people such as you. And only perfection is good enough for myself and Mr. Sweet." Ada began to sob again. "The bright day is done; child and you are for the dark."

* * *

The Doctor pulled Clara into the reversal compartments and closed the door, using the sonic to activate it.

"Can she be revived like you were?" Jenny asked.

"I hope so." The Doctor mumbled. Footsteps approaching one of the doors drew their attention, seeing a large group of disciples enter. "Oh, great, great. Attack of the supermodels."

"Time for a plan, eh?" Rose asked.

"Don't you worry. This one's on me." Jenny quickly removed her dress, showing her black suit underneath. The Doctor and Rose exchanged surprised looks as one of the men charged. Jenny hoisted the man over her shoulder and to the floor, kicking his ribs, making him gasp in pain. Two men came up behind her, yet she elbowed them in the ribs and face, making them stumble back again.

"Okay. That is a plan." Rose nodded with an impressed smile, making Jenny wink at her. The rest of the group started to charge at them.

"Okay, time for a new plan-"

"Sontar-ha!" Strax charged through the other door, firing wildly at the group who retreated with shrieks of fear. Strax laughed manically as Vastra and Jack came rushing in after him.

"Doctor!" Jack called. "Where the hell have you been?!"

"Ugh, long story! I was in a stiff coma." The Doctor groaned but shook his hand anyway.

"Let's go!" Vastra said.

"No ma'am, we're not escaping. We've got to help the Doctor with Clara." Vastra looked at him with accusing surprise.

"So, it's true then?" Vastra asked.

He nodded. "It's a bit complicated."

"Yes, you said that already." Jenny rolled her eyes.

Strax came back to them from around the door. "What now, madam? We could lay my magnetic cluster mines!"

"Strax-"

"Or dig trenches and fill them with acid!"

"Strax! You're overexcited. Have you been eating those jelly sherbet fancies again?"

Strax blushed sheepishly. "Nooo."

"Go outside and wait for me until I call for you."

"But madam, I-"

"Go!"

Strax groaned but did as she said. "I'm going to go play with my grenades." He mumbled.

The Doctor stopped using the sonic and pocketed it, which drew their attention. "I think she's about done." He opened the door, where Clara stood with her eyes closed. "Vastra, I know who you think she is, but she isn't. At least…she's like her, but different."

"And that's supposed to explain it?" Vastra asked sarcastically.

"Well, I don't know." He groaned.

"I was still right then. You and Clara have unfinished business."

"Oh, that isn't the half of it." Jack smirked wolfishly.

"I'm right here, you know." Clara groaned before stumbling over.

"Woah! Clara!" The Doctor grabbed her waist to stop her from falling to the ground, wrapping an arm around the back of her neck. She opened her eyes, staring deep into his. "Hey there."

She giggled in her fading daze. "Doctor." She tapped a finger on his nose.

"You alright?"

"I think so. How long have we been out?"

He blinked. "A week."

"A week?"

"Yeah."

Clara looked over his shoulder to see everyone looking at them. "Hi. Have I missed something?"

"Oh. Haven't you heard, love? There's trouble at mill." He brought back his bad Yorkshire accent, which made everyone wince.

"Just stick to the northern accent, Doctor."

"Then I'll be waiting for the day where you can't do one, missy. And uh…she's a lizard." He pointed to Vastra.

"Really? Wow." Clara mocked shock, making everyone snigger and Vastra smirk.

"Come on, we've got to get moving." He moved his arm up to her shoulders and led them out of the room. Moving through the many hallways of the factory, back to the elevator.

"My people once ruled this world as well, you know but we did not rule it alone." Vastra said. "Just as humanity fights a daily battle against nature, so did we. And our greatest plague, the most virulent enemy was a repulsive red leech."

"I prefer "The Crimson Horror"." He mumbled to Clara. "What was it, exactly?"

"A tiny parasite. It infected our drinking water. Once in our systems, it secreted a fatal poison."

"And it's been hanging around, lurking in the shadows. Maybe it's evolved since then. Maybe it's had help."

"Doctor-"

"Yucky red parasite from the time of the dinosaurs pitches up in Victorian Yorkshire."

"Doctor-" Clara now glared at him.

"But what's the connection to Mrs. Gillyflower-"

"Doctor!" She grasped his ear and yanked hard, making everyone raise their eyebrows.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!"

"A chimney that doesn't blow smoke!" She growled, letting his ear go.

He blushed sheepishly, rubbing his ear with his hand. "Clever clogs."

"Miss me?"

"You bet ya." He kissed her for a few moments, making everyone either smirk or roll their eyes. "Come along." He grinned, leading her by hand out of the room.

* * *

Inside the large chimney at the centre of the factory, they saw a large, steel rocket, surrounded by a spiralling staircase being loaded with bottles of the crimson poison.

"She's going to poison the air." Clara mumbled.

"Alright team, I've got a plan. Yes Clara, I actually do have a plan this time." Clara glared playfully at him. "Rose, Jack, go with Vastra and Jenny. Be sure that those vials are not in the rocket before it lifts off."

"What about you two?" Jack asked.

"We're going to have a word with Mrs. Gillyflower." He said simply.

*Inside Line*

The Doctor and Clara moved through the hallways to reach her main office, yet the sounds of sobbing drew their attention. They followed them, finding Ada huddled in a corner, sobbing quietly.

"Who is that? Who is there?" Ada mumbled.

"She helped you?" Clara whispered.

"Yeah. She did." They knelt before Ada, the Doctor taking her hand and placing it on his cheek. Despite being blind, her eyes widened in recognition.

"You. It's you, my monster." She cried. "You've come back. But you're…"

"Warm and alive. Thanks to you, Ada. You saved me from your mother's Human rubbish tip." She sobbed again at the mention of 'mother'. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"She does not want me, monster. I am not to be chosen. Perhaps it was my own sin. The blackness in my heart that my father saw in me."

"Ada, no. That's nonsense. Stupid, backwards nonsense and you know it." The Doctor squinted his eyes softly at the scars around her eyes, Clara noticing his thoughtful gaze.

"What is it?" She whispered.

"Who are you?" Ada asked.

"I'm Clara."

She smiled softly. "In all the time that I looked after him, he always tried to say something. It was like trying to say a name." Clara melted at this, making him smile lovingly at her. "Who are you to him?"

"I'm…I'm…"

"My girlfriend." The Doctor finished for her, her eyes inflating even more.

"What's a girlfriend?" Ada asked in confusion. "Is it like a lover?"

"Yeah. In a way."

"Then you are fortunate indeed. It isn't good to be alone."

Clara clasped Ada's hand in hers. "Ada, we need you to tell us something. Who is Mr. Sweet?"

Ada shook her head. "I cannot. Even now, I cannot. I cannot betray Mama."

The Doctor sighed sadly. "Then I'm sorry, but there is something you need to know."

* * *

The Doctor and Clara barged into Gillyflower's main office, Ada waiting outside the door. They noticed that the piano was no longer there, replaced with a large console.

" _*Chuckles*_ Oh, you two seem to keep turning up like a pair of bad pennies, my dears."

"A habit of ours." The Doctor said coldly.

"Can I offer you something? Tea? Seed cake? How about a glass of amontillado?"

"No thanks. We've had a skinful already, as you might say."

Gillyflower gave a fake chuckle. "Very funny."

"Yes. I'm the Doctor, this is Clara. You're nuts and we're going to stop you."

"I'm afraid Mr. Sweet and I can't allow that."

"When do we get to meet him, this silent partner of yours? Why is he so shy?" Clara asked.

"Mr. Sweet is always with us."

"And you seem to have a very close relationship with him."

"Oh yes, Clara. Exceedingly close. Symbiotic, you might say." She tore a piece of her dress off, showing a crimson leech latched onto her chest just below her neck, like a new-born baby.

"What is that, Doctor?"

"A survivor." Gillyflower answered for him. "He has grown fat on the filth Humanity has pumped into the rivers."

"Very compelling." He said, still with his cold tone.

"His needs are simple and in return he gives me his nectar."

"Winfred, you have no idea what you are dealing with. That venom, in the wrong hands could wipe out all life on this planet."

"Do you know what these are?" She held out her hands before grinning darkly. "The wrong hands." She grasped a lever on the side of the console and pulled it. The Doctor walked to the window and drew back the curtain, seeing the chimney flare up with red lights.

"You preparing a little fireworks party?"

"You have forced me to advance the great work, Doctor. But my colossal scheme remains as it was. My rocket will explode high in the atmosphere, raining down Mr. Sweet's beneficence onto all Humanity."

"And wiping us all out. You can't do that!" Clara protested in anger.

"My new Adam and Eves will sleep but for a few months before stepping out into a golden dawn. Is it not beautiful?"

"Yeah, whatever." The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Tell us about Ada."

"What?"

"Your daughter. You do remember your daughter, correct?"

" _*Scoffs*_ How can you speak of such trivia when my hour is at hand? The child is of no consequence."

"Is that why you experimented on her?"

"What on Earth are you talking about?" She denied.

"Don't play the fool with me! The signs are all there! You used her as a guinea pig, didn't you?!"

"Sometimes sacrifices must be made."

"Sacrifices?! That's your own daughter!" Clara roared.

"It was necessary! I had to find out how much of the venom would produce an antitoxin, to immunise myself, don't you see?! It was necessary!"

"Mama." Ada's soft voice drew their attention as she entered. "Is it…Is it true?"

"Ada…"

"It is."

"Ada, listen to me-"

"You hag!" Ada started marching towards her with a scowl. "You perfidious hag! You virago! You harpy! All these years I have helped you, served you, looked after you, does it count for nothing?! Nothing at all?!" She raised her stick and started smacking Gillyflower on the head, making her cry in pain.

"No, stop! Please!"

Clara took initiative and picked up a chair, moving to the console.

"Hang on, Clara. I've got a-"

"Doctor shut up." She shoved the chair into the console, which shattered and sparked, causing Ada to stop her actions.

"No! What have you done?!" Gillyflower cried.

"I'm afraid your rocket won't be going anywhere, Winfred." Clara scowled.

Gillyflower starting sobbing, which made Ada slouch her shoulders. "Ada. I'm so sorry."

"No, Mama."

"Please, come to me, Ada." Ada gave in, moving into Gillyflower who wrapped her in a one-armed hug. "Oh, my child. You have always been so very…useful!" She pulled out a revolver and held it to Ada's head.

"No, wait!" The Doctor protested, him and Clara moving forward.

"Don't move another step!" Gillyflower warned, making them pause despite their unwillingness to.

"Please Mama, no more. No more."

"And now, if you will forgive us, we must be going! It is long past Ada's bedtime!" Gillyflower shoved Ada through the door, slamming it shut behind them. Clara went to the door, but the Doctor placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't Clara. If we follow straight after her, she'll shoot Ada on the spot."

"She wouldn't." Clara mumbled.

"She would." He then grabbed the chair out of the console and smashed the window to pieces. "Chairs are useful." He grinned, Clara winking at him.

* * *

Now in the chimney, Gillyflower dragged Ada up the staircase to the master switch for the rocket.

"Stop!" Ada cried. "Mama, please! Stop!"

"Let her go!" She looked down to see the Doctor and Clara rushing up the staircase. "Just let her go!"

"Secondary firing mechanism, Doctor. Mr. Sweet and I were too smart for you after all." She said smugly.

"Just let your daughter go!" Clara exclaimed.

Ada took the opportunity and wrenched herself from her mother's grasp, tumbling down a few flight of stairs.

"Ada!" Gillyflower growled, holding up the gun as Ada stared at her.

"Shoot me if you wish, Mama! It is of no matter, for you killed me a long time ago!"

The Doctor rushed to help but Gillyflower fired, the bullet skimming the rocket, making them flinch. She groaned before firing, once again missing her target. Rolling her eyes, she wrenched open the latch on the switch and grasped the lever.

" _I'll labour night and day to be a pilgrim_." She hummed, pulling the lever as the Doctor took Ada's hand and led her away from Gillyflower. The rocket roared to life before soaring out of the chimney and into the sky, the sudden shaking making them all grasp the railing for dear life. "Now Mr. Sweet. Now the whole world will taste your lethal kiss."

"I don't think so, Winfred." He snapped his fingers, pointing up the stairs. There stood Vastra, Jenny, Rose and Jack all with smug grins as they held up the poison bottles.

"Very well, then." She growled. "If I can't take the world with me, you will have to do. Die, you freaks! Die!" She raised her gun, pointing towards Vastra and Jenny.

"Put down your weapon, Human female!" Strax called from the top of the chimney, aiming his rifle straight at Gillyflower. Everyone chuckled at the sight, yet Gillyflower only trembled with rage. She raised her gun and fired, missing Strax who fired back, the blast destroying the rail she clutched to, sending her tumbling down the staircase. Everyone looked on with synchronising winces as she smacked each railing on the way down, before hitting the ground below, her bones shattering as she did.

"Ouch." The Doctor mumbled. They all raced down the staircase, with Ada moving to sit at the bottom by Gillyflower. The leech climbed off Winfred and began to crawl away.

"No. No! Mr. Sweet. Where are you going? You can't leave me now." Gillyflower protested, her voice choking on the pain of her broken body. "Mr. Sweet."

"Ugh." Clara mumbled with a scrunched face.

"I know."

"What's it doing?" Jack asked.

"It knows she's dying. She's no longer of any use to it."

"Ada?" Gillyflower called. "Ada are you there?"

"I'm here, Mama."

"Forgive me, my child. Forgive me."

Ada smiled. "Never."

Gillyflower gave a sigh of relief. "That's my girl."

The rocket shattered into flames far above, the group jumping as they glanced up at it.

"Right." The Doctor mumbled.

"What will you do with that thing?" Jenny asked as Ada moved to stand up.

"Take it back to the Jurassic era, maybe. Out of harm's way."

_*Screech*_

They looked down to see Ada having plunged her stick into its neck. Growling, she raised it and began to smack it to pieces violently, squirting a green mess on the ground.

"Okay…on the other hand…maybe not." The Doctor blinked, before shuddering.

* * *

They all now stood outside the TARDIS again.

"Ada, I'd love to stay and help clean up the mess but-"

"I know, dear monster, you have things to do."

"What about you?"

"Oh, there are many things a bright young lady can do to occupy her time. It's time I stepped out of the darkness and into the light."

"Good luck then, Ada, and take care." He kissed her cheek before moving away, Clara moving up to perform the same motion.

"Oh." Ada blushed lightly.

"If it helps, I'm already taken." Clara quipped, making her chuckle. "Take care, Ada."

"Thank you. Take care of him and yourself."

The TARDIS group turned to the Paternoster Gang. "Well, thanks very much, you three, as ever." The Doctor grinned at them.

"Thanks for having us. It was odd, but nice." Rose said.

"It was a pleasure." Vastra nodded. "But you still haven't explained."

"I know." He nodded. "Because I don't know."

Vastra blinked. "And?"

"And it doesn't matter anymore." He smiled before they moved to the TARDIS.

"Is it fair to say that for a first date, it went as badly as it could've gone?" Clara quipped.

"Oi! What were you expecting?" The Doctor defended.

"Not to be a window dummy for a week."

He gulped. "Fine."

"We should get back to our own time. I've had enough of Victorian values for a bit, boss."

He gave her a dark smirk. "Am I the boss now?"

"No! Of course not!" Clara blushed. "Just, get inside!" She started shoving a laughing Doctor into the TARDIS.

"I can think of many things I can be the boss of-ow-ow-ow!"

"Just get inside!" Clara tugged on his ears, pulling him into the TARDIS. Everyone shook their heads at them with a smirk.

"Dear god, they're like-"

"We know." Rose and Jack groaned, interrupting Vastra, who raised her eyebrows at them. "Sorry." Rose mumbled. "It's just that…everyone says it, now it's a bit annoying."

_"Tweedledee and Tweedledum! Hurry up!"_  Clara called.

"Don't call us that!" Rose exclaimed, her and Jack moving inside the TARDIS which started to dematerialise.

Mr. Thursday entered the alleyway and walked up to them. "Ah, there you are. I called to see if there had been any progress…" He trailed off at the sight of the TARDIS dematerialising. "Good god." He mumbled, his eyes rolling back into his head as he fell onto the ground. Vastra laughed at this, making Jenny and Strax raise their eyebrows at her.

"Sorry." She mumbled sheepishly.

"What're we going to do with him?" Jenny asked.

"Nothing. He'll start to think it was all a hallucination." Vastra said simply as they walked out of the alleyway and back into their carriage to return to Paternoster Row.

**AN: As always, thank you for reading and leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	24. Boom Town

**November 2006, Cardiff**

A middle-aged man paced about Margaret's office in agitation, wringing his shaking, sweaty hands together.

"I've checked the figures. I've checked them repeatedly, always with the same result. The design is not safe, it could result in the death of millions. I beg of you, stop the project right now before it's too late." He pleaded.

Margaret took a deep breath, giving him a shocked look. "Well…goodness me. Obviously Mr. Cleaver, you're the expert."

"Then…you'll stop it? You promise you'll stop it today?"

"It seems I have no choice. After all, nothing is more important than Human life." She says genuinely, holding back the dark glint in her eyes. "What do you take me for, some sort of maniac?"

"No, not at all." He shook his head, taking deep breaths, calming himself and wiping the sweat from his hands.

"Am I right in thinking that you've shown your results only to me?"

He nodded. "Just to you. No one else."

She smirked. "Wise move."

"I can't tell you Mrs. Blaine, this is such a weight off my mind." He said, taking off his glasses and pacing to the door, wiping the sweat from his brow. He misses Margaret's face becoming dark before she raises a hand to her forehead. "I've barely slept. I couldn't believe my own readings. The scale of it, destruction like the British Isles has never seen before." He squints into the adjoining room, where on a large table was a blueprint design of Cardiff City with a nuclear power plant. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that someone wanted this project to go wrong, like they intended that this city should be wiped off the map." He took another deep breath, running a hand over his face before placing his glasses back on, a look of glowing relief on his face. "Thank goodness we've got you, our esteemed leader." He turns back to look at her, but only sees a Slitheen instead. Before he could scream in terror or for help, she pounces on him, burrowing her claws deep into his chest, placing a large hand over his mouth.

"Hush now. It'll be over quickly." She growls as the life fades from his eyes.

* * *

Mickey disembarks the commuter train, moving through the crowds of people until he emerges into the outside Cardiff City. He takes a moment to admire the view around him, which was being bathed in the warm glow of the bright sun. He looks down before his eyebrows furrow in confusion, spotting the TARDIS in the open city. Moving quickly, he arrives at the TARDIS doors and knocks three times. The door opens, Jack on the other side.

"Who the hell are you?" Jack asks.

Mickey blinks. "What do you mean, who the hell am I? Who the hell are you?"

"Captain Jack Harkness. Whatever your selling, we're not buying."

He groans. "Get out of my way." He pushes his way into the TARDIS, seeing Rose standing by the console while the Doctor and Clara were working up on the railing, Clara dressed back in her red dress and black leather jacket.

"Don't tell me, this must be Mickey." Jack says, closing the doors behind him.

"Here comes trouble. How're you doing, Rickey boy?" The Doctor calls, Clara sniggering at his nickname.

"It's Mickey." He snaps playfully.

"No, it's Rickey." Clara quips.

"Don't listen to them. They're winding you up." Rose said.

"You look fantastic." Mickey compliments.

Rose beams at him. "Come here." She says, pulling him into a hug.

"Aww, sweet. Look at these two. How come I never get any of that?" Jack groans.

"You could've bought me a drink, but I'm already taken." The Doctor says playfully.

"Who's to say I can't buy you a drink now?" Jack flirts. The Doctor rolls his eyes despite his smirk.

"Did you manage to find it?" Rose asks Mickey as they part.

Mickey pulls out her passport and hands it to her. "There you go."

"Thank you. I can go anywhere now."

"We have a time space ship, you don't need a passport." The Doctor points out.

"Yeah, and it's all very well going to Platform One or Justicia or the Glass Pyramid of San Kloon but what if we end up in Brazil? I might need it. You see, I'm prepared for anything." Rose says with her tongue in her teeth.

"Sounds like you're staying, then." Mickey says, his comment making an awkward silence fall into the TARDIS.

"Awkward." Clara mouths to the Doctor, who cocks an eyebrow at her.

"So, what're you doing in Cardiff and who the hell's Jumpin' Jack Flash?" Jack looks at his getup with a furrowed look. "I mean, I don't mind you hanging out with big ears and missus Hobbit up there."

"Oi!" They scolded.

"Look in the mirror, and you're short enough to be one." They roll their eyes at him. "But this guy…I don't know, he's kind of- "

"Handsome?" Jack finishes wolfishly.

Mickey groans inwardly. "More like cheesy."

"Early 21st Century slang. Is cheesy good or bad?"

"It's bad."

"But bad means good, isn't that right?"

"Are you saying I'm not handsome?" The Doctor asks as he and Clara descend the ladder.

"You're definitely handsome." Clara whispers into his ear, making him shudder. "But how can I be a Hobbit? I thought I'd be an Elf?"

"Elves are usually tall."

"Not the ones we met." Clara mumbles.

Rose waves her hand to make them stop. "We just stopped off, we needed to refuel. Thing is, Cardiff's got this rift running through the middle of the city. It's invisible but it's like an earthquake fault between different dimensions."

"The rift was healed back in 1869…" The Doctor starts.

"Thanks to a girl named Gwyneth, who helped save the world from these creatures called the Gelth, who were using the rift as a gateway." Clara continues.

"But, closing the rift always leaves a scar and that scar generates energy, which is harmless to the Human race…" Jack interjects.

"But perfect for the TARDIS. We just park the old girl here for a day or so, right on top of the scar…"

"Open up the engines, soak up the radiation…"

"Like filling her up with gas and off we go!" Clara finishes.

"Into time! And space!" They all cry, high fiving each other while Mickey stares at them with wide eyes.

"My god, have you guys seen yourselves? You think you're so clever, don't you?"

"Yep." The Doctor and Clara said in unison.

"Yep." Rose grinned.

"You bet ya, Mickey Mouse." Jack quipped, lightly slapping Mickey's cheek as they moved out of the TARDIS.

"Right then, it should take another 24 hours, so we've got time to kill." The Doctor said as they exited, locking the TARDIS behind them.

"That old lady's staring." Mickey pointed off.

"Probably wondering what five people could be doing inside a small wooden box, eh?" Jack grinned, making them snigger.

"What're you the Captain of? The innuendo squad?" Jack just gave him a 'Whatever' sign. "Hold on, we can't just leave the TARDIS. Won't she get noticed?"

Jack nodded absentmindedly. "I've always wondered, what's with the police box? Why does she look like that?"

"You can handle that one, Doctor." Clara whispered.

He nodded. "It's called a Chameleon Circuit. The TARDIS is meant to disguise herself wherever she lands. Like if this was Ancient Rome, she could be a statue on a plinth. But I landed in the 1960's, she disguised herself as a police box and the circuit got stuck."

"So, she copied a real thing? There actually were police boxes?" Mickey asked with genuine surprise.

"Yeah, on street corners. It was phone for help before they had radios and mobiles. If they arrested somebody, they'd shove them inside until help came, like a little prison cell."

"Why don't you just fix the circuit?" Jack asked.

"I like it, don't you?" He defended.

"I love it." Clara said, patting the TARDIS affectionately.

"But that's what I meant. There's no police boxes anymore, so won't it get noticed?" Mickey asks.

"Rickey, let me tell you something about the Human race: You put a mysterious blue box slap bang in the middle of town, what do they do?" Mickey blinks. "They walk past it. Now, stop your nagging and let's go explore." They walked off, Clara linking her arm in his.

"So, any ideas?" She asked.

" _*Scoffs*_ No." She gives him a 'Seriously?' look. "Come on, it's Cardiff, early 21st Century. Trust me, it's the safest place in the universe."

"Last time you said something like that, we could've been killed by an Ice Warrior." She mumbled.

"Come on, nothing bad could happen here." He grinned.

* * *

Margaret stood at a glass podium, in front of the nuclear station blueprint. Surrounding the table was a large group of reporters and representatives, while a banner saying 'The Blaidd Drwg Project' hung over her head.

"This nuclear power station right in the heart of Cardiff City will bring jobs for all!" She finishes, earning a round of applause. She moves out from the glass podium, taking a tall glass of champagne with her to the table. "As you can see, as Lord Mayor I've had to sanction some radical redevelopments." A reporter takes out a large camera and photographs her, making her flinch. "No photographs! What did I say?!  _*Clears Throat* Take pictures of the project but not of me, thank you. So, Cardiff Castle will be demolished allowing 'The Blaidd Drwg Project' to rise, tall and proud. A monument to Welsh Industry and yes, some of you might shiver. The words 'Nuclear power station' and 'Major population centre' aren't exactly the happiest of bedfellows. But I give you my personal guarantee that while I walk upon this Earth, no harm will come to any of my citizens. Now, drink up. A toast: To the future."_

"To the future!" Everyone calls in unison.

"And believe me…it will glow." She beams, hiding once again that dark gleam in her eyes. Everyone once again applauds before moving into murmuring conversations with each other. Margaret takes a sip of champagne before a young, brown haired female reporter comes up to greet her.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Blaine? My name's Cathy Salt, I represent the Cardiff Gazette."

"I'm sorry, I'm not doing interviews. I can't bear self-publicity."

"But are you aware of the curse?"

She blinked. "Whatever do you mean?" She thought for a moment before turning properly to Cathy. "Cathy wasn't it?"

She nodded. "Cathy Salt. That is what some of your engineers are saying, that 'The Blaidd Drwg Project' is cursed."

"It sounds rather silly to me."

"That is what I thought, chasing a bit of local colour. But the funny thing is when you start piecing it all together, it does begin to look a bit odd."

"In what way?"

"The deaths. The number of deaths associated with this project. First, there was the entire team of the European safety inspectors."

"But they were French. It's not my fault if 'Danger: Explosives' was only written in Welsh."

"And then there was that accident with the Cardiff Heritage Committee."

"The electrocution of that swimming pool was put down to natural wear and tear."

"And then the architect?"

Margaret adopted a soft look of sadness. "It was raining. Visibility was low. My car simply couldn't stop."

"And then just recently, Mr. Cleaver, the government's nuclear advisor."

"Slipped on an icy patch."

"He was stabbed then decapitated."

"It was a very icy patch. I'm afraid these stories are nothing more than typical small-town thinking."

"Except before he died, Mr. Cleaver posted some of his findings online."

Margaret felt a small hint of rage bubble inside her. "Did he now?"

"If you know where to look. He was concerned about the reactor, specifically that the design of the suppression pool would cause the hydrogen recombiners to fail, precipitating in the collapse of the containment isolation system and resulting in a meltdown."

"Who's been doing her homework?"

Cathy blushed sheepishly. "That's my job."

"I think…Cathy Salt, that you and I should have a word in private." She linked arms with a smiling yet confused Cathy and led her out of the side door towards the restrooms. Her stomach then rumbled violently, inwardly cursing at the gas exchange. "I'm so sorry, my stomach is complaining. I think we might have to make a detour to the ladies."

"I could wait here." Cathy offered.

She shook her head with a grin. "Oh, come on. All girls together." Moving through the door, she unlinked her arm from Cathy's and moved into the restroom, closing it behind her. "You were saying, these outlandish theories of yours?" She called through the door.

_"Well, I don't know much about nuclear physics but from what I could make out, Cleaver was saying that the whole project could go up worse than Chernobyl. A thousand times worse, even. I mean, it sounds absurd, there must be so many safety regulations. But Cleaver seemed to be talking about a nuclear holocaust. He almost made it sound deliberate. I mean, we're hardly the Sunday Time, we're only the Cardiff Gazette but we still have a duty to report the facts."_

"And you're going to print this information?"

_"I have to."_

Margaret clenched her jaw. "So be it." She raised a hand to her forehead, stroking the skin back to reveal the zip.

 _"*Scoffs* Mind you, my boyfriend thinks I'm mad."_  Margaret blinked at this, lowering her hand again.  _"We're getting married next month, and he says if I cause a fuss I could lose my job, just when we need the money."_

"Boyfriend?" Margaret asks, her tone now softer.

_"Jeffrey, civil servant. He's nothing exciting, but he's mine."_

She didn't need to open the door to see Cathy's dreamy smile. "When's the wedding?"

 _"The 19_ _th_ _. It's really just to stop my mother from nagging, but the baby sort of clinched it, I suppose."_

She sat down on the closed toilet, tears prickling her eyes.  _Mother? Baby? Family. She has a living family_. "You're with…child?"

_"Three months. It's not showing yet. Didn't plan it, was more of an accident. Nice accident, though."_

"Congratulations."

_"Thank you. How about you? Is there a Mr. Blaine?"_

She closed her eyes, holding back a choke. "Not anymore. I'm all on my own." She smiled sadly.  _Jocrassa. Father. Mother. Why did you have to die and leave me alone?_  "I had quite a sizable family once upon a time. Wonderful brothers and sisters. Oh, they were bold. But all of them gone now. You're right. Maybe I'm cursed."

_"No, no, I don't think so, not really."_

"You're quite kind.  _*Sniffs*_ If you don't mind, I might be a while." She lets out a choke on her words. "You run along. Perhaps we could do this another day."

_"Are you all right?"_

"Fine."

_"Okay, I'll tell you what, I'll leave my details with your office. Thank you for talking."_

"Thank you." Margaret says softly. Cathy's heeled footsteps walk away followed by a closed door, letting silence fall. She buries her face in her hands, letting her sobs loose.

* * *

The group sat in a café, grinning yet shaking their heads at Jack's tale.

"No, I swear! It was 6 feet tall and with tusks!"

"You're lying through your teeth!" Clara snorted.

"It turns out that the white things are tusks! And I mean tusks!"

"Have you gone bonkers?!" Rose giggled.

"And it's woken and it's not happy!"

"How could you not know it was there?!" The Doctor exclaimed.

"And we're standing there, 15 of us, naked!"

"Naked?!"

"And I'm going, 'No, no, no, this has nothing to do with me!' And then it roars, and we are running! Oh, dear god, we are running! And Brakovitch falls, so I turn to him and I say- "

"I knew we should've turned left!" Mickey finishes, making them burst out in laughter.

"That's my line!" Jack whines through his grin.

"I don't believe you. I don't believe a word you say, ever. That is so brilliant!" Rose giggled. "Did you ever get your clothes back?"

"No. I just picked him up and went right for the ship, full throttle, didn't stop until I hit the space lanes."

The Doctor let his grin slide as he spotted a newspaper with Margaret's face on it. The group's chatter turns into indescribable murmuring as he stands up to grab the newspaper, already feeling Clara's worried gaze on him. He frowns at the paper, before realizing that the group had fallen silent and were now staring at him, so he held up the paper. "And I was having such a lovely day." He said solemnly.

* * *

The group walked up to City Hall, moving through the front door and up the first flight of stair, pausing at the next door. The Doctor stood in the front with Jack and Clara at his sides while Rose and Mickey stood behind them.

"According to intelligence, the target is the last surviving member of the Slitheen family, a criminal sect from the planet Raxacoricofallapatorius, masquerading as a Human being zipped inside a skin suit. Okay, plan of attack." The Doctor stared at Jack with a burning 'Are you kidding me?' gaze. "We assume a basic 57/56 strategy, covering all available exits on the ground floor. Doctor and Clara, you two go face-to-face, that'll name exit 1. I'll cover exit 2. Rose, you take exit 3. Mickey Smith, you take exit 4, have we got that?"

"Excuse me?" Jack looked at the Doctor. "Who's in charge?" He scolded.

"Sorry. Awaiting orders, sir." Jack rolled his eyes.

"Right, here's the plan- "

"No." Clara interrupted, grinning.

"What?" She raised her eyebrows at him, making him gulp sheepishly. "Okay, like he said, nice plan. Anything else?" Everyone sniggered at him.

"When we go in there, I'll be good cop, you'll be bad cop." Clara said.

"Okay then-Wait, hang on, can't I be the good cop?"

"No."

"But I want to be the good cop!" He whined.

"Do I have to keep these off you permanently?" She said, taking out his key, sonic and psychic paper.

He sighed in defeat. "Alright, fine." Clara handed them back to him.

"Present arms." Jack said, pulling out a phone.

"Ready." All except the Doctor said in turn, pulling out theirs.

"Speed dial?"

"Check."

"See you in hell." Jack winked at them before they moved off, Mickey, the last one to move, blinked awkwardly before shuffling away. The Doctor and Clara walked through the building, arriving at a door leading into Margaret's office, where a secretary sat at the desk by the door.

"Hello. We've come to see the Lord Mayor." Clara said, her and the Doctor grinning.

"Have you got an appointment?" The secretary asks.

"Nah, just old friends passing by. Bit of a surprise."

"Can't wait to see her face." The Doctor sniggered.

"Well, she's just having a cup of tea."

"Just go in there and tell her that Clara and the Doctor would like to see her." Clara said.

"Doctor who?"

"Just the Doctor." She shrugged.

He sighed. "Hang on a tick." He got out from the desk and moving through the door. Silence fell for a second before a tea cup smashed onto the floor, followed by the secretary moving back through the door to them with wide eyes. "The Lord Mayor says…thank you for popping by. She'd love to have a chat but, umm…she's up to her eyes in paperwork. Perhaps if you could make an appointment for next week?"

"She's climbing out of the window, isn't she?" Clara raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Yes, she is." They rolled their eyes wearily before they shoved past him and through the door, hurrying past Margaret's desk and out the balcony door, seeing her rush towards the end where a construction scaffold was in place.

"Slitheen heading North." Clara said into her phone.

 _"On my way."_  Rose said.

_"Over and out."_

_"Oh my god."_  Micky mumbled.

"Leave the Mayor alone!" The secretary protested, coming out of the door, and trying to restrain the Doctor, who just wrenched himself away to run to the scaffold with Clara.

"Margaret!" The Doctor taunted. They climbed down the scaffold to pursue Margaret, the rest of the group catching up.

"Who was on exit 4?" Jack asked.

"That was Mickey." Rose said.

"Here I am." Mickey panted.

"Mickey the idiot." The Doctor quipped.

"Oh, be fair. She's not exactly going to outrun us, is she?" Rose grumbled.

"Rose!" They all scolded in unison.

She blinked. "I was just saying."

Margaret, running ahead of them disappeared in a flash of blue light, making Jack groan.

"She's got a teleport! That's cheating! Now we're never going to get her!" He whined.

"Don't worry. As Clara would say, I've got it all under control." The Doctor quipped with a grin, pulling out the sonic.

"Don't you dare." She warned.

"Don't I dare what?" He asked innocently before pressing the sonic. Margaret appeared again, running towards them with a smug smile which faded at their sight. She turned around and flashed, which the Doctor reversed again, his grin growing wider. She tried again, and he reversed it, Margaret coming to a stop in front of them, panting as she did. "I could do this all day." He beamed.

"This is persecution. Why can't you leave me alone? What did I ever do to you?"

"You tried to kill me and destroy this entire planet." He said simply.

She rolled her eyes. "Apart from that."

* * *

The group, now with Margaret, walked back into her office to the nuclear power station blueprint.

"So, you're a Slitheen, trapped on Earth. Your entire family killed, but you teleport out just in time. You have no means of escape, so you build a nuclear power station. But what for?" The Doctor asked.

"A philanthropic gesture." Margaret said, making him roll his eyes. "I've learnt the error of my ways."

"And it just so happens to be right on top of the rift." He inputted.

"What rift would that be?" She tried innocently.

"A rift in space and time." Jack said, him also rolling his eyes. "If this power station went into meltdown, the entire planet would go- "He makes a large swallowing sound, mimicking an explosion.

"This station is designed to explode the minute it reaches capacity." The Doctor said, squinting at the blueprint.

"Didn't anyone notice?" Rose asked. "Isn't there someone in London checking this sort of stuff?"

"We're in Cardiff. London doesn't care. The South Wales Coast could fall into the sea and they wouldn't notice… "Margaret cut her rambling off with a look of shock. "Oh. I sound like a Welshman. God help me, I've gone native."

"But why would she do that? A great big explosion, she'd only end up killing herself." Mickey said.

"'She's' got a name, you know." Margaret growled.

"She's not even a 'she'. She's a thing."

"Oh, but she's clever." The Doctor then tossed aside parts of the blueprint and pulled out of the table a large, grey board. He flipped it over, revealing the underside which had a large array of inbuilt wires, Jack's eyes widening at the sight. "Fantastic."

"Is that a tribophysical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator?" Jack asked in glee.

"Couldn't have put it better myself." The Doctor.

Jack snatched it out of his arms, earning a childish glare from the Doctor. "Oh, genius! You didn't build this." He said to Margaret, missing the Doctor moving to look at the 'Blaidd Drwg' banner.

"I have my hobbies. A little tinkering." Margaret muttered.

"No, I mean you really didn't build this. Way beyond you."

"I bet she stole it." Mickey accused.

"It fell into my hands." She said evasively.

"Is it a weapon?" Rose asked.

"It's transport." Jack said, placing the extrapolator on the floor. "You see, the reactor blows, the rift opens. Phenomenal cosmic disaster but this thing shrouds you in a force field, keeping you safe. Then you feed it co-ordinates, stand on top and ride the concussion all the way out of the solar system."

"It's a surfboard?" Clara asked in wonder.

"A pan-dimensional surfboard, yeah." Jack nodded.

"And it would've worked. I'd have surfed away from this dead-end dump and back to civilization." Margaret growled.

"You'd blow up a whole planet just to get a lift?" Mickey accused.

"Like stepping on an ant hill." She said proudly.

"How'd you think of the name?" The Doctor asked. They turned to him, Clara's eyes widening at the words on the banner.

"What, 'Blaidd Drwg'? It's Welsh."

"I know, but how did you think of it?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Just chose it at random, it sounded good. Does it matter?"

He turned around to look at them with a furrowed look. "Blaidd Drwg."

"What does it mean?" Rose asked.

"Bad Wolf." Clara answers for him.

They all felt Rose shudder beside them. "But-but I've heard that before, Bad Wolf. I've heard that lots of times."

"And we haven't heard that." Clara said. "Not until…"

"Until we met Rose." The Doctor nodded. "Everywhere she goes, two words are following her: Bad Wolf."

"Me? How can they be following…me?" Rose asked in fear.

The Doctor and Clara exchanged a look, both nodding. " _*Scoffs*_ Nah, it's just a coincidence." He said in reassurance, yet it didn't ease Rose's mind. "Like hearing a word on the radio then hearing it all day. Never mind, we've got things to do. First, Margaret, we're going to take you home."

"Hold on. Isn't that the easy choice, like letting her go?" Jack protested.

Rose giggled. "I don't believe it, we actually get to go to Rexy- "The Doctor rolled his eyes at her. "Give me a minute!" She scolded. " _*Clears Throat*_ Raxacor…"

"Raxacoricofallapatorius." He finished.

"Raxacorico…"

"Fallapatorious."

"Raxacoricofallapatorius!" She squealed. "I did it!"

"Yeah, you did it, slow poke." The Doctor sassed.

"Behave." Clara warned. "Good job, Rose." She said.

"Thank you." Rose nodded, sending a small glare at the Doctor.

"They have the death penalty." Margaret interjected, causing the joy in the room to drain rapidly into a solemn silence. "The family Slitheen was tried in its absence many years ago and found guilty, with no chance of appeal. According to the statutes of government, the moment I return I'm arrested and executed. What do you make of that, Doctor?" He gave her silence. "Take me home and you take me to my death."

"Not my problem." He said simply. She clenched her jaw at his words but remained silent.

* * *

They all now stood inside the TARDIS with Margaret, tinkering with the console while Cardiff City outside was enjoying the embrace of night.

"This ship is impossible!" Margaret awed. " _*Gasps*_ It's superb. How'd you get the outside around the inside?"

"Like I'd give you the secret, yeah." The Doctor grumbled.

"I almost feel better about being defeated. I never stood a chance. This is the technology of the gods."

" _*Scoffs*_ Don't worship me, I'd make an unbelievably bad god. Wouldn't get a day off, for starters. Jack, how're we doing, big fella?"

"This extrapolator's top of the range. Where did you get it?" He asked Margaret.

"I don't know. Some airlock sale?" She said, feigning innocence.

"Must've been a great big heist. It's stacked with power."

"But we can use it for power?" The Doctor asked.

"It's not compatible but it should knock off about 12 hours. We'll be ready to go by morning."

"Then we're stuck here overnight." Clara concluded.

"I'm in no hurry." Margaret shrugged.

"And we've got a prisoner." Rose pointed out. "The police box is really a police box."

"You're not just police, though." Margaret said with a smug smirk. "Since you're taking me to my death, you have become my executioners…each and every one of you."

"Well you deserve it." Mickey said.

Margaret gave him a blank face. "You're very quick to say so. You're very quick to soak your hands in my blood. Which makes you better than me how, exactly?" No one answered her, making her smirk return. "Long night ahead." She moved to sit down on the console chair before looking up at everyone. "Let's see who can look me in the eye." She moved her gaze to Mickey, who held for a few seconds before glancing away. She moves to Jack, who holds for longer than Mickey but eventually looks away. Rose looks away at once while the Doctor doesn't even acknowledge her. Finally, she gazed at Clara, who held with a steely gaze of her own. "At least one of you has got guts." She said darkly. Everyone looked at Clara, who still gazed at Margaret.

"I already had someone get inside my head." Clara said simply.

Margaret leaned forward in interest. "And what happened to them?"

Clara clenched her jaw but said nothing, deciding to leave and stand outside the TARDIS, the Doctor moving after her.

"You all right?" He asked.

"She was just trying to wind me up. I was…" She trailed off.

"I know. But you didn't have to do it on your own." He said, pulling her into a hug, his presence making her melt into him.

"Don't let me go. Please?" She implored.

"I won't." He said.

"I was meaning- "

"I know, and I won't." He repeated. "As long as you don't leave me." He said.

She smiled softly. "Never."

The TARDIS doors opened behind them, Mickey and Rose stepping out, Rose hugging her arms to herself and shivering.

"Ooh, it's freezing out here." She said.

"You don't say." Clara quipped.

Rose smirked. "You two all right?"

"Yeah." The Doctor answered. "How about you two?"

"We're fine. I was just telling Mickey that I didn't really need my passport."

"Of course, you didn't. We've got a time machine- "

"Doctor." Clara interrupted. "She wasn't meaning that."

He blinked before realization sank in. "Oh. Well, what're you two standing around here for? Have a drink or a bite to eat. We're going to be waiting all night." Rose and Mickey smiled before linking hands and moving away to the brightly lit shops. "Let's get back inside, Clara. Can't leave the TARDIS to Jack all night."

"Do you still not trust Jack?" She asked.

"I trust Jack alright." He shrugged.

Clara sniggered. "Of course. Boys and their toys."

"Oi! She's my ship!" He whined.

"Technically, if we're together, she's my ship too." Clara smirked.

He rolled his eyes. "Alright then. She's our ship." They re-entered the TARDIS and resumed their tinkering at the console, letting a tension filled silence fall between them due to Margaret's presence.

"I gather it's not always like this, having to wait. I bet you're always the first to leave, Doctor. Never mind the consequences, off you go. You butchered my family and then ran for the stars, am I right?" Margaret accused. "But not this time. At last, you have consequences. How does it feel?"

The Doctor placed a hand on Clara's, shaking his head slightly at her. "I didn't butcher them."

"Don't answer back. That's what she wants." Jack warned.

He shrugged. "I didn't. What about you, Margaret? You had an emergency teleport and you didn't zap them to safety, did you?"

"It only carries one. I had to fly without co-ordinates. I ended up on a skip on the Isle of Dogs." The three started chuckling at that. "I wasn't funny." She snapped.

"Sorry. But it is a bit funny."

Margaret joined in their laughter for a moment before she blinked. "Do I get a last request?"

"Depends what it is."

"I grew quite fond of my little Human life. All those rituals, the brushing of the teeth and the complicated way they cook food. There's a little restaurant, just around the bay. It became quite a favourite of mine."

The Doctor blinked at her. "Is that what you want? A last meal?"

"Don't I have rights?"

"Oh, like she's not going to try and escape." Jack said sarcastically.

"Except I can never escape the Doctor, so where's the danger?" She snapped. "I wonder if you could do it. To sit with a creature, you're about to kill and take supper. How strong is your stomach?"

"Strong enough." He said grimly.

"I wonder. I've seen you fight your enemies. Now dine with them."

"You won't change my mind."

"Prove it."

He sighed. "There are people out there. If you slip away for just one second, they'll be in danger."

"Except…" Jack took two wristbands out of his pockets. "I've got these. You both wear one. If she moves more than 10 feet away…" He shuddered violently. "She gets zapped by ten thousand volts."

"Margaret, would you like to come out to dinner? My treat?"

Margaret cocked an eyebrow with a small smile. "Dinner in bondage. Works for me."

Jack handed the two wristbands to the Doctor, while Clara gave him a small kiss.

"Be careful, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am." He nodded before moving with Margaret to the door. "Look after the TARDIS, okay?" She and Jack gave a quick salute.

* * *

The Doctor and Margaret sat in a restaurant, looking at the menus in their hands with two glasses of red wine already poured.

"Here we are, out on a date and you haven't even asked me my proper name." Margaret remarked.

The Doctor gave a disgusted face. "It's not a date. I'm already taken." He defended before sighing. "What's your name?"

"Blon. I am Blon Fel-Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen. That's what it'll say on my death certificate." She folded the menu and put it aside.

"Nice to meet you, Blon."

"I'm sure." She glanced out the windows to the tall apartment building nearby. "Look. That's where I was living as Margaret." The Doctor turned to look, so she moved her hand over his glass and took the top of her ring off, sending a small powder into the liquid. "Nice little flat. Over there, on the top. Next to the one with the light on. Two bedrooms, bay side view, I was content. Don't suppose I'll see it again."

The Doctor turned back before frowning at the glasses and switching them around, Margaret holding back a groan. "Suppose not."

"Thank you."

"Pleasure."

"Tell me then, Doctor, what do you know of my species?"

"Only what I've seen."

"Did you know for example: In extreme cases, when her life is in danger, a female Raxacoricofallapatorian can manufacture a poison dart within her own finger?" On this, she pointed at him, sending a dart straight towards the centre of his head, which he caught without looking.

"Yes, I did." He said simply, placing the dart aside.

"Just checking." She smiled sweetly. "And one more thing. Between you and me." She glanced around the restaurant, the Doctor taking the cue to lean in. "As a final resort, the excess poison can be exhaled through the lungs." She growled, sending out a green gas, which the Doctor then pulled out an air freshener and sprayed it into her mouth, making her flinch.

"That's better. Now then, what do you think? Mmm, steak sounds nice. Steak and chips." He grinned, while Margaret slouched and picked up her menu again.

* * *

Rose and Mickey were walking along the Cardiff waterfront, yet they weren't hand in hand anymore.

"The Doctor and Clara took me to this planet a while back, it was much colder than this. They called it 'Woman Wept'. Cause, if you looked at it from above, there's this huge continent, all curved round. It looked like a woman, you know, lamenting. Oh my god and we went to this beach, right? No people, no buildings, just this beach like a thousand miles across. And something had happened…something to do with the sun, I don't know." She scoffed lightly. "But the sea had just frozen, like in a split second in the middle of a storm, right? Wave and foam, just frozen, all the way out to the horizon. Midnight, we walk underneath these waves, a hundred feet tall and made of ice. It was so gorgeous."

"I'm going out with Trisha Delaney." He said suddenly.

Rose's eyes widened. "Oh, right. That's nice." She nodded slightly before furrowing her eyebrows. "Trisha from the shop?"

"Yeah, Rob Delany's sister."

"Well…she's nice. She's a bit big."

"She lost weight." Mickey sighed. "I'm sorry, Rose, but you've been away."

"Well, good for you. She's nice."

"So, tell us more about this planet then." He said.

"Actually…that was it." She shrugged.

"So, what do you want to do now?"

"Don't mind."

"We could ask about hotels."

"What would Trisha Delaney say?"

Mickey ignored that. "There's a bar down there with a Spanish name or something- "

"Hold on a minute! You don't even like Trisha Delaney!" Rose interrupted.

"Oh, is that right? What the hell do you know?"

"I know you and I know her, so I know that's never going to happen so who do you think you're kidding?!"

"At least I know where she is!"

Rose nodded. "There we are, then. It's got nothing to do with Trisha, it's all about me, isn't it?"

"You left me!" He exclaimed, his words silencing Rose. "We were nice. We were happy and then what? You give me a kiss, run off with them and you make me feel like nothing, Rose. I was nothing. I can't even go out with a stupid girl from a shop because you pick up the phone, and I come running. Is that what I am, Rose? A standby? Am I just supposed to sit here for the rest of my life waiting for you? Because I can't. I can't wait all my life for you, Rose." He sniffs, wiping a tear from his eye while Rose looks at him with guilt.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not asking you to leave them, because that's not fair. They're good friends. But I can't do this anymore, just waiting."

"I know." She mumbled.

"And whatever we had, Rose…" He trailed off.

She held out a hand. "Friends?"

He smiled sadly but took her hand. "Friends." They sighed, looking down at the ground. "You should get back to them, though. Just…please tell them that my name's Mickey?"

She sniggered. "Sure thing."

* * *

"Public execution is a slow death." Margaret said, deep in her explanation of what would happen when they leave her on her home planet. "They prepare a thin acetic acid, lower me into the cauldron and boil me. The acidity brewed precisely to strip away the skin, lets the internal organs fall out into the liquid while I become soup…and still alive…still screaming."

"I don't make the law." He mumbled.

"But you deliver it." She argued. "Will you stay to watch?"

He sighed. "What else can I do?"

"The Slitheen family's huge. There's a lot more of us, all scattered off-world. Take me to them. Take me somewhere safe."

"But then you'll just start again."

"I promise I won't." She pleaded.

"You've been in that skin-suit for too long. You've forgotten that there used to be a real Margaret Blaine. You killed her, stripped her, and used the skin. You're pleading for mercy out of a dead woman's lips."

"It grew on me…a Human life, an ordinary life. That's all I'm asking. Give me a chance, Doctor. I can change."

"I don't believe you."

"I promise you, I've changed since we last met, Doctor. There was this girl, just today. Young thing, something of a danger, she was getting too close. I felt the blood lust rising, just as the family taught me, I was going to kill her without a thought. My whole family had one adage: When you kill, it must be without conscience, without second thought, without mercy. But then…I stopped. She's alive somewhere, right now. She's walking around this city because I can change. I did change. I know I can't prove it- "

"I believe you." He stopped her.

"Then you know I'm capable of better."

"It doesn't mean anything."

"I spared her life." She defended.

"You let one of them go, but that's nothing new. Every now and then, a little victim's spared: Because she smiled, because he's got freckles, because they begged. And that's how you live with yourself. That's how you slaughter millions, because occasionally on a whim if the wind's in the right direction, you happen to be kind."

"Only a killer would know that." She argued. "Is that right? From what I've seen, your funny little happy-go-lucky life leaves devastation in its wake. Always moving on because you dare not look back. Playing with so many people's lives you might as well be a god." He clenched his jaw at her words. "And you're right, Doctor. Sometimes, you let one go. Let me go." She pleaded. He gazed at her with uncertainty, still processing her words. Yet, before they could carry on, they heard a distant rumbling, like an earthquake growing closer by the second.

"Can you hear that?" He asked. She blinked at him but didn't need to answer. Instead, the wine glasses started rattling slightly on the table, the ground beneath them beginning to vibrate, then for a brief second, it stopped. They gazed at each other with concern before the same thought crossed their minds.  _The rift._  Then, the rumbling came back vigorously, shattering the windows and sending everyone stumbling to the floor, shrieking in terror. "Come on!" He orders, grabbing Margaret's hand and pulling her to her feet.

"The handcuffs!"

He rolled his eyes but still took hers off, then grasped her hand. "Don't think you're running away."

"Oh, I'm sticking with you." He led her out of the restaurant and through the crackling streets of Cardiff, towards the TARDIS. "Some date this turned out to be!" They saw the TARDIS enter sight yet paused. Shooting out of the light bulb at the top of the box was a large beam of electricity, crackling in the sky above their heads.

"It's the rift. The rift's opening." He said, their eyes widening as they raced towards the TARDIS and burst through its doors. The TARDIS was wheezing and groaning in protest, the lights flickering at random as Jack and Clara worked to reverse it.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Clara demanded.

"What's happening?"

"It just went crazy!" Jack yelled as the console sparked, making them flinch. "The extrapolator's feeding off the engine."

"It's opening the rift, ripping apart time and space. The whole city's going to disappear. Disconnect the extrapolator!" He raced around the console, trying to flick levers and disengage the extrapolator.

"It's still using the TARDIS!" Jack protested.

"Never mind Cardiff, it's going to rip open the planet!"

Rose burst through the doors to stand beside Margaret. "What is it?! What's happening?!"

"Oh, just little me!" Margaret growled, ripping off the skin suit from her right arm.

"Rose, get back!" Clara yelled, but too late. Margaret already reached and grasped Rose's neck in a tight hold, pulling her close.

"One wrong move and she snaps like a promise!" She warns.

"I might've known."

"Why do you reckon I wanted the Doctor by himself?" Margaret asked rhetorically. "I could have him bleating all night, the poor baby, now shut up! Put the extrapolator at my feet!" She orders. They do nothing, making her hold on Rose tighten.

"Do it." The Doctor says, making Jack take the board and place it beneath her.

"Thank you." She says in mocking sweetness. "Just as I planned."

"I thought you needed to blow up the nuclear power station." Rose gasped for breath.

"Plan B, Rose. There's always a Plan B." Clara pointed out.

"Exactly. You can't be too dim witted when you're a killer on the run. So, if the power station failed and I arrested, then anyone capable of tracking me down would have considerable technology of their own. Therefore, the extrapolator would captivate them. Especially a magpie mind like yours, Doctor. So, the extrapolator was to lock on to the nearest alien power source and open the rift. And what a power source it found." She said, giving marvellous praise to the groaning TARDIS. "I'm now back on schedule, thanks to you."

"The rift's going to convulse. You'll destroy the whole planet." Jack protested.

"And you with it!" She growled, stepping onto the extrapolator. "While I ride this board over the crest of the inferno and all the way to freedom." She gave a dark, smug grin at them. "Stand back, boys and girls. Surf's up."

On that sudden note, parts of the TARDIS console opened. One of them that Margaret faced starting glaring a bright, white light out towards her. Rose flinched away while Margaret stared in confusion.

"Of course, opening the rift means you'll pull this ship apart." The Doctor informed.

"So, sue me."

"She's not just any old power source, she's the TARDIS. Mine and Clara's TARDIS. The best ship in the universe." He said proudly, Clara smirking at him.

"It'll make wonderful scrap." Margaret says grimly.

"What's that light?" Rose gasps.

"The heart of the TARDIS. This ship's alive. You've opened her soul."

Margaret stared back into the light, her grim expression slowly melting into one of wonder. "It's…so bright."

"Look at it, Margaret." He implored.

"Beautiful."

"Look inside, Blon Fel-Fotch. Look at the light."

Margaret's hold on Rose relaxed, making her stumble over to Jack, who held her up as she panted. Margaret slowly lifted her gaze towards the group, letting a bright, beaming smile of honest appreciation cross her face. "Thank you." She said, before the light brightened, making them cover their eyes before it reduced again, Margaret's skin suit falling back on the floor.

"Don't look! Close your eyes!" The Doctor ordered, closing the panels back down again, the light disappearing from the room. "Now, Clara, Jack, shut it all down! Rose, that panel beside you, turn all the switches to the right!" Rose did as he ordered, while he, Clara and Jack raced around the console. Eventually, the rumbling died down and the electricity beam outside disappeared, letting them all sigh in relief as they returned the TARDIS to her normal state again, apart from small pockets of steam floating out of the floor. "Nicely done. Thank you."

"What happened to Margaret?" Clara asked, all of them moving to look at her empty skin suit.

"Must've got burned up, carried out her own death sentence." Jack suggested.

"No. I don't think she's dead."

"Then…where did she go?" Rose asked.

"She looked into the heart of the TARDIS, even I don't know how strong that is. And the ship's telepathic. Maybe the raw energy translated her own thoughts." He knelt beside the suit, reaching inside, and grasped a dark green egg. He pulled it out with a grin, making them all look at it in bewilderment. "Here she is!"

"She's an egg again?" Clara asked.

He nodded. "Regressed back to her childhood."

"She's an egg?" Jack clarified.

"She can start again, live her whole life from scratch. If we take her home, give her to a different family, tell them to raise her up properly, she might be all right."

"Or she might be worse." Jack informed.

"That's her choice." Clara said.

"She's…an egg?" Rose mumbled.

"Yes." They all said in unison.

"Oh my god, Mickey!" Rose shot up, racing through the doors. The ground outside had cracked and split in the earthquake, while the joint sounds of police and ambulance sirens wailed through the night. She glanced around, her gaze landing on a perfectly fine Mickey. He gave her a wave and smile, making her relax and return the farewell, before entering the TARDIS again. The trio before her stared at her with concern.

"We're all powered up. We can leave now." The Doctor offered. "Opening the rift, filled her up with energy."

"Yeah." She nodded.

"Everything alright with Mickey?" Clara asked.

"He needs to find someone better." She said simply.

Clara came up to her and rubbed her arm. "It wasn't your fault."

"Nor was it his." She nodded, giving Clara a sad smile. "Don't worry. I'll be fine." Clara returned the smile, taking her hand and leading her back up to the console.

"Off we go, then. Always moving on." The Doctor said, him and Jack starting up the TARDIS.

"Next stop: Raxacoricofallapatorius. Now, you don't often get to say that." Jack quipped.

"We'll just stop by and pop her in the hatchery. Margaret the Slitheen can live her life again, a second chance."

"That'd be nice." Rose mumbled. They all fell into a comfortable silence as the TARDIS disappeared from Cardiff, to their new destination.

**AN: As always, thank you for reading and leave a review if you wish. :)**


	25. Bad Wolf

**AN: Oh boy, here we go.**

**Bad Wolf**

Light. Blinding white light made the Doctor squint and cover his dreary eyes as it assailed his senses. It didn't help that his ears ringed, making his head throb in pain. He raised his hands out, finding himself trapped inside a small cubicle, his legs unstable like jelly as he tried to keep balance.

"What's happening?" He called, the white light starting to fade and his hearing return, now assailed by a loud theme music. Something oddly familiar but his memory wasn't working as it should. "Clara? Rose? Jack? What's going on- "He stopped as he pushed on one of the walls of the cubicle, which gave way and made him stumble face first onto the floor again.

"Oh my god!" A female voice called as she came rushing over to kneel beside him. "I don't believe it! Why did they put you in there? They never said you were coming."

He looked up to see a young blonde woman, her hair tied up in pigtails helping him to his feet. "But…what happened?" He asked, his voice thick with weariness before he stumbled back to the floor again.

"Oh! Mind yourself." She helped him up again, this time slower. "That's the transmat. Scrambles your head, made me sick for days. You all right?"

After a few moments, he regained full control of his body again, now seeing his surroundings, which was a blaze of green, pink, purple and red. "I'm fine." He said, now gaining confusion.  _This is like that one film, with sparkles, reindeer games and Jeff Goldblum. No, hold on…is this-_

"So, what's your name then, sweetheart?" She asked.

_Do not overreact. She is just being friendly._  "The Doctor…I think. I was…I don't know, what happened?"

She smiled. "You got chosen."

He blinked. "Chosen for what?"

"You're a housemate. You are in the house. Isn't that brilliant?" She beamed.

"That's not fair!" The Doctor turned to the large, purple couch, where a man and a dark-skinned woman were standing, giving pouty, disappointed looks. "We've got eviction in five minutes. I've been here for all nine weeks, I've followed the rules, I haven't had a single warning then he comes swanning in."

"Hold on. Please don't tell me." The female groaned, pointing to the cupboard where the Doctor came out of. Underneath the door, there was a bright, white light for a few seconds before it faded.

_"Where am I?! Doctor?! Doctor-"_  Clara stumbled through the door, making him and the blonde rush to her help.

"Clara? Clara?" He said, pulling her up into a sitting position, holding her head as she blinked groggily. "Clara?"

"Doctor?" She whispered, looking like she just got out of bed.

He grinned. "Hello stranger."

"Where are we?"

"No idea." She groaned, closing her eyes to fight the drowsiness. "Give it a few seconds." He said, kissing her forehead.

"Ugh, now we have another one. If they keep changing the rules, I am going to protest, I am, you watch me. I'm…I'm going to paint the walls." The other woman groaned.

Clara blinked for a final time as her senses returned, her eyebrows furrowing at the room around her while the Doctor helped her to stand. "What's going on?"

"I'm…not sure."

"Where's Rose and Jack?" She asked.

He slouched his shoulders. "I don't know."

"Hold on…is this-"

"Yes."

**"** _ **Would Clara Oswald please come to the diary room?"**_  A loud, automated female voice blared through the room, making them wince slightly. A buzzer sounded in the corner by a grey door. Clara looked at the Doctor pleadingly, yet he could only shrug in bewilderment. She sighed, moving through the door to see a small, black room with a large red chair in front of a camera. She shivered nervously, moving to sit down in the chair.  **"You are live on channel forty-one thousand. Please do not swear."**

"You've got to be fucking with me." She growled in irritation.

Outside, the two accomplices threw their hands above their heads.  _"Already, she's broken the rules."_  They groaned, while the Doctor and the blonde sniggered.

* * *

Rose blinked slowly as she rose from her sleep, grogginess heavy in her mind as she tried to focus on her surroundings, hearing only muffled voices and a pair of footsteps approaching her. As her sight cleared, she saw a dark-skinned man in a suit kneeling beside her.

"It's all right." He said. "It's the transmat, does your head in. Give you a bit of amnesia." She nodded slowly in understanding. "What's your name?"

"Rose." She said, now looking around to see the room, however it was fruitless as all she saw was a group of podiums with names on them in a semi-circle, the room around them pitch black. "Where's Clara? And the Doctor and Jack?"

He shrugged. "Just remember: Do what the Anne Droid says. And do not provoke it. The Anne Droid's word is law."

"What do you mean "Android"? Like a robot?"

"Positions everyone!" A woman with a clipboard called making a group of people move up to the podiums. "Come on, thank you!"

"Come on. Hurry up." The man helped her to her feet, where she briefly struggled to keep balance. "Oh, steady."

"I was traveling with a few friends of mine. I shouldn't even be here." She protested.

"Well, it says "Rose" on one of the podiums." He said, which was true as her name flickered to life. "Come on." He led her up to the podiums, standing behind one that said "Rodrick" while she paused briefly. "What is it?" He groaned.

"I must be going mad. Is this-"

"Yes."

"So…by "Android" you meant-"

"Anne Droid activated!" A small group of technicians moved away from a large robot with orange hair in the centre.

"The…Anne Droid. Ah." She muttered.

**"Welcome to "The Weakest Link"."**  Anne Droid said, spotlights flickering on to focus on the groups podiums while the theme music played in the background.

* * *

**"Here we go again. We've got our work cut out for us."**

**"I don't know. He is handsome. With a good lantern jaw."**

**"Lantern jaws are so last year."**

Jack groaned as he shook the drowsiness from his mind before his eyes widened. He found himself in a white room, filled with clothes and a pair of female androids in front of him, one with blue hair and one with no hair yet a purple head. "Sorry, nice to meet you ladies but where exactly am I?"

**"We're giving you a brand-new image."**  Purple said.

"Oh, hold on. I was with the Doctor and Clara and…why? Is there something wrong with what I'm wearing?" He glanced down at his dark blue jeans and white shirt with confusion.

**"It's all very 20** **th** **Century. Where did you get that denim?"**  Blue asked.

"A little place in Cardiff. It was called "The Top Shop"."

**"Ah, design classic."**  If she was Human, she would have winked flirtatiously.

**"But we're going to have to find you some new colours. Maybe get rid of that "Oklahoma Farm boy" thing you've got going on."**

They moved to a large laser gun on a mount in front of him as he got off the table. **"Just stand still and let the defabricator work its magic."**

"What's the "Defabricator"?" The laser shot out a blue beam onto him, which slowly disintegrated his clothes until he was fully bare. He glanced down quickly, nodding slightly. " _*Clears Throat*_ Okay, "Defabricator". Does exactly what it says on the tin. Am I naked in front of millions of viewers?"

**"Absolutely."**  They said in unison.

"Ladies," He glanced down, giving a quick flirtatious wink. "Your viewing figures just went up."

* * *

"Any luck, Clara?" The Doctor called as he checked a large mirror in the room.

"I can't open it." She said at the exit door, holding the sonic before making her way over to him.

"It's got a deadlocked seal." The blond-haired person said. "Ever since "Big Brother 504" when they all walked out. You must remember that."

"What is that?" She asked, moving to the glass the Doctor was examining.

"Oh, that's Exoglass. You'd need a nuclear bomb to get through."

"Careful." Clara warned, handing the sonic back to the Doctor who scanned the glass.

"I know you're not supposed to talk about the outside world, but you must've been watching. Do people like me?"

"What's your name?" Clara asked.

"Lynda, with a "Y". Not Linda with an "I". She got forcibly evicted cause she damaged a camera. Am I popular?"

"We don't remember." The Doctor shrugged.

"Oh, but does that mean I'm nothing? Some people get this far just because they're insignificant. Doesn't anybody notice me?" Lynda continued.

"No, you're…you're nice. You're sweet. Everybody thinks you're sweet." Clara reassured despite some confused uncertainty.

Lynda smiled yet she blinked at bit in bewilderment. "Oh. Is that right? Is that what I am? Huh. No one's ever told me that before. Am I sweet? Really?"

Clara nodded. "Yeah. Dead sweet."

"Thank you." As Lynda looked away, the Doctor and Clara exchanged bewildered shrugs with each other until his attention moved to a pair of black and red doors in the room, where he noticed that they had no way of opening or seeing through them.

"It's a wall. Isn't there supposed to be a garden out there or something?" He asked as he and Clara walked over.

"Don't be daft. No one's got a garden anymore.  _*Gasps*_  Don't tell me you two have a garden."

"No, we just have the TARDIS." On this note, Clara put a hand on his arm, exchanging a wide-eyed look with him as they both nodded slowly.

"What is it?" Lynda asked.

"We remember." He answered.

"That's the amnesia. So, what happened? Where did they get you two?"

"We'd just left Raxacoricofallapatorius and then we went to…"

"Kyoto." Clara reminded.

"That's right, Japan in 1336. I got us into a little bit of trouble and we only just escaped. We were back in the TARDIS, laughing and then…there was this light. This white light coming through the walls. I couldn't see where I was and then…I woke up here."

"Same with me." Clara nodded.

"Yeah, that's the transmat beam. That's how they pick the housemates." Lynda smiled but the Doctor's face went grim.

"What's wrong?" Clara asked.

He walked over to another span of Exoglass, not glancing at them. "Clara, Clara, Clara. It's all worse than wrong. We're not some passing travellers. No stupid little transmat gets inside our ship. That beam was fifteen million times more powerful, which means…this isn't just a game. Somewhere, behind it all, something else is going on." He leaned into the glass but was more staring through it. "I know that whoever's in charge is watching us, so here's the latest update from the Big Brother House: I'm getting out, me and Clara. We're going to find our friends and we're going to find you."

* * *

In a large room, filled with workers in suits at computers, one man in his thirties was watching the Doctor and Clara. He put down his headset and gave a sigh, before getting up and walking to the computers behind him, to desk where a woman of similar age who was watching Rose.

"Liz, I need a word." He whispers.

"Hold on. Let me finish this." She says without looking.

_"19, 18, 17, 16. Thank you people. Transmitting in. 12, 11, 10."_  A woman said, holding up a clipboard on the monitor.

Rose leaned over to Rodrick.  _"But I need to find my friend-"_

_"Just shut up and play the game!"_  He interrupted with a groan.

She shrugged.  _"All right then. I'm going to play to win."_

_"3, and…cue!"_

_**"** ** _Le_ t's play "The Weakest link"."**_ The theme music plays, with the spotlights flaring around them.  _ **"Start the clock. Agorax, the name of which basic foodstuff is an anagram of the word "beard"?"**_

" _Bread."_  A balding man answers.

_**"** **_Cor_ rect. Fitch, in the Pan Traffic calendar which month comes after "Hoop"?"** _

A blonde woman blinked in fear.  _"Is it…Clavadoe?"_

_**"** **_No,_  Pandov. Rose, in maths what is 258 minus 158?"** _

" _100!"_  She exclaims with a grin.

_**"** **_Co_ rrect. Rodrick."** _

_"Bank."_

_**"** **_W_ hich letter of the alphabet appears in the word "Dangle" but not in the word "Gland"?"** _

He shrugged.  _"E."_

_**"** **_Cor_ rect. Colleen, in social security what "D" is the name of the payment given to Martian drones?"** _

_"Default."_  A black-haired woman answers.

**_"C_ orrect. Broff, the great cobalt pyramid is built on the remains of which famous old earth institute?"**

_"T-touchdown."_  A black-haired man in his 20's stammered.

_**"** ** _No_ , Torchwood."**_ Rose giggled to herself at the absurdity of these questions and her having no clue to the answers. _ **"Agorax, in language all five examples of which type of letter appear in the word "Facetious"?"**_

_"Vowels."_

_**" _Co_ rrect. Fitch, in biology which blood cells contain iron: Red or White?"** _

_"Umm…"_  Rodrick looked at her with a "Are you serious?" look.  _"White."_

_**"** ** _No_ , red."**_ Rose muttered a sorry into her hand as her giggling increased.  _ **"Rose, in the holovid series "Jupiter Rising", the Grexnik is married to whom?"**_

_"How should I know?"_  She quipped, bursting out into laughter.  _"Holovid. What on Earth is that?"_  Everyone looked at her like she was crazy.

_**"No, the correct answer is "Lord Drayvole"."** _

"Why is she laughing?" Elizabeth muttered before her eyes widened. "Oh my god. Davidge, I don't think she even knows."

"And I've got a couple of housemates who appeared out of nowhere. I told you, it's like the game's running itself."

* * *

Jack, now dressed in a white singlet and tight black jeans, was flexing his muscles in front of the mirror.

**"It's the buccaneer look. Little dash of pirate and just a tweak of President Schwarzenegger."**  Purple pointed out.

He shrugged. "I'm not sure about the vest. What about a little bit of colour to lift it?"

**"Absolutely not."**  Blue shook her head.  **"Never wear black with colour. It makes the colour look cheap and the black look boring. Now, let's talk jackets."**

"I kind of like the first one." Jack reached but she wagged her finger.

**"No, that's a bit too much "Hell's Angel". I like the shorter one."**  She grabbed a different black jacket and handed it to him, who went ahead to put it on.  **"Look, waist length, nice and slimming, shows off the bum."** She marvelled, patting said bum as she finished.

He gave a wolfish smile. "Works for me."

**"Once we've got an outfit, we can look at the face. Ever thought about cosmetic surgery?"**

"I've considered it, yes. A little lift around the eyes, tighten up the jawline. What do you think?" He blatantly reached out and massaged Blue's fake breasts.  _Thank god the Doctor and Clara aren't here. They'd be laughing at me._

**"Oh, let's have a bit more ambition."**  Blue said, ignoring his action.  **"Let's do something cutting edge."** She hid the devious tone in her voice.

* * *

The round had now ended, with everyone's votes written on their boards and held up for the Anne Droid. Rose's said "Fitch", and so the Anne Droid was looking straight at her.

**"So, Rose, what do you actually do?"**

"I just travel about a bit. Bit of a…tourist, I suppose."

**"Another way of saying unemployed."**

"No." Rose said without thought.

**"Have you got a job?"**

"Well…not really, no-"

**"Then you are unemployed!"**  The Anne Droid interrupted.

" _*Sighs*_ Okay, fine, I don't have a job." She grumbled.

**"And yet, you've still got enough money to buy peroxide."**  Rose nearly scoffed at that.  **"Why Fitch?"**

"Uhm…I think she got a few of the questions wrong, that's all." Said person's eyes teared up, making Rose blink in confusion.

**"Well, you'd know all about that."**  The Anne Droid quipped. If she had eyebrows, one would have cocked up.

"Well yeah, but I can't vote for myself, so it had to be Fitch." Now Fitch was sobbing quietly. "I'm sorry. That's the game. That's how it works. I had to vote for someone." She said.

"Let me try again." Fitch protested, her voice broken by the tears. "It was the lights and everything, I couldn't think."

**"In fact, with three answers wrong, Broff was the weakest link in that round but it's the votes that count."**

"I'm sorry. Please. Oh god, help me!" She cried. Everyone else looked either sad or respectfully silent while Rose blinked.

**"Fitch, you are the weakest link. Goodbye."**  The Anne Droid opened her mouth and out popped a small laser beam, which shot at Fitch and disintegrated her into nothing, leaving behind an echoing scream as she died, along with a small pile of ashes where she once stood. Rose looked on in horror while everyone else moved about, as if it was normal for them.

"And we've gone to the adverts! Back in three minutes!" The woman with the clipboard called.

"What was that? What just happened?" Rose asked.

"She was the weakest link, she got disintegrated." Rodrick said. Rose shook her head, making him roll his eyes. "Blasted into atoms." He clarified.

"But I voted for her." Rose protested. He gave her a "Yeah, I know" look. Her eyes widened at his and everyone else's behaviour. "Oh my god, this is sick. All of you, you're just sick-"

"I'm not playing!" Broff exclaimed in terror. "I-I can't do it." The Anne Droid looked at him, making his nerves shatter. "Please! Somebody help me!" He cried, racing for the exit door, the Anne Droid following his movements.

**"You are the weakest link. Goodbye."**  She shot him dead, his ashes and the beam glittering the exit door for a moment before it descended into darkness again. Everyone gave a shuddering breath. The Anne Droid looked back at Rose in challenge again, making her flinch.

"Don't try to escape." Rodrick warned. "It's play or die." His words made Rose glance down in guilt.

* * *

"Doctor, Clara, they said all the housemates must gather on the sofa. You've got to." Lynda said as her and the two accomplices sat on the sofa while the two in question were still checking for exits.

"We're busy getting out, thanks." He said.

"But if you don't obey then all the housemates get punished."

Clara rolled her eyes. "Talk about baiting us with guilt." She grumbled yet she took his arm and led him over. "Maybe we should just be voted out then."

"How stupid are you? You've only just joined, you're not eligible." The man scoffed.

"Try us." Clara growled lightly, making him flinch.

_**"** ** _Bi_ g Brother House, this is Davina Droid."**_ A loud voice rang through the room, starting up the theme music. The three grabbed each other's hands with fearful looks, the woman grabbing the Doctor's hand while he sent Clara a bewildered look.  _ **"Crosbie, Lynda and Strood, you have all been nominated for eviction and the eighth person to be evicted from the Big Brother House is…Crosbie!"**_ Lynda and Strood at once took a now tearful Crosbie in their arms, muttering how sorry they were and how it should've been them.

"Why are they acting like this?" The Doctor whispered to Clara.

"Are we missing something?" They both shrugged.

_**"** ** _Cro_ sbie, you have ten seconds to make your farewells and then we're going to get you!"**_ The three led Crosbie to a white door at the other end of the room, while the Doctor and Clara looked on in confusion.

"I won't forget you!" Lynda said, hugging Crosbie.

"I'm sorry I stole your soap." Crosbie muttered.

"I don't mind, honestly."

They parted, letting Strood hug her. "Thanks for the food, you're a smashing cook. Bless you." He said, giving her a farewell kiss on the cheek.

The white door opened, revealing a small compartment and a locked door. The walls were gleaming a white light, making them flinch slightly at it before ignoring it again.  _ **"Crosbie, please leave the Big Brother House."**_

"Bye, Strood. Bye, Lynda." Crosbie said. The two linked their hands and lifted, imitating an archway for her to walk through as the door closed behind her.

"I don't believe it. Poor Crosbie." Lynda cried as Strood hugged her.

Now the Doctor and Clara were rolling their eyes. "It's only a game show." He said. "She'll make a fortune on the outside, sell her story, release a record, fitness video, all of that. She'll be laughing."

"What do you mean "On the outside"?" Lynda asked. A live video of Crosbie appeared on the television, the two rushing over to the couch.

"Well, what're they waiting for?" Clara asked. "Why don't they just let her go?"

"Stop it. It's not funny." Lynda said, her voice breaking. Clara and the Doctor shot each other another bewildered look, so they just decided to wait.

_**"** ** _Ev_ iction in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."**_ On this, a disintegration laser shot out of the ceiling, melting Crosbie into ash. Lynda and Strood looked down in sadness while the Doctor and Clara shot up in their seats.

"What the hell was that?" The Doctor asked in shock.

"Disintegrator beam." Strood answered.

The two shot horrified looks at Lynda and Strood. "She's been evicted. From life." Lynda clarified.

* * *

The two workers walked up to the elevator door and pressed the button, waiting for it to arrive.

"No one selected the new contestants. It is exactly like those stories." He said.

"Oh, don't start that again." She groaned. "I think you need to take a session off."

"Well, I would…if you'd take it with me." He suggested.

"And don't start that again, either." She smirked playfully.

"But the rumours go back decades, saying that something's been hidden up here, underneath the transmissions."

"But the Controller would know. She watches everything."

He shrugged. "Maybe she just can't see it. Got to allow for Human error."

"Well, that's your problem, then." She leaned in and whispered, "I don't think she's been Human for years." He smirked before staring off with uncertainty at the other end of the room, where a woman with messy blonde hair, linked up with a multitude of wires was glancing around the room with a distant gaze, muttering aloud to herself.

* * *

"Are you insane?!" The Doctor roared, Lynda and Strood flinching while Clara stood to the side with a stern expression. "You just step right into the disintegrator?! Is it that important, getting your face on the television?! Is it worth dying for?!"

"You're talking like we have a choice!" Lynda protested.

"Then why did you apply for it?!"

"Don't be so stupid, we didn't." The Doctor and Clara blinked at Strood. "They played it like that years back, but the truth is that you get chosen whether you like it or not."

"Everyone on Earth is a potential contestant! The transmat beam picks you out at random, and it's nonstop! There are sixty Big Brother House's all running at once!"

"How many, sixty?!" Clara interrupted.

"They've had to cut back. It's not what it was. Now it's-"

"A slaughterhouse!" Clara growled, making him flinch again. "What do the winner's get then, huh?!"

"They get to live." Lynda shrugged.

"Is that it?!"

"Isn't that enough?!"

The Doctor raced over to the white exit door, a camera in the room was following his movements. "Our friends are out there. Rose and Jack, the transmat caught them, now they're contestants."

"So, how're we going to get out?" Clara asked.

"Lynda, the other Linda, with an "I", she was forcibly evicted for what?"

"Damage to property."

"What, like this?" He pulled out his sonic and used it to spark and explode the security camera.

* * *

Jack now dressed in a white tennis outfit was performing said sports moves in front of mirror before pulling a disgusted face.

"No, I'm just not getting this. It's just too…safe, too decent. And you'd never keep it clean."

**"Stage 2, ready and waiting."**  Purple said as she and Blue moved by the defabricator.

"Bring it on, girls!" The defabricator now bared Jack once again.

**"And now it's time for the face off."**

"What does that mean? Do I get to compete with someone else?"

**"No. Like I said: Face off."**  She emphasized her words by holding up her right hand, which had syringes in it and her left had a chainsaw. Jack looked at this with wide eyes, yet he started to loosen his backside slightly.

**"I think you'd look good with a dog's head."**  Blue held up her right hand which had oversized weed cutters and her left had a sabre-saw.

**"Or maybe no head at all. That would be so outrageous."**

**"And we could stitch your legs to the middle of your chest."**

**"Nothing is too extreme. It's to die for."**

Jack held up his hands in warning. "Now, hold on ladies, I don't want to have to shoot either one of you."

**"But your unarmed. Your naked-"**  Jack pulled out a small, hand sized weapon and pointed it at them.  **"But…that's a Compact Laser Deluxe."**

**"Where were you hiding that?"**  Blue asked.

Jack held back a sigh. "You really don't want to know."

**"Give me that accessory-"**  Jack shot both Purple and Blue's heads off completely, sending chunks of debris all around the room, making him flinch to cover his eyes at it. However, he felt relieved as the Androids stopped moving.

* * *

_**"** **_Th_ e Doctor, you've broken the house rules. Big Brother has no choice but to evict you. You have ten seconds to make your farewells and then we're going to get you!"** _

"Yes! That's more like it!" He roared triumphantly, Clara rolling her eyes.

"You sure you're going to be okay?" She asked.

"Oh yeah." He winked at her before jumping up and racing to the white door. "Come on! Open up!"

"You're mad! Do you want to die?!" Lynda protested.

"I reckon they're plants. They were only brought in to stir things up." Strood accused.

The white door opened, the Doctor rushing inside.  _ **"The Doctor, please leave the Big Brother House."**_ The door closed behind him, Strood rushing over to the sofa as the Doctor appeared on the tv.

_"Come on, then. Disintegrate me. Come on, what are you waiting for?"_

"He is. He's mad, he's bonkers." Lynda said.

"And I love him for it." Clara smirked.

"Well, if you're boyfriend's about to die, why didn't you stop him?!"

"Because he won't." She said simply.

The Doctor crossed his arms and looked up at the laser on the ceiling with a grin. _ **"Eviction in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."**_ However, instead of a laser beam, nothing happened. He just stood there, his smug grin beaming even more brightly. Clara's smile mirrored his while Lynda's jaw dropped.

_"Ha ha! I told you, Clara, I knew it! You see now?! Someone brought me into this game! If they wanted me dead, they could've transmatted me into a volcano! They want me alive!"_  He turned around and pulled out his sonic for the other door.

"Oh, don't tease them like that." Clara muttered, despite her smirk.

"Maybe the security isn't as tight at this end." He glanced back at the laser. "Are you following this? I'm getting out." He opened the door, turning around to see Clara rushing over and taking his hand.

"Come with us." She implored to Lynda who watched.

"We're not allowed!" Strood protested.

"Stay in there, you've got a 50/50 chance of disintegration. Stay with us and I promise we'll get you out alive. Come on."

"No, I can't." She shook her head.

"Lynda, you're sweet." The Doctor interjected. "From what I've seen of your world, do you think anybody votes for sweet?" He held out his hand, Lynda contemplating for a few moments.

"Bugger it." She grumbled, rushing over, and taking his hand, as Clara moved through the door and paused, the two bumping into her back and nearly shoving her to the ground. "Oops!"

"Sorry!" The Doctor said.

"Wait!" She held up a hand. They looked around, his eyes widening to match Clara's. "We've been here before, haven't we?"

"Yeah. This is Satellite Five." And indeed, it was, albeit empty, without the busy people or the intense roaring heat.

* * *

**"You are the weakest link. Goodbye."**  Colleen closed her eyes as the Anne Droid shot her to ashes.

"Going to the break! Two minutes on the clock!"

"Colleen was clever. She banked all our money." Rose whispered to Rodrick. "Why'd you vote for her?"

"Because I want to keep you in." He said it in an obvious tone. "You're stupid. You don't even know the Princess Vossaheen's surname. When it comes to the final, I want to be up against you, so that you get disintegrated and I get a stack-load of credits. Courtesy of the Bad Wolf Corporation."

Rose's breath hitched. "What do you mean? Who's "Bad Wolf"?"

He shrugged. "They're in charge. They run the game station."

"But why're they called "Bad Wolf"?"

"I don't know. It's just a name. It's like an old Earth nursery rhyme sort of thing. What does it matter?"

"I keep hearing those words everywhere we go: Bad Wolf. Various times and separate places like it's written all over the universe."

"What on Earth are you going on about?"

"If the Bad Wolf oversees this quiz, then…maybe I'm not here by mistake. Someone's been planning this."

* * *

The Doctor and Clara were checking the many doors in the massive room, Lynda watching them with curiosity.

"No guards. That makes a change. You'd think a big business-like Satellite Five would be armed to the teeth."

"No one's called it Satellite Five in about a hundred years."

"100 years exactly. It's the year 200,100. We were here before, Floor 139. Satellite Five was broadcasting news channels back then. We had a bit of trouble upstairs, it was nothing too serious. Easy. Gave them a hand and home in time for tea."

"Excluding the part where we got caught and could've been killed." Clara admonished. He grumbled, blushing sheepishly.

"100 years ago? You two were here 100 years ago?"

"Yeah." She shrugged.

Lynda looked them up and down appreciatively. "You're looking good on it."

Clara shot the Doctor a smirk. "We moisturize." He sniggered at her inside joke. The sonic buzzed repeatedly in his hands, making him furrow his eyebrows.

"Funny sorts of readings. Place is humming…it's weird. This goes way beyond normal transmissions. What would they need all that power for?"

"I don't know." Lynda shrugged.

"We had two friends traveling with us. The same transmat snatched them. Where would they be?"

"They could've been distributed anywhere. There's a hundred different games."

"Like?" Clara asked.

"Well…there's ten floors of Big Brother and beyond that, there's all sorts of shows. It's nonstop. There's "Call My Bluff", with real guns. "Countdown", where you have thirty seconds to stop the bomb going off. "Ground Force", which is a nasty one. Turns you into compost. Um…"Wipeout". Speaks for itself. Oh, and "Stars in their eyes". Except its literal. If you don't sing, you get blinded."

"And you watch all of this?" She said, shocked.

"Everyone does. How come you don't?"

"We've never paid for our license." She said bluntly.

"Oh my god, you get executed for that."

"Let them try."

"You two keep saying things that don't make sense. But who are you, really?"

He sighed, so Clara answered for him. "We're just travellers, that's all."

"So, if we get out of here, what're you going to do? Just wander off again?"

"As fast as we can."

"I could come with you." She offered.

The two exchanged a look. "Maybe." Clara said.

"I wouldn't get in the way of you two." Lynda clarified.

Clara smiled. "It's a maybe. But first, we need to focus on finding our friends and getting out. So, might I ask, who's in charge of this place now?"

Lynda held up a finger. "One moment." She rushed over to the other end of the room and pulled a large lever. This flicked on a couple of lights above their heads, lighting up a sign that said, "Bad Wolf Corporation". "Your lords and masters." Lynda quipped, missing their eyes widening at the words.

* * *

" _*Sighs*_ Okay, you win, the Controller's got to handle this." Davidge groaned as they saw the trio on the monitor. "Archive Six has got a record of all transmat activities. Find out how they got on board." He took off his headset, Elizabeth walking away while he strolled cautiously to the front of the room, to stand in front of the Controller. "Controller, we have a problem."

"Continue working." She said, her voice hoarse and breathless.

"We have a security problem." He clarified.

"Continue working."

"I'm sorry, but I can't. We have contestants outside of the games, but the alarms haven't gone off."

"No security. The games continue."

"But we can't just let them wander." He protested.

"They are no one." He blinked at her in bewilderment. "They are no one." She repeated. Suddenly, she gasped in pain as Elizabeth placed her hand on the sensor of the door to Archive Six.

"Sorry…I was just-"

"Archive Six is out of bounds."

"But I need to check the transmat log." Elizabeth protested.

"Archive Six is out of bounds. No one may enter Archive Six. Return to work." She returned to her incoherent muttering, making them sigh in defeat.

* * *

The Doctor, Clara and Lynda entered the observation deck, looking down upon the Earth. Lynda's eyes went wide with awe, however the Doctor and Clara looked on in bewilderment. The Earth was ash grey, vastly different from any Earth they've ever seen.

"Blimey!" Lynda mumbled. "I've never seen it for real before. At least, not from orbit."

"What's happened to it?" Clara asked.

"Well, it's always been like that, ever since I was born. See that there?" She pointed to a large swirling mass of clouds moving slowly across the Earth. "That's the Great Atlantic smog storm. It's been going twenty years. We get newsflashes telling us it's safe to breath outside."

"So, the population just sits there?" The Doctor concluded. "Half the worlds too fat, the other too thin and all the while you lot just watch telly?"

Lynda nodded. "Ten thousand channels, all beaming down from here."

"The Human race. Brainless sheep fed on a diet of…" He trailed off, blinking for a moment before gaining a small smile. "Mind you, have they still got that program where three people have to live with a bear?"

"Oh, "Bear with me", I love that one."

"And me." He grinned. "And the celebrity edition where the bear got-"

"In the bath!" They said in unison. "How about you?" They asked Clara.

She shrugged. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Aww. You're missing out." Lynda said.

"But its all gone wrong." He said in a grim tone, making them blink. "I mean, history's gone wrong again. This should be the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire, I don't understand. Last time we were here, we put it right."

"No, but that's when it first went wrong, one hundred years ago, like you said." Lynda clarified, their eyes widening. "All the news channels, they just shut down overnight."

"But…that was us. We did that." Clara said sadly.

"There was nothing left in their place. No information, the whole planet just froze. The government, the economy, they collapsed. That was the start of it. One hundred years of hell."

They turned to look out the window again. "We did this. We made this world." Clara said sadly.

"It wasn't your fault. I did it too." The Doctor said, taking her hand to comfort her.

* * *

**"You are the weakest link. Goodbye."**  The Anne Droid shot a screaming Agorax, who disintegrated into ashes.  **"That leaves Rose and Rodrick. You're going head to head. Let's play "The Weakest Link"."**

"Right, that's the end of tactical voting. You're on your own now." Rodrick said to Rose. She stared at him with wide eyes, her breathing hitching, knowing she might not win the next round.

* * *

"Compatible systems. Just align the wave signature." Jack muttered as he tinkered with the defabricator. It flickered to life, making him grin. "Attaboy! Got myself a gun." He pulled it out of it's stand, moving to the door. "Well ladies, the pleasure is all mine. Which is the only thing that matters in the end." He said as he moved through the door, finding himself on Floor 299. He opened the elevator and pressed a few buttons on his wrist pad. "Two hearts, that's him."  _Hopefully he has Clara and Rose with him._  "Which floor?" He muttered as he worked. The wrist pad beeped, making him nod as he moved into the elevator, coding the desired floor. He waited and waited until it arrived at the designated floor, moving out and towards the observation deck, where the trio stood, the Doctor tinkering with a monitor. "Hey handsome and gorgeous. Good to see you."

"Good to see you too." Clara smiled, embracing him in a hug.

"Where the hell did you end up?" The Doctor asked.

""What not to wear."" He said simply. "Any sign of Rose?"

"Can't you track her down?"

"No. She must still be inside the games. All the rooms are shielded."

"If I can just get inside this computer. She's got to be here somewhere."

"You'd better hurry up. These games don't have a happy conclusion."

"Do you think we don't know that?" Clara snapped before the Doctor could. She looked down in guilt at Jack's hurt face. "I'm sorry."

"Not your fault." Jack said, quickly taking off his wrist band and handed it to her. "Here you go. Patch that in. It's programmed to find her."

"Thank you." Clara said, handing it over to the Doctor.

Jack stole a glance at Lynda, approaching her with a smirk, Clara rolling her eyes. "Hey there."

"Hello." She said with a smile, shaking his hand.

"Captain Jack Harkness."

"Lynda Moss."

"Nice to meet you, Lynda Moss."

"Do you mind flirting outside, thank you." The Doctor groaned as he worked.

"I was just saying hello."

"For you, that's flirting."

"You two can talk." He scoffed.

"I'm not complaining." A blushing Lynda says.

"Muchas gracias." He kissed her hand, making her giggle.

"It's not compatible. Give me a hand, Jack." He pocketed the wrist band and grasped the monitor, Jack moving to help him rip off the outside guarding before he returned to work. "This place should be a basic broadcaster, but the systems are twice as complicated. It's more than just television. This station's transmitting something else."

"Like what?" Jack asked.

"I don't know. This whole "Bad Wolf" thing's tied up with me and Clara. Someone's been manipulating Rose's life and now she's stuck inside this trap. Clara, the wrist band."

She took it and worked with it, the three waiting for an answer. It beeped twice, making her smile. "Found her! Floor 407."

Lynda's eyes went wide. "Oh my god, she's with the Anne Droid! You've got to get her out of there!"

* * *

**"Rose, in geography, the grand central ravine is named after which ancient British city?"**

She stuttered for a second. "Is it York?"

**"No, the correct answer is "Sheffield". Rodrick, in literature the author of "Lucky" was Jackie who?"**

"Stewart."

**"No, the correct answer is "Collins". Rose, the oldest inhabitant of the Isop Galaxy is the Face of what?"**

"Boe! The Face of Boe!" She exclaimed.

If the Anne Droid had eyebrows, both would've raised in surprise.  **"That is the correct answer."**

* * *

"Come on! Come on!" Clara implored as the elevator raced through the first hundred floors.

"She's going to be all right, Clara." Jack reassured.

"She'll be fine when she's not in danger anymore." The Doctor snapped. "Come on!" He said, mirroring Clara's tone.

* * *

**"Rodrick, in history who was the President of the Red Velvets?"**

He blinked for a few moments. "Hoshbin Frane."

**"That is the correct answer. Rose, in food the dish Gaffabek originated on which planet?"**

Rose felt her insides shatter. She had no chance of winning and no sight of her friends coming.  _I'm going to die._  "Is it…Mars?"

**"No, the correct answer is Lucifer. Rodrick, which measurement of length is said to have been defined by the Emperor Jate as the distance from his nose to his fingertip?"**

"Would that be a goffle?"

**"No, the correct answer is a parb. Rose, in fashion Stella Pok Baint is famous for what?"**

"…Shoes."

**"No, the correct answer is hats."**

* * *

The elevator opened, the four rushing out onto Floor 407.

"Game room 6! Which one is it?!" Clara demanded.

"Over here!" Lynda pointed to one door, which they rushed over to, the Doctor pulling out his sonic to use on the sensor.

"Stand back! Let me blast it open!" Jack said, holding up the weaponized defabricator.

"You can't! It's made of hydra combination!" The Doctor said.

_**"** **_Ro_ se, in history, which Icelandic city hosted murder spree 20?"** _

_"…Reykjavik?"_

There was a moment of silence from within, sending a dreadful chill down their spines as they figured out the outcome.

_**"** **_No,_  the correct answer is Polar Ventura."** _

The theme music played, Rodrick laughing gleefully.  _"Oh my god, I've done it! You've lost!"_

"Way to brag about it!" Clara growled. "Come on!"

"I'm trying!"

_"I'm not meant to be here!"_  Rose cried.

_**"** **_R_ odrick, you are the strongest link."** _

_"I need to find the Doctor! I need to find Clara! They've got to be here somewhere!"_

_**"** **_Yo_ u will be transported home with 1,600 credits."** _

_"They wouldn't just leave me! They're always there!"_

_"Thank you so much!"_  Rodrick said.

_"This game is illegal! I'm telling you to stop!"_

"I've got it!" The door opened, Clara racing in first as the three behind her followed.

"Stop this game! I order you to stop this game now!" The Doctor ordered.

"Look out for the Anne Droid! It's armed!" Rose warned as she raced over towards them.

**"Rose, you are the weakest link. Goodbye."**  She opened her mouth and shot Rose to ashes on the spot in front of them. Lynda put her hand over her mouth in shock, while Clara knelt beside the ashes, the Doctor clenching his fists together.

"What the hell did you do to her?!" The Doctor demanded as Jack rushed over to the clipboard woman.

"Security! I need security here right now!" The woman demanded, said group racing into the room.

"Back off! I said back off!" The security officers demanded as they disarmed Jack and held his arms in a grasp before clasping them in cuffs. "Back off or we will shoot her!" They turned to see a silent Clara held at gun point by the head security soldier.

"Leave her alone!" The Doctor ordered.

"Sir stand down or I'll have to shoot!"

They complied but not willingly, the Doctor now clasped in cuffs. "You killed her!" Jack accused. "Your stupid fucking game show killed her!"

The head soldier took out cuffs and clasped them onto Clara's wrists. "Ma'am, I'm arresting you and your friends under private legislation 16 of the Game Station Syndicate."

Clara however stopped listening to everyone, drowning all the noise in the room into nothing as they were all hauled out.

* * *

The soldiers led the group into a small, makeshift prison. After getting searched and confiscated of all items and freed of handcuffs, they sat down on a long chair. Jack and the Doctor stared at the soldiers with disdain, Lynda with fear while Clara stared down at the floor.

The head soldier took out the sonic screwdriver and held it up for them. "Can you tell us the purpose of this device?" They were silent at this making him pass it to the other two soldiers in the room, who placed it onto a table beside all their belongings. "All right then, can you tell us how you got on board?"

"Just them alone-" The man grasped Lynda's throat, making her stop talking.

"I was asking them." He removed his grasp, turning to the Doctor. "Sir, can you tell us who you and your friends are?" They once again remained silent, making him sigh and move out of the cell, through the mesh gate to converse with the soldiers. Clara stared at the Doctor and Jack with a stern, rageful look, making them nod at her in return. The head soldier re-entered the cell again, looking at them with a tired expression. "You will be taken from this place to the Lunar Penal colony, there to be held without trial. You may not appeal against this sentence. Is that understood?" They once again gave him the silent treatment, so he moved to exit the cell again.

As he reached the door, the Doctor leaned into Jack and whispered, "Let's do it." The soldiers turned to them as they opened the door. Jack pounced on them and knocked out the head soldier. He then grasped the railing above the door and heaved himself up, kicking the door into the two soldiers behind it, knocking them towards the ground. He and the Doctor moved through the door as another two soldiers came rushing in. The Doctor grabbed one and shoved him against the wall, knocking him unconscious while Jack pummelled the other with his fists. They then grabbed their belongings, the Doctor taking the defabricator while Jack took two guns and they rushed for the elevator.

"Floor 500." Clara ordered as they entered.

* * *

Davidge stared at his monitor with wide eyes, taking off his headset. "Oh my god, now we're in trouble." He mumbled, racing up to the front of the room and pressing the alarm button. "Clear the floor! They're on their way up here!" Nobody moved. "With a gun!" He clarified, making everyone jump out of their seats. He turned to the controller, who simply stood there, still muttering. "Controller, you have to close the lift down!"

She ignored him, still muttering. Elizabeth came up to his side with an irritated expression. "This is an emergency! You've got to close down the lift!"

"All staff are reminded that solar flares commence in Delta.2."

"Ugh, never mind the solar flares! They're going to kill you!"

The elevator behind them opened, everyone freezing as the Doctor and Jack came out of the elevator with their guns raised, Clara and Lynda moving out behind them.

"Okay, move away from the desk!" Jack ordered, the workers doing as he said. "Nobody try anything clever! Just stand to the sides and stay there!"

The Doctor walked up to the Controller and raised the defabricator. "Who's in charge of this place?!" He demanded, yet she ignored him. "This satellite's more than a game station." More muttering. "Who killed Rose Tyler? I want an answer!"

"All staff are reminded that solar flares occur in Delta.1."

"She can't reply." Davidge interrupts. The Doctor turns the gun on him, making him and the staff raise their hands. "Don't shoot!"

" _*Scoffs*_ Don't be so thick. Like I was ever going to shoot." He tossed the gun into his hands making him blink incredulously.

"Captain, we've got more guards on the way up. Secure those exits." Clara ordered, looking on the monitors, showing security footage.

"Yes ma'am." He said, moving off to work.

"You…" She clicks her fingers a few times. "What's-your-name, what were you saying?"

He blinked at her in slight offense before staring incredulously at the defabricator in his hands. "But…I've got his gun."

"So, shoot me. Why can't she answer?"

"She's…um…can I put this-"

"Hurry up." She snapped.

"Sorry." He mumbled, setting the gun aside. "Um…the Control is linked into the transmissions. The entire output goes through her brain. You and your friends are not members of staff, so she doesn't recognize your existence."

"What's her name?"

"…I don't know." He shrugged. "She was installed when she was five years old. That's the only life she's ever known."

"Door's sealed. We should be safe for about 10 minutes." Jack called.

"Keep an eye on them." The Doctor ordered, turning back to Davidge.

"But that stuff you were saying about something going on with the game station, I think you're right." Davidge said. "I've kept a log: Unauthorized transmats, encrypted signals. It's been going on for years."

"Show me. Clara, go with Jack. See what's behind that door." She nodded, hurrying over to Jack, who was standing by the door of Archive Six.

"You're not allowed in there!" Elizabeth called, making them turn to look back. "Archive six is out of bounds!"

He rolled his eyes, holding up the rifles. "Do I look like an out of bounds sort of guy?!" He opened the door, motioning Clara through with him. They entered a small, white room and right there, under their relieved gaze stood the TARDIS.

Clara giggled, walking up and patting the box. "Oh, I've missed you."

_*Beeps*_  (I've missed you too)

"Am I getting left out again?" Jack quipped as they entered. Before they went up to the console, they paused by the railing, seeing one of Rose's blue jackets left behind. Clara put a hand on it, giving out a sad sigh. Jack placed a hand on her shoulder, receiving a gentle smile.

"You're a good friend, Jack." She said softly.

"You too." They held the comfortable silence for a moment before walking up to the console, Jack moving in front of the monitor. He pressed a few keys, finding what the TARDIS had been up to while they were away. The findings made him pause in disbelief. "What the hell?" He muttered.

"What is it?" Clara walked over, gazing at the monitor. "What's got you in a daze?"

"It's the transmissions." He said as if it was obvious. "The station has been sending out transmissions, but there's also ones underneath it. And it's hiding something, out in the solar system."

Clara leaned over and clicked a few more keys, bringing up more findings. "What do the disintegration beams have to do with it?" Clara muttered.

* * *

The Doctor groaned as he and Lynda stood by Davidge's desk, while Elizabeth rattled off her domestics to him.

"If you're not holding us hostage then open the door and let us out! The staff are terrified!"

"That's the same staff who execute hundreds of contestants every day?" He accused.

"That's not our fault. We're just doing our jobs."

That made his jaw clench. "And with that sentence, you just lost the right to even talk to me now back off!" He growled, making her flinch. When he turned back to the monitor, the lights in the room flickered and dimmed until it became dark, like the cold embrace of night. It didn't ease their tension that the computers flickered and sputtered with static.

"That's just the solar flares." Davidge informed. "They interfere with the broadcast signal, so this place automatically powers down. Planet Earth gets a few repeats, all fairly normal."

The Controller blinked for the first time in years, taking small breaths of relief as her mind cleared from the cloud of inspection. Yet as her gaze shifted and focused, it was still distant as she couldn't see her surroundings, only the echoing light of all the numbers she had seen over her life, fading away into pure darkness. She opened her mouth to speak, finding no words but a hoarse throat, so she cleared it to try again. "Doctor?" Yet the word only came out as a small whisper. "Doctor?" She called again, her voice still hoarse and wrecked from so much talking over her life. "Doctor?"

"Doctor?" Elizabeth asked as she noticed the Controller's strange, unfamiliar words.

"Whatever it is, you can wait." He said coldly.

"I think she's calling for you." That made him blink, turning to look at the Controller.

"Doctor? Where's the Doctor?"

He rushed over to stand in front of the Controller. "I'm here."

She shook her head. "Can't see. I'm blind, so blind. All my life, I've been blind. All I can see is numbers, but I saw you."

"What do you want?"

"Solar flares hiding me. They can't hear me. My-my masters listen, but they can't hear me now." She took another hoarse breath, her throat burning as she did. "The sun is bright now. So bright."

"Who are your masters?"

She shook her head. "They wired my head, forbidding the name. They control my thoughts, see what I think. They check the transmissions, but they don't watch the programs. I had to be careful, to hide you inside the games. So that you could find me."

"My friend died inside your games." He said coldly.

The Controller smiled. "No, she didn't."

"Don't tell me lies." He growled.

"They've been hiding. My masters hiding in the dark space, watching, and shaping the Earth. So, so many years. They've always been there, guiding humanity for hundreds and hundreds of years."

"Who are they?"

"They wait and plan and grow in numbers. They're strong now, so strong, my masters."

"Who are they?"

"But speak of you, they do not." She said sternly, making him blink. "My masters, they fear the Doctor."

"Tell me! Who are they?!" Bad luck. The solar flare passed, power returning to the room and the Controller returned to her muttering, making him inwardly curse. "When's the next solar flare?" He asked Davidge.

"Two years' time."

" _*Scoffs*_ Fat lot of good that is."

Clara and Jack re-entered the room. "We've found the TARDIS." Jack informed.

"We're not leaving right now."

"Doctor." Clara called, making him turn around. "The TARDIS worked it out. Jack, if you could, please?"

Jack stood by a computer, the Doctor blinking at them incredulously.  _They're both grinning. Did they forget what's going on here?_

"Now then, Lynda. Could you stand over there for me, please?" Jack asked, pointing to beside elevator door.

"I just want to go home." She mumbled.

"It'll only take a second. Now, could you stand in that spot? Quickly please." Jack ordered, making her rush over. "Okay…everybody watching? All right then, 3, 2, 1." He flicked a switch, causing a laser to shoot out of the ceiling, disintegrating Lynda.

The Doctor stared at them in shock. "But you killed her-"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Clara tutted, her grin beaming now. "Let us finish." She leaned over and flicked the switch again, causing Lynda to materialize beside the Doctor. The Doctor looked at her with wide eyes, while she stared around, blinking incredulously.

"What the hell just happened?" She demanded.

Clara rushed over to the Doctor. "It's a transmat beam." On that, the Doctor started to smile. "Not a disintegrator."

"People don't get killed in the games." Jack informed, coming over as well. "They get transported across space."

"She's alive?" He finished, now sharing their grins. They nodded. "She's alive!" He cried, hugging the two and kissing their foreheads. They parted, letting their smiles relax. "But first, we've got to find her." They rushed over to the computers in front of the Controller, the two workers moving to help. "Where do they get transported to?"

"Somewhere at the edge of the solar system." Jack informed as he sat down.

"Doctor!" The Controller called, drawing their attention. "Coordinates: /9!"

"Don't!" The Doctor pleaded. "The solar flare's gone! They'll hear you!"

".434!" She started to scream in pain, electricity arcing into her mind. "No, my masters! No, I defy you! Sigma 77-aaah!" She screamed as a transmat shot out of the ceiling, dematerializing her before their eyes. Then white light followed. The same white light that every contestant saw as they appeared in the games. Slowly it faded, along with the grogginess of instant space travel. The Controller opened her eyes, feeling the first moments of joy in an exceedingly long time as she could see. She was no longer blind. It was all just a trick to control her. She looked up, seeing a mixture of gold, bronze, and brown all around her, despite the hard-black floor. The walls had dozens of spheres attached to them, arcing all the way up to the ceiling. She stood up, spotting in the corner of the room the unconscious body of Rose Tyler while a Dalek moved towards her, staring it's dim blue light straight into her very soul. For the first time in her life, she smiled. But not of joy or nervousness. It was warning. It was bliss. It was victory. "Oh, my masters. You can kill me, for I have brought your destruction."

**"Exterminate."**  It shot directly, making her scream in agony before collapsing dead onto the floor.

* * *

Davidge walked back over to them with a small stick, like a USB and handed it to Jack. The Doctor, Clara, Lynda, and Elizabeth stood patiently behind him. "Here, use this. It might hold the final numbers. I kept a log of all the unscheduled transmissions."

Jack smiled at him, but it was…appreciative. "Nice." He held out a hand to shake his. "Captain Jack Harkness, by the way."

"I'm Davidge Pavel."

"Nice to meet you, Davidge Pavel."

"There's a time and a place." Clara groaned, Jack returning to his work with a small, sulking yet playful look on his face.

"So, what you're saying is that this setup has been a disguise all along?" Elizabeth asked.

"Going way back." The Doctor said, Clara nodding. "Back to installing the Jagrafess one hundred years ago. Someone's been playing a long game, controlling humanity from behind the scenes for generations."

Jack finished, passing a small remote to the Doctor. "Click on this." The Doctor took it, holding it up to where the Controller stood and pressed the key. It brought up a live image of outer space, thanks to the security cameras all over Satellite Five. "The transmat delivers to this point, right on the edge of the solar system."

"There's nothing there." Elizabeth shrugged.

The Doctor shook his head. "It looks like nothing, because that's what this satellite does. But underneath the transmission, there's another signal."

"Doing what?" Davidge asked.

"Hiding whatever's out there. Hiding it from sonar, radar, or scanner. There's something sitting right in Earth's own home, and it's completely invisible." He knelt before the computer, pressing a few keys. "If I cancel the signal…" He trailed off as he looked up, his, Clara's and Jack's eyes widened while the three beside them furrowed in confusion. On the image was a massive assortment of Dalek ships, with one twice the size of any of them sitting in the middle, like a shepherd standing amongst his flock.

"That's impossible." Jack denied. "I know those ships. They were destroyed."

"Obviously they survived." Clara muttered.

"Who did? Who are they?" Lynda asked.

"Two hundred ships." The Doctor informed. "More than two thousand aboard each one, maybe over four thousand in the command ship. That's just about half a million of them."

"Half a million what?" Davidge asked.

"Daleks." The Doctor said, his tone now not of horror but of grim anger.

* * *

Rose awoke, blinking away her post sleep grogginess, but her confusing peace was short lived. Her eyes widened as all around her was more than a thousand Daleks, and that was just in her eye sight. What did obscure it was a large shadow in the massive room in front of her, and she couldn't make out what was casting it. "No, it can't be." She breathed.

**"Alert! Alert! We are detected!"**  A Dalek screamed, making all the others in the room move in agitation.

**"It is the Doctor! He has found us! Open communications channel!"**  Another screamed.

One Dalek moved in front of Rose.  **"The female will stand! Stand!"** It ordered, making her rise in haste, moving towards the wall to stand as far away from the Daleks as possible.

"You can't be here. I saw you die." She said, her voice still full of shock, but it was now turning into horror. They all ignored her words, turning around to stare up at the wall opposite her, a large, live image appearing of the group at Satellite Five. While none of them expressed it, they felt a surge of relief seeing their friends alive, both Rose and the TARDIS trio before her. One emotion that she did see, was the Doctor clenching his jaw in held rage.

**"I will talk to the Doctor!"**  One Dalek commanded, moving in front of the group.

_"Oh, will you? That's nice. Hello."_  He sassed in sarcasm. Rose sniggered slightly, and she could tell the people beside them smirked as well.

**"The Dalek stratagem nears completion! The fleet is almost ready! You will not intervene!"**

_"Oh really? Why's that then?"_

**"We have your associate."**  It turned around to look at Rose, making her flinch for a second before it turned back.  **"You will obey, or she will be exterminated!"**

Rose gulped as she stared at them, wondering what their answer will be. She saw Clara put a hand on the Doctor's shoulder, making him glance at her. Rose smirked as she made out what Clara mouthed to him: "Go get them, tiger." She finished this with a wink.

He glanced back again and said,  _"No."_  The other four stared at him in disbelief while Clara beamed. The Daleks also paused at this, like they were blinking despite their inability to do so.

**"Explain yourself!"**

_"I said no."_

**"What is the meaning of this negative?!"**

_"It means no."_

**"But she will be destroyed!"**

_"No!"_  He roared, making the Daleks flinch.  _"Because this is what I'm going to do: I'm going to rescue her. Me and my friends will save Rose Tyler from the middle of your Dalek fleet, then I'm going to save the Earth and then, just to finish off, I'm going to wipe out every stinking Dalek out of the sky!"_

**"But you have no weapons, no defences, no plan!"**

_"Yeah. And doesn't that scare you to death?!"_  He taunted. That silenced the Daleks, making Rose grin.  _"Rose?"_

"Yes, Doctor?"

_"We're coming to get you."_  He shut the connection off, the Daleks starting to dart around the room like kids on a sugar rush.

**"The Doctor is initiating hostile action!"**

**"The stratagem must advance! Begin the invasion of Earth!"**

**"The Doctor will be exterminated!"**

**"Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!"**  The Daleks started to chant in unison, making Rose cover her ears as their screams echoed throughout the chamber.  _Please hurry, Doctor, Clara, and Jack. Please._

**AN: You know what's coming up next. ;) As always, thank you for reading and leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	26. The Parting of the Ways

**AN: Let me just say, I've had an absolute blast writing for the 9** **th** **Doctor, and I'm truly thankful for all the wonderful reviews you guys and/or girls have posted. But alas, all things must end. So, please enjoy Christopher Eccleston's swan song.**

**The Parting of the Ways**

**Dalek Command Ship  
** 200,100

_"No."_  The other four stared at him in disbelief while Clara beamed. The Daleks also paused at this, like they were blinking despite their inability to do so.

**"Explain yourself!"**

_"I said no."_

**"What is the meaning of this negative?!"**

_"It means no."_

**"But she will be destroyed!"**

_"No!"_  He roared, making the Daleks flinch.  _"Because this is what I'm going to do: I'm going to rescue her. Me and my friends will save Rose Tyler from the middle of your Dalek fleet, then I'm going to save the Earth and then, just to finish off, I'm going to wipe out every stinking Dalek out of the sky!"_

**"But you have no weapons, no defences, no plan!"**

_"Yeah. And doesn't that scare you to death?!"_  He taunted. That silenced the Daleks, making Rose grin.  _"Rose?"_

"Yes, Doctor?"

_"We're coming to get you."_  He shut the connection off, the Daleks starting to dart around the room like kids on a sugar rush.

**"The Doctor is initiating hostile action!"**

**"The stratagem must advance! Begin the invasion of Earth!"**

**"The Doctor will be exterminated!"**

**"Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!"**  The Daleks started to chant in unison, making Rose cover her ears as their screams echoed throughout the chamber.  _Please hurry, Doctor, Clara, and Jack. Please._ One of the Daleks rounded on her, making her back into the nearby wall.  **"You know the Doctor. You understand him. You will predict his actions."**  It demanded.

"I don't know!" Rose cried. It advanced on her, making her shudder in fear. "And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you."

**"Predict! Predict! Predict!"**

**"TARDIS detected in flight."**  A Dalek reported.

The Dalek in front of her turned its eye-stalk around.  **"Launch missiles! Exterminate!"**

"You can't!" Rose protested. "The TARDIS hasn't got any defences. You're going to kill them!"

" **You have predicted correctly."**  The Dalek quipped in an almost sarcastic manner, making her gulp. After a few moments however, the sound of the TARDIS engines flared through the room, making Rose glance around herself. She blinked in confusion for a few seconds before it settled into relieved admiration as she recognized the TARDIS materialising around her…and the Dalek in front of her.

"Oh great." She mumbled sarcastically.

**"Alert! TARDIS materialising…"**  The Dalek's voice trailed off as the TARDIS materialised completely.

* * *

The TARDIS trio raced around the console, working frantically as they piloted the ship out of Satellite Five and towards the Dalek Command.

"We've got incoming!" Jack reported. "Brace yourselves!" The ship then shuddered violently by the missiles, the ship staying unscathed, yet they grasped the console as to not stumble to the floor. Jack shot them a cheeky grin, patting the extrapolator. "The extrapolator's working. We've got a fully functional force field.  _*Sniggers*_  Try saying that while you're drunk."

"And for our next trick." The Doctor flicked a lever. "Jack, get ready." Jack jumped, grabbing the defabricator off the captain's chair and primed it. They turned to look at the doors as the TARDIS materialised inside the Command ship, around Rose yet unfortunately, a single Dalek as well. Rose turned to look at them before the Dalek could.

"Rose, get down!" Clara warned. Rose blinked as she glanced at her. "Get down, Rose!" She repeated, making Rose duck for cover.

**"Exterminate!"**  The Dalek fired. Clara ducked, causing the blast to hit the exact spot where her head had been, while Jack fired at the Dalek. It screamed in agony before exploding in debris, the top half now obliterated, leaving behind the steaming Dalek organism inside.

Rose got up, feeling relieved in tune with the rest of the group. "You did it."

"Of course, we could." The Doctor said smugly before pulling Rose into a hug. He then parted, moving to examine the Dalek while Clara hugged Rose.

"It feels like I haven't seen you in years." Rose mumbled.

"We did say we'd get you. And by we, I mean him." Clara said.

"I never doubted it." Rose said gratefully as they parted.

"We didn't either." Rose cocked an eyebrow at her. "Okay, we did a tiny bit. You all right?"

"Yeah. You two?"

"Eh. We've been better." Clara shrugged as she joined the Doctor's side.

"Hey, don't I get a hug?" Jack asked as he put down the ruined defabricator and walked over.

"Aww, come here." Rose motioned to him.

"I was talking to them." They shared a hearty laugh and a hug, while the two by the Dalek rolled their eyes at each other. "Welcome home."

"I thought I'd never see you again." Rose said honestly.

"Oh, you were lucky. That was just a one-time wonder. Drained the gun of all its power supply. Now it's just a piece of junk." He said as they parted, moving to examine the Dalek.

* * *

The Daleks looked at the TARDIS in agitation, unable to detect any signs of activity from the outside. Then, they started to move towards it eagerly.

**"Patience, my brethren."**  A booming voice echoed throughout the room, causing them to stop and remain silent.

* * *

"You said they were extinct. How come they're still alive?" Rose asked.

"One minute: They're the greatest threat in the universe. The next: They vanished out of time and space." Jack said.

"They went off to fight a bigger war: The Time War." The Doctor informed. He glanced at Clara, relaxing at her kind look.

"I thought that was just a legend." Jack muttered with wide eyes.

The Doctor shook his head. "I was there. The war between the Daleks and the Time Lords, with the whole of creation at stake. My people were destroyed but so were the Daleks. Part of me thought it was worth it. Now it turns out they died for nothing."

"But who killed them all?" Jack asked. The Doctor shot him a look, making him nod silently in understanding.

"There's thousands of them now." Rose said, fear clear in her voice. "We could hardly stop one. What're we going to do?"

The Doctor shot up with a grin, causing them to jump slightly. "No good standing round here chin wagging. Human race, you'd gossip all day. The Daleks have the answers. Let's go meet the neighbours." He raced to the door.

"You can't go out there!" Rose cried. Clara put a hand on her shoulder with a smirk. That made Rose pause, her eyes moving to squint after the Doctor as he pushed through the doors.

**"Exterminate!"**  They saw the Daleks fire at the Doctor…yet they didn't hit him. Realising this, they stopped, making him glance back at the group with a smug smirk as they exited the TARDIS slowly.

"Is that it?" He asked the Daleks. "Useless! Null points." He said with a French accent. They winced in unison. "Okay, never mind that one." He muttered before turning back to look at the rest of the group. "It's all right. You can come on out. That force field can hold back anything."

"Almost anything." Jack reminded as they leant back against the TARDIS.

"Yes, but I wasn't going to tell them that, thanks." The Doctor said sarcastically.

"Sorry."

The Doctor marched back up to stand in front of the Daleks, now radiating a tone of unrelenting authority. "Do you know what they called me in the ancient legends of the Dalek home world? "The Oncoming Storm"." The Daleks stared at him, silent yet with slight ticks of flinching. "You might've removed all your emotions, but I reckon that deep down in your DNA, there's one little spark left…and that's fear. Doesn't it just burn when you face me?" He asked, sending them a cold smile. "So, tell me, how did you survive the Time War?"

**"They survived through me."**  He turned along with the group, looking now upon the large, black silhouette with wide eyes. Three lights flickered on, revealing to the Doctor's horror, a Dalek three times the size of any other, bolted into the floor on a tripod made of its own armour. Underneath where a tank would be, was instead a small glass capsule holding the real Dalek just like the Prime Minister, yet this one was…mutated. More than any Dalek he's ever seen. Yet instead of writhing about in agitation or fear, it stayed perfectly still, like the calm before a storm.

"Clara, Rose, Captain, this is the Emperor of the Daleks." The Doctor said, not turning to look at them as he moved slowly forward, the rest of the group still standing beside the TARDIS.

**"You destroyed us, Doctor. The Dalek race died in your inferno, but my ship survived, falling through time, crippled but alive."**

He rolled his eyes. "I get it."

**"Do not interrupt! Do not interrupt! Do not interrupt!"**  The Daleks admonished in unison.

He raised his eyebrows in a "Excuse me?" manner. "I think you're forgetting something. I'm the Doctor, and if there's one thing I can do, it's talk. I've got five billion languages and you don't have one way of stopping me. So, if anybody's going to shut up, it's you!" He roared, the Daleks flinching in fear. He turned back to the Emperor with a grin. "Okey doke. So, where were we?"

If he had one, the Emperor would've clenched his jaw.  **"We waited here, in the dark space, damaged but rebuilding. Centuries passed, and we quietly infiltrated the systems of Earth, harvesting the waste of humanity. The prisoners, the refugees, the dispossessed, they all came to us. The bodies were filleted, pulped and sifted."** The TARDIS group, especially Rose, scrunched their faces in disgust.  **"The seed of humanity is perverted. Only one cell in a billion was fit to be nurtured."**

"So, you created an army of Daleks out of the dead." The Doctor concluded.

"That makes them…half Human." Rose inputted.

**"Those words are blasphemy!"**  The Emperor roared.

**"Do not blaspheme! Do not blaspheme! Do not blaspheme!"** The Daleks yelled in unison, making them cover their ears in protection.

**"Everything Human has been purged. I cultivated pure and blessed Dalek."**  The Emperor said proudly.

The Doctor turned back to look at him, eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement. "Since when did the Daleks have a concept of blasphemy?"

**"I reached into the dirt and made new life. I am the god of all Daleks!"**  The Emperor declared.

**"Worship him! Worship him! Worship him!"**  The Daleks chanted in unison. When they finished, the Doctor looked at them in new found horror.

"They're insane." He muttered. "Hiding in silence for hundreds of years, that's enough to drive anyone mad. But it's worse than that. Driven mad by your own flesh, the stink of humanity." He sighed. "You hate your own existence. And that makes them deadlier than ever." He motioned the others into the TARDIS as he turned back briefly. "We're going." He said, before entering the TARDIS.

**"You may not leave my presence!"**

**"Stay where you are!"**  A Dalek demanded. He simply shot them a grin before closing the doors.  _ **"Exterminate!"**_  The Daleks yelled in unison as they fired at the doors.

Clara and Jack piloted them away into the Vortex, leaving behind the ruined Dalek at the ship. Clara looked over at the Doctor, who stood silent by the doors, leaning his head against it. She walked up to him and placed a hand upon his shoulder. "Doctor?" She whispered. He turned to look at her, a gaze of shameful sorrow. "Come here." She said, drawing him into a hug. He sighed, stroking her hair with his one free hand.

"I don't deserve you, Clara." He said honestly.

"I'm sorry Doctor, but I'm exactly what you deserve." She sassed, causing him to chuckle. "You've got a plan?" She asked.

"Who said I was staying?"

"I can read you like an open book." She said, adopting a mocking dramatic tone, making him smile.

"Then yes, I have a plan."

"Then I'm sure Jack can help us out."

"And not Rose?"

She sighed. "We can't let her stay. She has to go back, to Jackie and Rickey."

"His name's Mickey." He said, before groaning at his words.

She laughed. "Made you say it."

They parted, moving up to the console. "All right, back to Satellite Five." He said, racing around the console, before rushing back to the doors. "Tweedledee and Tweedledum, hurry up."

They groaned. "Seriously, stop calling us that." Rose said as they exited the TARDIS with him.

Silence then fell for a few moments in the TARDIS, as Clara placed a hand on the console and stroked it affectionately. "You'll know the time to do it, old girl."

_*Beeps*_  (I know. Goodbye Clara)

She smiled sadly, moving out of the TARDIS, and closing the doors behind her.

"Come on, turn everything up." An impatient Doctor said to Davidge and Elizabeth at the main desk, Clara moving to stand beside him with Jack and Rose. "All transmitters at full power, wide open. Do it!"

"But what does this do?" Davidge asked.

"It stops the Daleks from transmatting on board. Did you contact Earth?"

"Well, we tried to warn them but all they did was suspend our license because we stopped the programs."

"Then the planet's just sitting there, defenceless."

Clara glanced over to see Lynda sitting on a chair, looking at them with wide eyed curiosity. "Lynda, what're you still doing here? You were supposed to evacuate with everyone else."

"She wouldn't go." Davidge inputted.

"I didn't want to leave you. Besides, there weren't enough shuttles."

"You're serious?" The Doctor asked.

"Yes." Elizabeth inputted. "We've got about a hundred people stranded on Floor 0." She flicked on a connection to one of the security cameras on said floor.

_"Listen, listen. My name's Rodrick."_  His voice floated through on screen.  _"I won the game! Where's my money?"_

_"In a moment, sir."_  A soldier said as he tried to sort through the demands of everyone around him.

That made Rodrick groan, grabbing a microphone.  _"Is anybody listening?! Where's my money?!"_

Davidge turned the screen off, motioning to another where they could see in the distant space the Dalek fleet moving towards them. "The fleet is moving. They're on their way."

* * *

The Emperor hummed in agitation, making all the Daleks turn their attention towards him. **"Burn the Doctor's sanctuary out of the sky. The embers from his ashes will purify the Earth in a new fire. The planet shall become my temple and we shall rise. This will be our paradise!"**

* * *

The Doctor began ripping open grates in the desks, pulling out wires upon wires, causing the floor to look like Devil's Snare. Everyone looked at him in blinking confusion.

"The Dalek plan, big mistake. What have they left me with? Anyone?" Nobody answered, just shrugging. "Oh, come on, it's obvious. A great big transmitter, this station. If I can change the signal, fold it back, sequence it. Anyone?" He asked again as he worked furiously away.

Jack's eyes widened. "You've got to be kidding."

He grinned. "Give the man a medal!"

"A delta wave?"

"A delta wave!" He practically squealed in childish excitement.

"What's a delta wave?" Rose asked.

"A wave of Van Cassadyne energy." Jack answered. "It fries your brain. Stand in the way of a delta wave and your head gets barbecued."

"And this place can transmit a massive wave, wipe out the Daleks."

"Well, get started then. Do it." Lynda said.

"But there's a problem, isn't there?" Clara deduced.

He nodded. "Afraid so. Wave this size, building this big, brain as clever as mine, should take about…three days?" He glanced at Davidge. "How long till the fleet arrive?"

Davidge double checked. "Twenty-two minutes."

The Doctor accidentally ripped a wire apart, making them all glare at him. He blushed sheepishly. "Clara, could you give me a hand, please?" He whimpered, Clara rolling her eyes and joining him on the floor. He went to pull out another wire, but she slapped his hand. "Ow!" He whined.

"Wires are delicate." Clara said, pulling it out with haste yet caution. "Calm down a bit, okay?" She scolded. She didn't wait for an answer, just pulling out a few more wires before glancing at Jack. "Get the extrapolator." She said, making him rush into the TARDIS.

After a few moments, he came rushing out and plugged it into the main computers. He then motioned the remaining people to join him. "We've now got a force field, so they can't blast us out of the sky. But that doesn't stop the Daleks from physically invading."

"Do they know about the delta wave?" Davidge asked.

"They'll have worked it out at the same time." Jack answered as he pulled up a schematic map of the Satellite. "So, if they want to stop our favourite lovebirds over there, they've got to get to this level, 500."

"We heard-"

"Be quiet!" Jack scolded, making them flinch childishly. "As I was saying, I can concentrate the extrapolator on the top six levels, 500 to 495. So, they'll have to penetrate the station below that at Level 494 and fight their way up."

"Who are they fighting?" Davidge asked.

"Us."

"And what're we fighting with?"

"The guards had guns with bastic bullets. That's enough to blow a Dalek wide open."

"There's five of us." Elizabeth reminded.

"Rose, you can help us." The Doctor called, making her move to join them. "We need all these wires stripped and bared."

Elizabeth groaned. "Now there's four of us."

"So, let's move it." Jack said impatiently. "Into the lift. Isolate the lift controls." Davidge and Elizabeth hurried over to the lift while Lynda walked to the Doctor and Clara.

"I just want to say, um…thanks, I suppose. And…I'll do my best."

"Us too." Clara said, giving her a quick hug. Lynda moved to the Doctor, but she stopped, looking at Clara. Clara just cocked an eyebrow at her, making her mutter a "Bugger it" and pulled the Doctor into a quick hug.

"Good luck out there." The Doctor said.

"You too." Lynda then moved to follow Davidge and Elizabeth into the lift.

Jack then came over to them, Rose moving to re-join the three. "It's been fun. But I guess this is goodbye." Jack said sadly.

"Don't talk like that. The Doctor and Clara will do it. You just watch them-"

"Rose." Jack interrupted, taking her face in his hands. "You are worth fighting for." He then kissed her on the lips, making her blush. Jack then turned to Clara. "I always felt a bit jealous of him, you know, getting a gorgeous woman as his girlfriend."

"Jack." Clara scolded with a giggle. The Doctor rolled his eyes as Jack took her face in his hands.

"But you were definitely a good friend." He said before kissing her on the lips. He turned to the Doctor, who had loosely clenched his jaw. "Wish I'd never met you, Doctor. I was much better off as a coward. But if it makes you feel any better, I was more jealous of her."

"How were you jealous of her-" Jack kissed him too, but more passionately than the others, making Clara and Rose share a giggle at the Doctor's bewildered face.

Jack clicked his fingers, giving them all his thousand-watt, wolfish smile. "See you in hell." He then rushed over to the elevator and closed the doors behind him.

The Doctor turned to look at Clara and Rose before realization sank in. "Right, 51st Century. They like everybody." Clara nodded at him.

"He'll be all right, though." Rose said. Yet she found herself worrying for Jack as neither the Doctor or Clara answered to that. "He'll be all right, won't he?" She tried again, but they still didn't answer.

* * *

Standing on a large container in the middle of Floor 0, Jack ran a hand over his face as the indistinct clamouring of the people in front of him caused his head to throb. The volunteers standing behind him, including Lynda, Davidge, Elizabeth and the security officers also groaned. So, he aimed his rifle at the ceiling and fired three consecutive shots, causing everyone to fall abruptly into silence, the clattering shells echoing through the room.

"One last time! Anymore volunteers?!" He demanded impatiently. They all glanced at each other in uncertain fear. "There's an army about to invade this station. I need every citizen to mount a defence!"

"Don't listen to him!" Rodrick called, moving to the front of the group. "There aren't any Daleks! They disappeared thousands of years ago!"

The clipboard woman from "The Weakest Link" stepped forward. "Abigail, sir. I'll volunteer as well." She said.

"Thank you." Jack said honestly, motioning for Abigail to join the group behind him. "As for the rest of you, the Daleks will enter the station at Floor 494, and as far as I can tell, they'll head up, not down. But that's not a promise. So, here's a few words of advice: Keep quiet. And if you hear fighting up above, if you hear us dying, THEN tell me that the Daleks aren't real." He growled, making them all gulp. "Don't make a sound." He jumped off the container and moved to the elevator. "Let's go." He ordered to his group, who followed him into the elevator, leaving the silent room behind.

* * *

The Doctor, Clara and Rose sat in comfortable silence, tinkering away at the many wires strewn across the floor.

"Suppose…" Rose trailed off, shaking her head to herself.

"What?" The Doctor asked.

"Nothing."

"You said "Suppose". Suppose what?"

"I was just thinking but it might be useless." Rose sighed, drawing most of their attention, the tinkering becoming absent thought. "You've got a time machine. Why can't you just go back to last week and warn them?"

The Doctor shook his head. "As soon as the TARDIS lands in that second, we become part of events, stuck in the timeline."

Rose nodded. "Yeah, I thought it'd be something like that."

"There's another thing the TARDIS could do: It could take us away." He offered. "We could leave, let history take its course. We could go to Marbella in 1989."

"Yeah, but you'd never do that. And Clara wouldn't let you either." She said with a smirk.

"No, but you could ask." Clara said in the same seriousness as the Doctor, which made Rose sigh. "It never even occurred to you, did it?"

"Well, I'm just too good." Rose quipped.

An alarm sounded on the main computers. "The delta wave's started building. How long's it got, Clara?" He asked.

She jumped up and moved to the computer to check. Turns out the Doctor was right. They could complete the delta wave within minutes, but it would take days to refine it properly. That made her place her face in her hands. The Doctor had a look of worry, motioning Rose to check her.

"What's wrong?" Rose asked, jumping up to Clara's side. "It must be bad. How bad is it?"

Then, without warning, Clara shot up again, making Rose jump in shock. "Wait a moment!" She burst out into laughter, which made Rose snigger despite her confusion. "Rose, you're a genius! If we're careful about, and I mean properly careful, we can do it! We can cross our own timeline! Come on!" She led a bewildered and laughing Rose into the TARDIS. "First: Hold that down and keep position. We can't put the co-ordinates in here, we need to do it from the main computer. Bit of a safety measure but hey, safety can be a good thing."

"Not with you two." Rose quipped. "Why can't you get the Doctor to do it from there?" Clara shot her a look of raised eyebrows, making Rose nod. "Right. So, what am I doing?"

"Cancelling the buffers. If we're clever about this, and I mean come on, look at me. I'm more than just this." Clara quipped, motioning to her own face. Rose shook her head with a grin. "Anyway, if we're clever about this, we could save the world or rip it apart."

"I'd go for the first one." Rose said.

"Me too. Now, just stay right there. I'll be right back." Clara rushed out, the doors left open by a smidge. She sighed, turning back to the TARDIS, seeing Rose's back as she stood against the console. The Doctor came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder as he handed her the sonic. She took it gratefully before aiming it at the TARDIS. "Goodbye, Rose." She pressed the button, causing the doors to close and the TARDIS to dematerialise.

* * *

Rose looked at the moving time rotor, her eyes widening in shock as the doors closed behind her. "Clara?! Doctor?! What're you doing?!" She raced towards the doors, trying to open them to no avail. "Doctor! Clara, let me out! Let me out!"

A zap came from behind her, causing her to turning around. She saw standing by the console, a hologram of the Doctor looking at her.  _"This is Emergency Program One. Rose, now listen because this is important. If you see this message, then it can only mean one thing: We must be in danger and I mean fatal. I'm dead or about to die any second with no chance of escape."_

"No!" Rose protested, moving forward.

_"And that's okay."_  He shrugged with a smirk.  _"Hope it's a good death. Clara may not be with you, purely because I have as much of a chance sending her back with you as I do to survive. So that's a no go. We promised to look after you and that's what we're doing. The TARDIS is taking you home."_

"I won't let you." Rose defied.

He groaned.  _"And I bet you're fussing and moaning about. Typical. But hold on and just listen a bit more. The TARDIS can't ever return for us. Emergency Program one means we're facing an enemy that should never get their hands on her. So, this is what you should do: Let the TARDIS die. Just let this old box gather dust. No one can open her doors, no one will even notice her. Let the old girl become some strange little thing standing on a street corner. Over the years, the world will move on and bury her. And if you want to remember me and Clara, then you can do one thing. That's all, just one thing: Have a good life. Do that for us, Rose. Have a fantastic life."_  He shot her one last, warm grin before he faded out again, leaving her alone in the TARDIS.

She shook her head as the situation crashed down on her, worrying dread seeping into her heart. "You can't do this to me. You can't!" She pleaded, turning back to the console, and flicking any switches and levers she could reach. "Take me back! Take me back, please!"

_*Beeps*_  (I'm sorry, Rose)

On that, the TARDIS materialised and became silent. She rushed outside to find herself in London, 2006. A perfectly ordinary, cloudy day in London. She choked as tears prickled her eyes, rushing back inside again.

"Come on, fly! How do you fly?! Please, help me!" Again, only silence followed, the TARDIS conscience now absent. She walked back out and closed the doors, leaning against them as she struggled to hold back her oncoming sobs. And then…she heard a pair of footsteps.

"I knew it! That bleeding pair of children! They just dropped you off in the wrong place. Got the timing wrong last time, now they don't understand where "Powell" is meant to be." Jackie quipped. Her voice, one that Rose adored more than anyone just made her lose it. "What is it?" Jackie asked.

"They're going to die, Mum." Rose choked. Jackie brought her into a hug as Rose sobbed into her shoulder. "They're going to die, Mum, and I can't help them." Jackie, despite her confusion, rubbed Rose's back to comfort her.

* * *

As the Doctor and Clara worked away in silence, the speakers on the computer flickered to life, Jack's voice floating through the room.

_"Rose, I've called up the internal laser codes. There should be a different number on every screen. Can you read them out to me?"_

The Doctor pressed a key, bringing up a live image of Jack's face at the Controller's pedestal. "She's not here."

Jack groaned.  _"Of all the times to take a leak. When she gets back, tell her to read me the codes."_

"She's not coming back." Clara inputted.

Jack investigated the room from his end, seeing no sign of the TARDIS.  _"You two took her home, didn't you?"_  He asked, his voice devoid of any accusation. They didn't answer, and they didn't need to, so he nodded absentmindedly.  _"The delta wave. The range covers the entire Earth, but is it ever going to be ready?"_

_**"** ** _Tell_  him the truth, Doctor."**_ The Emperor's voice floated through as his own image patched in beside Jack, who just like the TARDIS duo, shuddered in fear.  _ **"There is every possibility the delta wave will be complete, but no possibility of refining it. The delta wave must kill every living thing in its path, with no distinction between Human and Dalek. All things will die, by your hand. And by the Human standing at your side."**_

"I'm sorry, but I chose to be here." Clara snapped.

_**"** ** _And_  yet the blood you will have on your hands will overrun your own parents."**_ The Emperor taunted.  _ **"Now, you will destroy Daleks and Humans together, your own life taken in the process. If I am god, the creator of all things, then what are you and the Doctor? The devil and his consort?"**_

The Doctor placed a hand on Clara's shoulder to stop her from snapping again. "There are colonies out there." He inputted. "The Human race will survive in some form, but you're the only Daleks in existence. The whole universe is in danger if I let you live. Do you see, Jack?" He asked. "That's the decision I've got to make for every living thing: Die as a Human or live as a Dalek."

"But you don't have to make that decision alone." Clara reminded. He shot her a grateful smile before glancing back at Jack.

"What would you do?" He asked.

"The both of you sent Rose home. She's safe now. So, keep working."

_**"** ** _But th_ ey will exterminate you!"**_ The Emperor protested incredulously.

"Never doubted them, never will." Jack winked, the three sharing a grin before he switched his connection off.

Clara jumped up and moved towards the pedestal. "Now tell me, Mr. Emperor Palpatine, because there's one thing we never worked out: The words "Bad Wolf", spread across all of time and space, drawing our friend in. How did you manage that? What did Rose have to do with it?"

_**"** **_I di_ d nothing."** _

Clara rolled her eyes. "Come on. There's no point in secrets now, your worship."

_**"** ** _There_ are no secrets, Clara Oswald, for they were never part of my design." **_Clara and the Doctor's eyebrows furrowed. _ **"This is the truth of god."**_  Clara blinked, sharing a confused look with the Doctor as they glanced up briefly at the "Bad Wolf Corporation" logo at the top of the room.

* * *

"And it's gone up market, this place. They're doing tubs of coleslaw now. It's not nice. Tastes a bit clinical." Jackie rambled as she, Rose and Mickey sat in a take away restaurant.

"Have you tried that new pizza place on Minto Road?" Mickey asked.

"What's it selling?"

"Pizza."

"Oh, that's nice. Do they deliver?"

"Yeah."

Jackie sighed as Rose just stared distantly. "Oh Rose, have something to eat."

"Two hundred thousand years in the future, my friends are dying and there's nothing I can do for them."

"Well, like you said, two hundred thousand years, it's way off."

"But it's not. It's now. That fight is happening right now, and they're fighting for us, for the whole planet and I'm just sitting here, eating chips!"

"Listen to me, god knows I've hated that man, Clara less so. But right now, I love them both and do you know why? Because they did the right thing and they kept you out of it. They sent you back to me."

But Rose carried on. "But what do I do every day, Mum? What do I do? Get up, catch the bus, go to work, come back home, eat chips, and go to bed. Is that it?"

"It's what the rest of us do." Mickey shrugged.

"Well, I can't!"

"Why, cause you're better than us?"

"No, I didn't mean that!" Rose said, exasperated. She took a breath to steady herself before staring outside briefly. "But it was…it was a better life. And I don't mean all the traveling and seeing aliens and spaceships, that don't matter. Those two showed me a better way of living your life." She glanced at Mickey. "You know, they showed you too. That you don't just give up. You don't just let things happen, you make a stand. You say no." Rose choked. "You have the guts to do what's right when everyone else just runs away and I just can't!" She pushes her chair back and runs outside, Jackie running her hand over her face with a sigh.

"I'll go after her." Mickey said, Jackie nodding without a word.

* * *

"Right, Lynda, you are my eyes and ears." Jack said as she stood with him in the observation deck. "When the Daleks get in, you can follow them on that screen and report it to me." He pointed to the monitor.

"Understood."

"They'll detect you but the door's made of hydra combination, should keep them out."

""Should"?" Lynda questioned.

"It was the best I could do." He shrugged before clicking his wrist pad. "How long till the fleet arrives?" He asked into the receiver.

_"They've accelerated."_ Davidge said. On cue, the Station begins to rumble like a violent earthquake as the Dalek ships soared overhead outside the screen.

"This is it, ladies and gentlemen. We are at war." He said, rushing out of the door, leaving Lynda alone to watch. The Dalek ships hovered into orbit above the Earth, entering a standstill. Then, like overflowing water spilling from holes in the earth, they began pouring out of the ship and flying towards the Station.

* * *

"I know that they were good friends to you, Rose, but you can't spend the rest of your life thinking about them." Mickey tried to console as they sat on a park bench.

"But how do I forget them?" Rose asked, her voice calmer than before.

"You've got to start living your own life. A proper life, like the kind he's never had, and she left behind."

"Clara doesn't have anything left here for her." Rose defended.

"But she chose to make her own, with him. You need to make your own, with Jackie."

Rose sighed, trying to contemplate what to do…until she opened her eyes and looked at the ground. Right across the entire abandoned courtyard, was a giant yellow graffiti saying, "Bad Wolf". That made her heart hitch, as she recognised the same words spread across the brick wall ahead of them, overlapping each other in a variety of white, blue, and black. "Over there. It's over there as well!" She shot up out of her seat beside Mickey and rushed to the brick wall.

Mickey groaned as he got up to follow. "That's been there for years. It's just words."

"I thought it was a warning. But it's the opposite. It's a message. The same words written down now and two hundred thousand years in the future. It's a link between me and them. "Bad Wolf" here, "Bad Wolf" there." She rambled.

"But if it's a message, what's it saying?" Mickey asked as she started to rush away towards the TARDIS.

"It's telling me I can get back!" She called. "The least I can do is help them escape!"

Mickey picked up the pace and followed her through the streets to a corner, where the TARDIS stood in silence. "Rose, wait." He panted. "What're you trying to do?"

"All the TARDIS needs to do is make a return trip. Just reverse."

"Yeah, but we still can't do it. The Doctor and Clara knew how to fly it, hell even Captain Cheesecake could do it, but can you?"

Rose slouched her shoulders. "No."

"So, how're we going to send her back? You said yourself, the TARDIS hasn't spoken since you landed."

"Yes, but the Doctor always said the TARDIS was telepathic. Last time I saw you was with Margaret and this middle panel opened." She patted said panel. "Then there was this light, the Doctor said it was the heart of the TARDIS. If we can open it, I can talk to her, get through her silent treatment. I can tell her what to do."

"Rose." He started.

"Hmm?"

"If you go back, you're going to die."

"That's a rise I've got to take."

"And leave Jackie alone?"

Rose paused. "If I can save them, then I sure can save myself. I won't leave her alone, never again. But I need to save my friends."

He took a few moments to consider her rational, before looking her dead in the eyes. "Are you sure about this?" He asked. She nodded, making him sigh. "I'm so going to regret this." He quipped lightly. "Let's get this thing open."

* * *

The large group of volunteers gathered behind an improvised barricade, cocking their rifles, and checking their ammunition as Jack paced behind them.

"Stand your ground everyone. Follow my commands and good luck." He pressed a button on his wrist pad. "Lynda, how're we going?"

_"You were right. The Daleks are forcing the airlock on 494."_  On that note, the station shuddered violently, the echoing sound of metallic creaking burning in their ears for a few moments before it subsided.

Jack pulled up a live schematic of the top floors of the Station, seeing five live signals in wait as the Dalek's approached. "First line of defence." He muttered.

* * *

Abigail and her four accomplices cocked their rifles in fearful anticipation as the humming sounds of the Daleks approached.

_"Abigail, activate internal lasers. Slice them up."_  Jack said from her communicator.

Abigail pressed her hand on a sensor, causing thin yet bright, neon red lines to appear in the doorway for a few seconds before disappearing. They knelt in wait as the Daleks rounded the corner. The first hovered through the doorway, then screamed in agony as multitudes of fire burst from its casing, the intense heat melting the armour into rubble. The next stared at them with an almost passionate intensity, then an alarm sounded. They glanced at each other in worry which turned into full blown horror as the Dalek moved through the doorway and over the melted Dalek, completely unharmed. "Fire!" She commanded, and her accomplices fired upon the Daleks. The sudden, loud burst of gunfire and shell casings clattering onto the ground filled their ears, yet through squinted eyes, they could see the bullets disintegrating in an invisible barrier before touching the Daleks. "You lied to me! The bullets don't work!" Abigail yelled into her communicator. Yet before she could resume fire…

**"Exterminate!"**  The Daleks all fired five blasts upon them, killing everyone where they stood.

* * *

Mickey started up his car, which they chained and hooked up to the centre panel of the TARDIS console. Then, he throttled into full speed, yet the chain resisted and held the car still.

"Faster!" Rose demanded over the noise.

"Come on!" Mickey yelled as his car began to sputter and smoke, and then…it stopped. The car with a heave of exhaustion gave up, the chain clattering to the ground. Rose ran her hands over her face before kicking the console in irritation.

"Why won't you help us?!" She demanded, still receiving no answer.

* * *

_"Lynda, how're we doing?"_  The Doctor asked over the intercom.

Lynda switched cameras to Floor 495, seeing Daleks entering said floor. "The advance guard have made it to 495."

_"495 should be good. I like 495."_  Jack said.

"Where would it be sending them?" Lynda asked, smirking at what he was referencing.

_"The centre of the sun."_  On the camera, three Daleks entered the large room and turned their eye-stalks to the centre.

_**"Identify yourself!"** _

_**"** ** _Y_ ou are the weakest link. Goodbye."**_ The Anne Droid fired at the three Daleks, transmatting them away from the Station.

_"Yes!"_  Jack yelled triumphantly.

Another Dalek came into the doorway and aimed at the Anne Droid.  _ **"Exterminate!"**_

_**"** ** _You_  are the weakest link-" **_The blast shot hit directly at the Anne Droid's head, obliterating it along with half of the chest, causing the arms to fall out, cracking against the ground.  _ **"Goodbye."**_  The Anne Droid said in a garbled voice as it died.

_**"** ** _Pr_ oceed to next level."**_ The Daleks sped through the room.

"Now they're flying up the ventilation shafts." Lynda however paused as she saw a group splinter off and starting to descend. "No, wait a minute. Oh my god, why are they doing that? Some of them are going down. Why are they going down?" She muttered in growing fear. Then her eyes widened in horrifying realization. She flicked the camera to one in Floor 0, seeing the group of people huddled together in terrified silence. And then, without warning, the doors opened.

_**"** ** _Ext_ erminate!"**_ The people clamoured up, screaming in terror as the Daleks entered.  _ **"Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!"**_ One Dalek started to move menacingly towards Rodrick, who backed towards the wall.

_"You can't! You don't exist!"_  He cried.  _"It's not fair! I won the game! I should be rich! I'm a winner! You can't do this to me!"_

_**"** ** _E_ xterminate!"**_ The Dalek fired.

_"Aaah!"_  He collapsed to the floor, the others around him screaming louder than before at this, until the Dalek's started shooting them all one by one. Lynda at once switched to a random floor, sobbing quietly into her hands as she did.

_"Lynda, what's going on?"_  Jack asked.

"Floor 0. They killed them all." She choked. Jack only answered with a defeated sigh.

* * *

"It was never going to work, sweetheart." Jackie tried to console a sullen Rose, who sat on the captain's chair. "And both the Doctor and Clara knew that. They just wanted you to be safe."

"I can't give up."

"Lock the door and walk away."

"Dad wouldn't give up."

Jackie sighed. "Well, he's not here, is he? And even if he was, he'd say the same."

"No, he wouldn't. He'd tell me to try anything." Jackie blinked at her. "If I could save the Doctor and Clara, try anything."

"Well, we're never going to know."

"I know. Because I met him."

Jackie shook her head fervently. "Don't be ridiculous."

"They took me back in time, and I met Dad."

"Don't say that."

"Remember when Dad died? There was someone with him." Her voice broke as Jackie stared at her in conflict. "A girl, a blonde girl. She held his hand." Jackie didn't answer to that. "You saw her from a distance, Mum! You saw her! Think about it! That was me. You saw me."

"Stop it."

"That's how good they are."

"Stop it! Just stop it!" Jackie snapped, rushing out of the TARDIS with her face in her hands, while Rose sobbed in solitude.

* * *

"What's happening on Earth, Lynda?" The Doctor asked as he and Clara worked furiously.

_"The fleet's descending."_  Right by the live image of the Emperor came up a schematic of the Earth. Each continent began flashing red from the Dalek invasion.  _"They're bombing whole continents. Europa…Pacifica…the New American Alliance. Australasia's just…gone."_

_**"** ** _This_ is perfection, Doctor."**_ The Emperor's voice rang through, his words making their jaws clench.  _ **"I have created heaven on your precious Earth. The ashes of humanity shall become my foundation for creating new, pure Daleks."**_

"What poetic purity." The Doctor snapped.

* * *

"There's got to be something else we can do." Mickey said to Rose as they leaned on his car outside the TARDIS.

"Mum was right." Rose says in a defeated tone. "Maybe we should just lock the door and walk away."

"I'm not having that." He denied. "I'm not having you just give up now, no way. We just need something stronger than my car." A loud truck sound from around the corner drew their attention. "Something bigger. Something like that." The truck, a large yellow recovery vehicle came around the corner and straight towards them, Jackie in the driver seat.

"Wait, what?" Rose muttered in shock, her jaw dropped. The truck came to a stop and Jackie hopped out to move towards them.

"Right, you've only got this until 6:00, so get on with it." She said.

"Mum, where the hell did you get that from?" Rose asked with a smile.

"Rodrigo, he owes me a favour." Rose shot her a look. "Oh, never mind why. But you were right about your Dad, sweetheart. He was full of mad ideas and it's exactly what he would've done." She tossed the keys in her hand to Mickey. "Now, get on with it before I change my mind." She said playfully.

"Right away." Mickey smirked as he hopped into the truck.

* * *

Jack readied his rifle, heading back through the room and past the makeshift barricade to his position. "Floor 499, we're the last defence. The bullets should work if you concentrate them on the Dalek's eye-stalk. I've got the force field at maximum, so Dalek firepower should be at its weakest."

Davidge craned his head slightly to look at Elizabeth. "I'm only here because of you." She furrowed her eyebrows at him. "I joined the program because you were on it."

"Am I supposed to say, "When this is all over and we're still alive, we can go for a drink?""

"That'd be nice." He shrugged.

"Yeah well tough." She said. He turned to look at her and she shot him a sly wink, making him smirk. They waited and waited, until they heard the faint humming of the Daleks through the doors. After a few tense and silent moments, the doors slid open and the Daleks rolled through into the room.

"Open fire!" Jack ordered. The entire group fired upon the Daleks as they moved to form a large group in front of the barricades, all the while unharmed by the bullets.

Davidge moved to cover behind the barricade, trying to catch his breath. "It's not working!" He called to Jack.

"You have to concentrate your fire! Eye-stalk two-o-clock!" Jack yelled above the noise.

Elizabeth and Davidge angled their rifles, trying desperately to control their fire. Each bullet kept narrowly missing the eye-stalks before they took a deep breath and fired. One Dalek's eye-stalk sparked and flickered, the blue light disappearing, causing it to look around blindly in agitation.

**"My vision is impaired! I cannot see!"**  It exclaimed.

"We did it!" Elizabeth called.

**"Exterminate!"**  A Dalek aimed its blaster and shot Elizabeth, who screamed in agony as her body collapsed to the ground.

"No!" Davidge yelled, standing on his toes to hold the gun above the barricade and fired wildly. "No!"

"Davidge, stop!" Jack yelled.

**"Exterminate!"**  The Dalek fired again, hitting Davidge in the head, his body falling and hitting the floor with a sickening crunch.

"Goddammit! Aaah!" Jack yelled as he returned fire upon the Daleks again.

* * *

Lynda's alarm blared, causing her to tense in fear. "I've got a problem." She turned around and glanced at the door.

**"Human female detected."**

_"What's going on, Lynda?"_  Clara asked.

"They've found me."

_"You'll be all right. That side of the Station is reinforced against meteors."_  The Doctor reassured.

Lynda smiled, trying to be brave. "Hope so. You know what they say about Earth workmanship." She quipped lightly. Silence followed, filled only by the Dalek humming as it approached the door. Then she heard a small spark, and the bright orange light of a flame became illuminated through the door. She wrinkled her nose in disgust as the smell of burnt metal filled the room before Dalek shadows flittered up slowly through the light.  _No. Oh god, please no._  She turned around slowly, seeing Daleks coming into view outside the window, staring straight at her. One flicked its blaster to aim at the window, her eyes widening in horror as it did. The lights on its dome flickered a few times, then it fired, shattering the glass, and sucking all the oxygen in the room out into space. Lynda screamed in horror until she couldn't breathe, quickly suffocating to the vacuum of space.

* * *

The Doctor and Clara shot each other a heartbroken look as Lynda's screams echoed through the room. They continued working, the silence drenched in unspoken guilt. Jack's link had become filled with gunfire and his hurried footsteps.

_"Last man standing! For god's sake you two, finish that thing and kill them!"_

"Please, we need a just a few more minutes!" Clara pleaded.

_**"** **_Do a_ s he says, Clara Oswald. Finish that thing and kill your own species. Kill all of mankind."** _

"Shut up and stay out of this!" Clara snapped.

_**"** **_You h_ ave nothing to demand of me, Human filth. Now do as you are told."** _

"I said shut up!"

"Ignore him, Clara!" The Doctor demanded, clenching his jaw at the Emperor's words.

* * *

"Keep going!" Rose yelled over the roaring truck as it pulled on the chain connected to the TARDIS.

"Put your foot down!" Jackie yelled. "Give it all you've got, Mickey!"

"Come on!" Mickey yelled to the struggling truck. "Come on!"

The chain pulled, wrenching the panel out of it's latches and upwards, opening the console. The chain flew out of the TARDIS and back out onto the street, Mickey narrowly putting the brakes on before the truck crashed into the opposite sidewalk. Rose investigated the opened console, seeing the bright light return. Through her squinting eyes, she saw it appearing from the console and burrowing into her own. Her mind overflowed with a flurry of new thoughts, of everything that's ever happened to everything that could occur, but most importantly, how to pilot the TARDIS. With a wave of her hand, the TARDIS doors closed, and it started to dematerialise.

"Rose!" Jackie yelled, trying to open the doors to no avail. Mickey grabbed her arm to pull her away, the rushing sound of the engine filling their senses as it disappeared, taking Rose with it.

* * *

"Doctor, Clara, you've got twenty seconds maximum!" Jack yelled as he backed through the corridors, firing the last of his rounds upon the Daleks to no avail. He clenched his jaw as he rounded one final corner, right outside the door to where the Doctor and Clara worked.  _No other way out now._  The rifle stopped firing, clicking as it finally was empty of rounds. Jack inwardly cursed and tossed the gun aside, taking out a pistol and firing the ten bullets inside before it too clicked, and he tossed it away. The Daleks stopped moving, the first aiming its blaster at him.

_"It's ready!"_  The Doctor exclaimed. That made Jack sigh in relief.

**"Exterminate!"**

"I kind of figured that." Jack quipped, holding out his hands to embrace it. The Dalek fired, the blast knocking him into the wall, his body collapsing to the ground with a slouch, yet he ignored the pain. He just embraced death. The Daleks moved through the doors and into the room, the Doctor and Clara looking at them defiantly as all exits became surrounded and blocked off by the Daleks.

"You'll really want to think about this, cause if I activate this signal, every living creature will die." The Doctor warned, his hand hovering over the lever.

_**"** **_I am_  immortal."** _

"Do you want to put that to the test?"

_**"** **_I wan_ t to see you become like me. Hail the Doctor, the great exterminator!"** _

"I'll do it!" The Doctor placed his hands on the lever.

_**"** **_Then_ prove yourself, Doctor. What are you: Coward or killer?"** _

"This isn't about cowardice or want to kill." Clara snapped, placing one of her hands over his. "This is about giving humanity a way out of your "Blessed paradise"."

_**"** ** _Huma_ nity shall ascend to become my angels!"**_ He protested.  _ **"They will find a higher purpose than living their insignificant, ignorant lives!"**_

"By torturing them?! By tearing their own lives apart?!"

_**"** **_To b_ e embraced by paradise requires a price to be paid."** _

"And what would you think of us when we kill everything?" The Doctor inputted. "Are we included as one of your angels?"

If the Emperor could, he would've glowered.  _ **"You are the heathen. You must be exterminated!"**_

"Maybe it's time then." The Doctor said simply. The Emperor said nothing, the Daleks moving into position and aiming their blasters at them, while their grip on the lever tighten. The two shot each other a quick, grateful smile before they sighed.

**_"Ale_ rt! Alert!"** A Dalek screamed in agitation as wind rushed through the room.  **"TARDIS materialising!"**

That made them spun around in shock, the TARDIS appearing before them, yet the windows had a golden hue shining from within.  _ **"You will not escape!"**_ The doors swung open and a mass of golden mist billowed out into the room and surround the TARDIS, causing the Doctor and Clara to stumble to the floor. Stepping out from the mist was Rose, whose eyes gleamed like the light of the sun. She glanced down at the two and as she did, the light dimmed to reveal her tear drenched face, which were still fresh and flowing like a river.

"What've you done?!" The Doctor demanded.

"I looked into the TARDIS." Rose said, her voice was both modulated by the power coursing through her and broken by the burning pain it caused in her mind. "And the TARDIS looked into me."

"Rose, you looked into the Time Vortex! No one's meant to see that!" The Doctor admonished, his voice full of worry.

_**"** ** _Th_ is is the abomination!"**_ The Emperor exclaimed.

**"Exterminate!"**  A Dalek fired, yet Rose held up her hand and stopped the blast with her palm. Then with a flick of her wrist, the blast reverted safely into the blaster.

The Doctor and Clara looked at her with wide eyes. "I am the Bad Wolf." Rose said softly. "I created myself." She glanced up at the logo, high above in the room. "I take the words." She flicked her wrist again, causing the words to disappear in a golden light. "I scatter them in time and space. A message to lead myself here."

"Rose, you've got to stop this! You have to stop this now!" The Doctor demanded, but Rose said nothing. "You've got the entire Vortex running through your head! You're going to burn!"

Rose said nothing, glowering her golden eyes at the Emperor. "Rose, please! Let this go!" Clara pleaded.

Rose glanced down at them again. "I want you two to be safe. My friends…my best friends, protected from the false god."

_**"** **_Yo_ u cannot hurt me! I am immortal!"** _

"You are tiny!" Rose snapped despite her broken voice. "I can see the whole of time and space. Every single atom of your existence and I divide them." Her eyes gleamed brightly again, and she clicked her fingers. On this, one of the Daleks disintegrated in a golden haze, leaving behind only dust. "Everything must come to dust…all things. In the end…everything dies." She clicked her fingers again, causing the rest of the Daleks to disintegrate. "The Time War ends." She held up her fingers again.

_**"** ** _I_ will not die!"**_ Rose just stared blankly.  _ **"I cannot-"**_ _*Snaps*_ _ **"Die!"**_ She reached out her power and disintegrated the whole Dalek fleet at once, freeing the Earth and the Station from their iron grasp. Rose relaxed, knowing her job was complete.

"Rose, you've done it. Now you can stop." Clara said gently. Rose said nothing. "Just let go."

"How can I let go of this?"  _Jack. Come back._  "I bring life." She clicked her fingers again, hearing the distant but sharp intake of breath and Jack shot back to life again.

"But this is wrong!" The Doctor exclaimed. "You can't control life and death!"

"But I can." Rose let the golden hue go as she glanced back at them. "The sun and the moon, the day and night. But why do they hurt?"

"The power's going to kill you and it's my fault!"

"No, it's not!" Clara exclaimed.

"The fault is mine, Clara! You have no blame for what's happening to Rose!"

"I'm not letting you take it by yourself!" She pleaded.

Rose looked between the two of them. She reached back through their timeline, seeing their every moment together before they met her, and she got an idea.  _Clara won't always be with him if she's Human. He'll outlive her._  She glanced at Clara, her golden hue returning to her eyes. Clara blinked as Rose raised her hand and clicked at Clara, shooting a small golden mist straight into her chest. Clara gasped in shock as the mist floated through her body before her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she collapsed into the Doctor's arms.

The Doctor checked her pulse, finding it but it was faint. "What've you done to her?!" The Doctor exclaimed.

Rose smiled softly. "Every lowly monster needs a companion, Doctor." The Doctor stared at her in shock. "She just needs more time."

He glanced down at Clara, closed her eyelids, and placed her gently down beside him. "How did you know that?" He asked.

"I can see everything." She said simply. "All that is, all that was, all that ever could be." Her voice choked, the modulation disappearing entirely.

The Doctor stood up to glance at her, sighing as he slouched his shoulders. "That's what I see, all the time. Doesn't it drive you mad?" He quipped lightly.

"My head." She cried.

"Come here." He held out his hands.

"It's killing me!"

"I think you need a Doctor."

She reached her arms out and he took her hands. "What do I do?" She pleaded.

"Close your eyes and breathe in." She did so. "Empty and still your mind." She did, her body slouching slightly as it calmed despite the throbbing pain. "Now, breathe out." She sighed, the mist leaving her body to surround the Doctor, who breathed in as it did.

The mist entered his own body and flooded his mind, the pain she felt was his but now increased tenfold. Instantly, his hearts gave, his nerves screamed, and his body ached in agony, yet he kept his jaw clenched. Rose collapsed into his arms, as he laid her down gently beside Clara before standing up and glancing towards the TARDIS. Since the only people around him were unconscious, he let the mist go from his body, which floated in the room for a few moments before fleeing back into the TARDIS console, the light fading as it did before the room returned to normal again. Yet the Doctor gasped, one of his hearts had failed and was now dead.  _Here we go again._  He smirked inwardly at that thought, before picking up Clara and placing her inside the TARDIS, returning to pick up Rose as well and placing her inside beside Clara, before piloting them away. He could see Jack on the TARDIS monitor rushing back into the room with a desperate look on his face, which quickly turned into betrayal.  _I'm sorry Jack, but you're a fixed point now. I can't be around you. I'm so sorry._  He glanced back at the door and sighed in defeat.  _She won't see you, old man. She won't ever see you. She'll leave you and you'll be alone again._

* * *

Clara blinked as she felt the drowsiness of sleep in her mind, yet this was more intense than anything else, including the Dream Crabs. She could hear the muffled voice of the Doctor and the humming of the TARDIS, but no engines.  _We must be in a standstill somewhere._  She sat up slowly, holding back a groan as she glanced around in confusion.  _Everything feels…off. There's something wrong with me. I should have something, but I don't. What is it? Could it be-_ The TARDIS doors closed, jolting her out of her own thoughts as she heard the Doctor walk over and kneel beside her, placing a hand on her arm.

"You all right?" He asked, trying to hold back the throbbing pain so she wouldn't notice.

"I think so." She nodded, but he could detect her confusion. "What happened to Rose?"

"I took the Time Vortex out of her. She'll be fine." He smiled, and she sighed in relief.

"Where are we?" She asked, referring to the silent engines.

"Just hovering above 10th Century Earth. Had to make a quick phone call." He said, moving up to the controls and piloting them back into the TARDIS.

"Phone call to who?" She asked.

"Oh, just someone I needed a quick word with. Don't worry, everything will be fine."

Rose groaned as she rose from sleep. "Clara? Doctor?"

"Right here." Clara moved to sit beside her, drawing her up slowly into a sitting position.

"What happened?" She asked.

The Doctor and Clara blinked. "Don't you remember?" Clara asked.

"It's like…there was this singing." Rose muttered.

The Doctor sniggered. "That's right. I sang a song and the Daleks ran away."

Clara snorted while Rose smirked. "But I was at home…no, I wasn't, I was in the TARDIS and…there was this light." She rubbed her forehead in irritation. "I can't remember anything else."

"Hey, don't worry. I'm sure it'll come back in time." Clara reassured. Neither of them noticed the Doctor inwardly wincing, clenching his out of view fist to ward off the pain for a bit longer.

He glanced at them, while they turned to him with their normal, "What's the next adventure?" face. He smiled sadly. "Clara Oswald and Rose Tyler." He chuckled, while they glanced at each other in confusion. "I was going to take you two to so many places. Barcelona." He caught himself, rolling his eyes. "Not the city, Barcelona, the planet Barcelona. You'd love it. Fantastic place! It's got dogs with no noses!" He laughed childishly while they giggled. "Imagine how many times a day you end up telling that joke and it's still funny!"

"Then why can't we go?" Clara asked.

"Maybe you will and maybe I will, but not like this." He said cryptically.

The two of them stood up, their confusion furrowed across their faces. "You're not making sense." Clara said with a hint of playful irritation.

"I might never make sense again. I might have two heads…or no head!" He laughed again. "Imagine me with no head and don't say that's an improvement!" They laughed at that. "But it's a bit dodgy, this process." He said, the pain coming back as his other heart began to fail.  _No! Not now! She needs more time!_ "You never know what you're going to end up with." The pain burst in his chest, propelling him backwards as he groaned, clenching his fists to his remaining heart, sweat beginning to seep from his forehead.

"Doctor!" Clara exclaimed.

"Stay away!" He pleaded. They did so but looked at him with worry. Clara's eyes however were wide with terror.

"Doctor tell me what's going on." She pleaded.

"I told you, Clara, I absorbed all the energy of the Time Vortex, but no one's meant to do that." He said, his voice broken. "Every cell in my body is dying. One of my hearts died as soon as I took it, now the other's about to go."

"Can't you do something?" Rose pleaded.

"Yeah, I'm doing it now." He felt his heart break at Clara's horrified realization that spread across her face.  _She won't see me. She won't ever see me again. No, you daft old man. She needs time. Just give her a chance._  "Time Lords have this little trick. It's…sort of a way of cheating death. Except…it means I'm going to change. And I'm never going to see you two again." Rose's look of worry mixed with bewilderment, while Clara's mixed with…pleading. "Not like this. Not with this daft old face." He quipped lightly, but it did little to improve the mood. "And before I go-"

"Don't say that!" Clara pleaded.

"Clara." He interrupted. "Before I go, I just want to tell you, you were fantastic." She gave him a ghost of a smile. "Absolutely fantastic. You too, Rose. You were fantastic." Rose smiled, while Clara's wide eyes prickled with inevitable tears. "And do you know what?" They blinked, while he grinned. "So was I." Rose smirked while Clara gave him a smile. That set his heart into peace.  _You see? She just needs time._ He let the golden light of regeneration flow into his hands as it rejuvenated his body, restoring his failing hearts.

"No! No!" Clara pleaded, her voice broken as she steps forward.

The Doctor holds out a hand to stop her. "Clara."

"Please don't change."

He smiled sadly. "It's all right, Clara. Everything will be all right." Then, he sighed and let the energy burst out of his body, forcing his arms out while Clara and Rose stumbled away, clutching onto each other's hands. His eyes closed for the regeneration as he felt his body change, but not majorly. It got thinner, yet it also grew ever so slightly taller. His ears lessened in size and his eye colour changed from blue to brown. The regeneration faded away, causing him to gasp for breath before glancing around the room, his vision returning as he blinked. He saw Clara and Rose staring at him in disbelief, Rose more so. The Doctor then swallowed and opened his mouth. "Hello." He blinked again.  _Not northern anymore. English, but not distinctly so._  "Okay-oh." He ran his tongue around his mouth and furrowed his eyebrows. "New teeth. That's weird. So, where was I?"  _Dammit. I hate this regeneration amnesia. Why couldn't they invent something to counter that? Bloody hell. Ummm, oh right, I remember._  "Oh, that's right…Barcelona." He beamed at them, his smile bright and childlike.  _Remember Doctor…regeneration. Dear god, I'm not looking forward to the next few days._

**AN: David! Finally, we have Ten. But still, it was brilliant having Nine around while it lasted. But we follow up one amazing Doctor with another. Can't wait to start the Tennant era XD. As always, thanks for reading and leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	27. The Christmas Invasion

**The Christmas Invasion**

The regeneration faded away, causing him to gasp for breath before glancing around the room, his vision returning as he blinked. He saw Clara and Rose staring at him in disbelief, Rose more so. The Doctor then swallowed and opened his mouth. "Hello." He blinked again.  _Not northern anymore. English, but not distinctly so._  "Okay-oh." He ran his tongue around his mouth and furrowed his eyebrows. "New teeth. That's weird. So, where was I?"  _Dammit. I hate this regeneration amnesia. Why couldn't they invent something to counter that? Bloody hell. Ummm, oh right, I remember._  "Oh, that's right…Barcelona." He beamed at them, his smile bright and childlike.  _Remember Doctor…regeneration. Dear god, I'm not looking forward to the next few days._  He cleared his throat, moving to the console and gazing into the monitor as he flicked a few switches. "6pm…Tuesday…October…5006…on the way to Barcelona!" He looked at them, still beaming his bright smile. "Now then…what do I look like?" Clara blinked while Rose's shock restrained her from dropping her jaw at his words, but he held up a hand as if they would respond. "No, no, no, no, no, no. Don't tell me." He rambled before comically running his hands over his body. "Let's see…two legs, two arms, two hands…" He rolls his right wrist around in a slow circle. "Slight weakness in the dorsal tubercle." He put his hands to the top of his head, his smile growing into a blinding grin. "Hair! I'm not bald!" He ran his hands through his hair in appreciation. "Oh. Oh, big hair." His hands moved down to his cheeks. "Sideburns. I've got sideburns!" His smile lessened a tad. "Or really bad skin." He patted his stomach, looking down at himself. "Little bit thinner, that's weird. Give me time, I'll get used to it." He glanced at them with widening eyes like a child who found a brand-new present under the Christmas tree. "I have got…a mole. I can feel it. Between my shoulder blades, there's a mole." He smiled again. "That's all right. Love the mole. Go on then, tell me. What do you think?" He straightens up, looking at them, his hair ruffled from his assessment as he waits, not hiding his glances towards Clara for her opinion.

"Who are you?" Rose asks timidly.

His face falls somewhat. "I'm the Doctor."

Rose shakes her head. "No…where is he? Where's the Doctor? What've you done to him?"

He points over his shoulder, blinking incredulously. "You saw me, I…I changed, right in front of you."

Rose takes a breath, clenching her jaw. "I saw him sort of…explode and then you replaced him like a…a teleport or a transmat or body swap or something." She moves forward and pushes his chest, just making sure he's there. The Doctor blinks in some shrinking fear.  _Please don't go all Jackie on me. I've had enough of that in one lifetime, let alone two._  "You're not fooling me. I've seen all sorts of things. Nanogenes…Gelth…Slitheen." He cocks an eyebrow at her. "Oh my god, are you a Slitheen?"

He glances down briefly, holding back a snigger at her words. "I'm not a Slitheen." He says calmly.

"Send him back." She growls. "I'm warning you, send the Doctor back right now!"

"Rose, it's me. Honestly, it's me." He gives her a kind smile, which makes her blink at his calm nature. "I was dying. To save my own life, I regenerated, changed my body. Every single cell but…it's still me."

"You can't be." Rose denies.

He takes a few steps closer and grasps her hand. It makes her calmer, yet uncertainty still shone in her eyes. "Then how could I remember this? Very first word I ever said to you, trapped in that cellar. Surrounded by shop window dummies. Oh…" He glances off distantly. "Such a long time ago. I took your hand and I said one word. Just one word. I said…"Run"."

Rose gazes at him, her eyes slowly widening in realization.  _It's the eyes, Rose. They're the same eyes. So old, so sad and yet…so kind._  "Doctor?" She whispers.

His smile was now warm. "Hello." She sighs in almost exasperated relief, letting go of his hand as she leant back against one of the coral pillars. He turns to look at Clara, who was still gazing at him with wide eyes of disbelief. "Clara?" He asks softly. She says nothing, so he moves to stand in front of her, cupping her cheek with one hand. She glances at it with uncertainty, more so than Rose did, which made him recoil slightly with a crestfallen look. "It's me, Clara."

She looks at him, smiling softly as she nods. "I know." But she was still staring straight through him, as if he wasn't there.  _Remember, Doctor, give her time._

So, instead of pressing the matter further in worry for Clara, he bounds back to the console with a wide grin. "We ran so far, didn't we? And we never stopped. Across the universe. Running, running, running. One time, we had to hop. Do you remember? Hopping for our lives." He hops up and down on the spot with an overabundance of enthusiasm, while they blink at him in confusion. "Yes? All that hopping? Remember, hopping for you life?" His enthusiasm fades at their lack of reaction. "No?"

"Can you change back?" Rose asks. Clara's eyes briefly echoed that question before being replaced with a heavy amount of self-guilt.

"Do you want me to?" He asked, more so to Clara.

"Yeah." Rose nods, Clara's eyes gained a glint of pleading before returning the self-guilt again. "Can you?" Rose asked.

"No." He says simply. Rose just sighs while Clara emotes nothing. "Do you want to leave?"

"No!" Clara bursts, shocking Rose, while the Doctor feels relief. She catches herself, gulping. "I meant…do you want us to leave?"

"No!" The Doctor bursts and he could see just for a second, a glimmer of relief in Clara's eyes. "I was…I was asking Rose if she wanted to. I mean…" He stammers, while Rose stares at him in shock. "I mean…you know, if you wanted to take a break…you know and visit Jackie for a couple of days."

Rose relaxes as his clarified words, mulling it over. "A couple of days? Just to…"

He nods, knowing what she meant. "All right then." He turns back to the console. "Cancel Barcelona. Change to: London…the Powell Estate. Uh…let's say the 24th of December. Consider it a Christmas present." He flicks the dematerialisation lever, sending the TARDIS on their new course before crossing his arms together. "There."

Rose shudders.  _Oh my god. What's Mum going to say? How long have I been away this time?_  "I'm going home?" She asks.

"Up to you." He shrugs. "Back to your Mum. Fish and chips, sausages and mash, beans on toast. No, wait, Christmas. So…turkey. Although…" He blinks for a moment. "Having met your Mum…nut loaf would be more appropriate." Rose smirks. "There we go." The Doctor says knowingly.

"I did not smile." She says, now not hiding it.

"Ah well, don't worry. You've still got Mickety Mick Mickey." Clara giggles, causing him to cock an eyebrow at her. "Was that a giggle?"

"No." She mumbles.

"You just giggled."

"No, I didn't."

"Oh, come on." He says playfully. "All I did was change, I didn't-aaah!" He clenches his chest suddenly as his body jolts in pain, making them, especially Clara, blink in worry.

"Doctor?" Clara asks, making him almost smile in relief. "What's wrong?"

Before he could answer, his mouth jolts shut for a few seconds before he gasps, letting out a small wisp of golden regeneration energy. They blink at it in surprise for a few seconds before returning their worried gaze to him. "I think the change is going a bit wrong-" He gags, feeling his body shudder and jolt, causing him to grip the console.

"Okay." Clara says, rushing to the console, flicking switches to hurry the process.

"Wait, let's find Captain Jack. He could help." Rose offered.

"But he's dead." Clara shook her head.

"No, I brought him back to life." Clara looked at her with wide eyes. "We should-"

"Nah!" The Doctor waved at her. "He's busy. Got plenty to do, rebuilding the Earth."

"You can't leave him behind, Doctor." Clara almost shrieked.

He ignored her, gaining a glint of madness in his eyes as he gazed at the console. "Oh." He said, like someone finding money on the sidewalk. "I haven't used this one in years." He flicked a small black switch, causing the TARDIS to jolt, making them grip the console.

"What're you doing?!" Clara demanded.

"We're putting on a bit of speed! That's it!" He exclaimed madly as his hands danced across the console. The TARDIS groaned but he took it as an agreement. "Oh, my beautiful ship! Come on, faster there, girl! Come on, faster! Let's break the time limit!"

"Doctor stop it!" Clara demanded.

"Oh, don't be so dull! Let's rip through that Vortex!" Yet as he gazed at her, the madness faded from his eyes, bringing up a glimmer of guilt. "The regeneration's going wrong. I can't stop myself." He scrunched his face as he grimaced in pain, gripping his forehead. "Oh, my head." He groaned, before springing up again, the mad glint back in his eyes. "Faster! Let's open up those engines!"

Suddenly, the TARDIS cloister bell began to ring through the room, making Clara and Rose dart their gaze to the ceiling in worry. "What's that?" Rose asked.

The Doctor moved to her. "We're going to crash land!" He exclaimed, laughing manically as he did.

"Clara, stop him!" Rose demanded.

"Too late! Out of control!" The Doctor darted around the console, giggling like a kid. "Oh, I love it! Hot dawg!" He jumped in the air, clicking his fingers as he did.

"You're going to kill us!" Rose exclaimed.

"Hold on tight! Here we go! Christmas Eve!" He flicked another lever, causing Clara and Rose to stumble to the floor, while he raced around the console, unconcerned either for their or his safety.

**Powell Estate  
** 24th December 2006

Jackie finished placing the decorations on the small Christmas tree in the corner of the living room, before moving to the table where the wrapped presents lay. One of them was a box for Rose, which made her pause, grabbing it to sit down on the sofa. She gazed out of the window with a sad look.  _Please, come home, Rose. Please._  As if on cue, or an answered prayer by the universe, she blinked as the distant groaning of the TARDIS came to her ears. She had to silence her own brain, which for Jackie always took a lot of tedious effort, but the sound came more clearly, causing her heart to lurch in relief. "Rose!" She ran out of her flat, down the stairs outside towards the ground floor pavement. She ran across it, looking around frantically for any sign of the big blue box. Out from around the corner came Mickey, dressed in a blue work suit from Joe's Garage, who raced towards her with the same expression. "Mickey!"

"Jackie!" He bounded up to her, taking one of her hands in a grasp. "It's the TARDIS!"

"I know, I know, I know! She's alive, Mickey! I said so, didn't I? She's alive!"

"Just shut up for a minute!" They went silent, still searching for the TARDIS. Then, electricity crackling above their heads drew their attention, the blue box appearing out of nowhere. It went off course and bounced off the walls of one of the flat buildings, leaving behind cracks as it flew over their heads, bouncing off another wall and narrowly missing a mail van, coming to rest in the corner of the Estate, knocking over a few large rubbish bins in the process. The doors opened, the Doctor, whom they didn't recognise, stumbled out, still bearing the mad glint in his eyes.

"Here we are, then." He said, looking around. "London! Earth! The solar system, I did it!" He moved out, looking at the two who stared at him in bewilderment. "Jackie! Mickey, blimey! No, no!" He said suddenly, making them exchange confused glances with each other. "No, no, hold on. Wait there. What was I going to say? There was something I had to tell you, something important. What was it? No, hold on. Hold on." He grasped their shoulders, making them lean into him as he gazed at the ground. "Hold on, shh, shh, shh, shh." He started to pant, where they realised the sweat perspiring from his forehead. "Oh!" He exclaimed, making them jump. "I know!" He then beamed at them with a blinding smile. "Merry Christmas!" Then, he keeled over into their arms, who caught him just before he could hit the pavement. Clara and Rose moved out of the TARDIS, looking at the Doctor in worry.

"What happened?" Clara asked. "Is he all right?"

Mickey shrugged. "I don't know. He just keeled over. But who is he? Where's the Doctor?"

"That's him." Rose said. "Right in front of you. That's the Doctor."

Mickey's eyebrows furrowed while Jackie's eyes widened. "What do you mean, "That's the Doctor"? Doctor Who?" She asked incredulously.

* * *

They carried him back to the flat, Clara changing him out of the leather jacket and into a bizarre pair of men's pyjamas, before tucking him into Jackie's bed. He just lay there, peaceful, and silent while Clara sat at his side, Rose watching from the door. Jackie bounded back to the doorway, handing a stethoscope to Clara.

"Here we go." She said. "Tina the cleaner's got this lodger, medical student, and she was fast asleep, so I just took it." Jackie glanced at the Doctor. "Though I still say we should take him to hospital."

"We can't." Clara snapped, making Jackie flinch. Clara sighed. "Sorry. We just can't take him there. One bottle of his blood could change the future of humanity." Clara inputted the stethoscope ear plugs and placed the small diaphragm drum against the left side of his chest.

_*Thump Thump* *Thump Thump* *Thump Thump*_

She then moved it to the right side of his chest.

_*Thump Thump* *Thump Thump*_

"Both working." She reported, taking out the buds.

"What do you mean "Both"?" Jackie asked.

"He's got two hearts." She said simply.

"Oh, don't be stupid." Jackie tutted.

"Here." Clara handed the stethoscope to Jackie with a soft look. Jackie sighed and took it, placing the diaphragm drum on each side of his chest. When she finished, she looked at Clara with wide eyes.

"You weren't joking." Jackie muttered. Clara just shrugged, moving to the doorway. "Anything else he's got two of?"

"Leave him alone." Clara defended, making Jackie throw her arms up in a "Well, I don't know" motion as she and Rose followed Clara out of the room. As they left, the Doctor sighed, expelling more regeneration energy, which flew out of the window and into deep space. In the kitchen, Jackie fixed Clara and Rose a cup of tea each, Clara taking it gratefully, offering Jackie a gentle smile as the TV new channels played in the background.

"How can he go changing his face?" Jackie asked. "Is that a different face or is he a different person?"

"How should I know?!" Clara exclaimed

"Well…" Jackie started softly. "You know him better than us."

Clara sniffed, making them sigh, Rose placing a hand on Clara's shoulder. "I thought I did." She said sadly. "I mean…I know how the change works and he's done it before but…right now, I'm not sure if I know him anymore. And yet, I still do." She ran a hand over face. "He still…pisses me off to no end." The two gave a small smirk at that. "But his smiles…" She continued. "They're too…" She struggled to find the words. "Bright. But then I also feel like he's really there, and I don't know what to do." She admitted.

"Why did he change then?" Jackie asked.

Clara had to take a breath. "His people, they do this regeneration whenever they're about to die. It's how they live for so long. And he…we had to..." She trailed off.

"Clara." Rose started. "What happened up there?"

Clara stared at her sadly. "Everyone died, Rose. Everyone died and there was nothing we could do to save them and…Lynda." Her lips quivered as she sniffed again. "Poor Lynda." She let out a sob, Jackie at once moving to rub her other arm. "We were going to kill, to save the Earth." That made her loose it. "We were going to be…" She couldn't speak for a few moments, the sobs racking her body. "And now, he went and died, and I feel like he's not even there." Rose nodded to Jackie hastily, who took Clara in a hug as she sobbed, none of them able to see the Doctor whimpering in his sleep at her words. After a while, and a few more sips of tea, they managed to calm Clara down again, so Rose took initiation.

"I think that the big question here is this: Where did you get a pair of men's pyjamas from?" Rose asked Jackie. Clara smirked, letting them feel a bit of relief at her better mood.

"Howard's been staying over." She patted Clara's back before they parted, taking her empty cup of tea over to the sink.

"What, Howard from the market?" Jackie nodded. "How long's that been going on?"

"A month or so. First, he starts delivering to the door and I thought "That's odd."

_"But the savings can be implemented."_ A familiar voice floated in from the TV, but only Rose noticed.

"Next thing you know, there's a bag of oranges."

"Is that Harriet Jones?" Rose asked suddenly, making Jackie roll her eyes.

"Oh, never mind me." She said as Rose moved into the living room.

"Why's she on the telly?" Rose asked, gaining an impressed smile at Harriet's neat black dress and brushed hair.

"She's Prime Minister now. I'm eighteen quid a week better off. They're calling it "Britain's Golden Age". Keep on saying "My Rose has met her"."

"Did more than that. We stopped World War Three with her. Harriet Jones." She mumbled, Clara and Jackie moving into the living room to watch.

"She looks like she's keeping herself well." Clara commented and the two nodded.

_"Prime Minister, what about those calling the Guinevere One space probe a "Waste of money"?"_  A reporter asked.

_"Now, that's where you're wrong. I completely disagree, if you don't mind."_  She added, the three smirking at her words.  _"The Guinevere One space probe represents this country's limitless ambition. British workmanship sailing up there amongst the stars."_

The TV switched to a bearded welsh man in a blue suit named "Daniel Llewellyn", the Project Manager of Guinevere One's production.  _"This is the spirit of Christmas, birth and rejoicing, and the dawn of a new age and that is what we're achieving fifty million miles away, our very own miracle."_

The TV then switched to an animated reel of a space probe orbiting around Mars.  _"The unmanned probe, Guinevere One is about to make its final descent. Photographs of the Martian landscape should be received by midnight tonight."_

The door opened, Mickey moving into the room, now dressed in mundane clothing of jeans and a black hooded jumper. "I've got some money for Christmas shopping. You wanna come?" He asked.

"Sure." Rose said, moving to the door. "Clara?" She called.

Clara shook her head with a smile. "No thank you. But have fun out there, you two."

Rose nodded. "Want anything, Mum?" Jackie shook her head. "All right. We'll be back later tonight. See ya later."

"Bye." Jackie called as they closed the door behind them, before moving back into the kitchen to fix another cup of tea.

Clara however started blinking rapidly, her head beginning to pound and throb from an oncoming migraine.  _Dear god. Where the hell did this come from?_  She sat on the sofa, rubbing her forehead with her hands. Jackie came back into the room with another cup of tea, before gaining a look of worry at Clara's state.

"Are you all right?" She asked, setting the tea down.

"I feel like I've just woken up after a night of drinking." She mumbled. "Worst thing is, I've no idea where this came from?"

Jackie cocked an eyebrow playfully. "You didn't drink anything, did you?"

"No, Mum." Clara groaned. That made Jackie grasp one of her hands.

"Hey." She said sternly, gaining Clara's attention. "I'm not trying to be your Mum, okay? I'm just trying to help."

Clara almost shrunk in guilt. "Do you have anything for headaches, please?" She whimpered softly.

Jackie smiled gently at her, before placing a hand on her head. "Blimey, your head's burning up. You need to lay back for a bit." She moved off into the hallway. "You sure nothing else happened back there?" She called.

"No. It was only…" She muttered before trailing off as she furrowed her eyebrows.  _Bad Wolf-I mean…Rose did something. What did she do? I don't feel totally different. Except for…that odd silence. Why is that? And what's causing it?_  She didn't end up pondering this further, falling asleep into the couch.

* * *

"So, what do you need, twenty quid?" Mickey asked as he pulled out a few notes.

"Do you mind? I'll pay you back." Rose said, taking some of the money and putting it in her pockets.

"Call it a Christmas present." Mickey smirked.

"God, I'm all out of sync." Rose muttered, looking around in confusion at some of the different shops. "You just forget about Christmas and things in the TARDIS. They don't exist, you get sort of…timeless."

"Oh yeah, that's fascinating, because I love hearing stories about the TARDIS." Mickey said sarcastically, Rose smirking at his words. "Oh, go on Rose, tell us another one, because I can listen to it all day, TARDIS this, TARDIS that."

"Shut up." Rose said playfully.

Then Mickey adopted his best impression of her. "Oi, Mickey did you know that one time the TARDIS landed in a big yellow garden, like a proper yellow garden, all bleeding yellow full of balloons. And the balloons were bouncing around doing such and such in the name of what's-his-face."

Rose scoffed. "I'm not like that."

"You so are."

"It must drive you mad." Rose smirked then she got an idea that made her grin wolfishly. "If it drives you mad-"

"It does not." Mickey interrupted.

"Is it because you want to travel in the TARDIS?" She asked, smirking.

He blushed sheepishly. "Well, I-I mean…maybe not now-"

Rose burst out into laughter. "You just have to ask. They'll be fine about it."

Then Mickey frowned. "Speaking of, what was up with Clara earlier?"

That made Rose sigh. "She's…trying to wrap her head around everything. I don't blame her really, but I don't blame the Doctor either. Look, we're just going to give her some time to herself. Just to let it sink in properly."

Mickey nodded before taking her hands. "Now, Rose, I know we aren't…" He let that bit slide, not needing to mention it again. "But just for now, if we're giving them time, just let it be Christmas. Just as friends, for a bit, you know? No aliens, no worrying about the Doctor or Clara, no…bog monsters or life and death."

Rose smiled. "Sure." They resumed their walking through the crowds of people, passing by a brass Santa band, playing "God rest ye merry, gentlemen" on trumpets.

"I'm around here all the time, you know. Jackie does a dinner for us on a Sunday, yet she talks about you all afternoon, you know, yap yappity yap." Mickey mocked playfully as he let got of her hand to check a few stalls. "Oh, I love these things." He said, eyeing a few electronic gadgets on for sale.

Rose however glanced at the Santa band, who turned to look at her and started moving in her direction. As they got closer, they stopped playing their trumpets and…aimed them towards her. She now could see under their drawn hoods and through their massive white beards, their faces were carved from pure metal, yet they still stared at her. She grabbed Mickey's hand to draw his attention again. "Mickey." She said, and he followed her gaze to the Santa's staring at them in confusion. "I'm sorry, but Christmas may have to wait a bit longer." On cue, one of the Santa's spewed fire from his trumpet, causing everyone around to dart away in fear, while the other's fired their trumpets like shotguns, as Rose and Mickey raced away, hiding behind one of the stalls. "It's us. They're after us." The Santa's turned their fire towards the stalls, making them move in haste to avoid getting hit from the onslaught. One of the Santa's took a large trumpet and aimed as they past the giant Christmas tree in the middle of the shopping centre and fired. Rose and Mickey raced away just in time to avoid the blast, while the tree's stand burst apart, causing it to fall onto the Santa who just fired, shattering it into pieces of machinery and metal.

"What's going on?" Mickey demanded as they raced away. "What've we done? Why're they after us?"

Rose spotted a taxi racing up towards them. "Taxi!" She called and the man inside swerved to the sidewalk, allowing them to jump in without a hassle. "Powell Estate, and be quick please!" The man complied without a word, while Rose took out her phone to call Jackie.

"All we were doing was shopping and we get a brass band attacking us. Who were those Santa things?"

"I don't know. But think about it, they're after us. What's so important about us?"

Mickey shrugged. "Nothing."

"Except for who we have."

"But that means-"

"Yes, they're after the Doctor." She placed the phone by her ear.

_"Phone line currently in use."_  An automated female voice responded.

"Ugh, get off the phone!" She growled.

* * *

"Yeah. She turns up, no warning. I've got nothing in. I said "Rose, if you want a Christmas dinner of meat paste, then so be it." Jackie rambled into the phone as she moved about the flat, being careful not to wake Clara. "Oh no, don't come around, darling. No, the flat's all topsy-turvy. Yeah, she just barges in and litters the place. No, I'll have to come around and see you after boxing day, one of her friends has this tremendous headache, the poor girl."

Clara groaned as she sat up from her lying position on the sofa. "Doctor?" She mumbled.

"Oh, I've got to go. See ya later." Jackie said cheerfully before putting the phone down and moving to Clara's side. "How're you feeling?"

Clara smirked. "Bloody fantastic."

"Now, don't get snappy with me missy." Jackie retorted.

Clara blinked as she laid eyes on the Christmas tree in the corner. It was much greener than she remembered and was tall enough that its top almost brushed the ceiling. "Did you get a different tree?" She asked.

Jackie blinked as she looked at the tree. "Well, I thought it was Rose."

Clara got up, looking around the flat despite her throbbing head. "Is she even back?"

"Well, she went shopping, there was a ring at the door and there it was."

"But if it was Rose, she'd have finished her shopping." Clara clarified.

"So…who was it?" Jackie asked as they stepped back cautiously from the tree. Suddenly, the decorations flared to life making their eyes widen, before it started to slowly spin all its branches around, in different directions. "You're kidding me." Jackie muttered as the speed of the branches grew faster, the song "Jingle Bells" being played from the Christmas tree at a tremendously high volume, making them wince and cover their ears. The speed of the tree grew so fast that it created an artificial wind in the room, anything loose being picked up and flown everywhere, and the hair on their own heads began whipping about as Jackie began to shriek. "Get out!" Jackie yelled, the two rushing from the room, but Clara was moving to Jackie's room where the Doctor laid. "Oi, what're you doing?!" Jackie exclaimed.

"I can't leave him!" Clara yelled. "Now, get in!"

Jackie shrieked, rushing in, and slamming the door behind her, as Clara searched the Doctor's leather jacket for his sonic screwdriver. "Do something! Quick!" Jackie yelled as the tree came closer, pushing a large wardrobe in front of the door.

"I…I don't-" Clara gasped, clutching her head as the pain increased. "I can't figure out which one it is!"

"Which one what?!"

"The settings!" Clara gasped again, jolting onto her knees as she clutched her head, the sonic falling out of her grasp and onto the floor.

The wardrobe began to throttle about as the tree started to slice through it, Jackie pushing it back before it shattered, splitting the back in two which fell to the ground, shoving Jackie into the wall. The tree carved its way through the door, advancing on Jackie. "I'm going to get killed by a Christmas tree!" She shrieked.

"I'm sorry, Jackie! I'm so sorry!" Clara yelled. None of them noticed the Doctor shooting up off the bed, grabbing the sonic on the floor, aiming it at the tree and pressing the button, the tree bursting apart, causing the two to jump. They glanced at the Doctor, who moved down to Clara's side instantly.

"Are you all right?" He asked, pressing a hand against her forehead.

The pain in Clara's head started to dull away, making her nod weakly at him. "What was that…tree about?"

"Would've been remote control." He muttered, helping her up off the ground. "But who's controlling it?"

The front door opened, and a pair of footsteps entered the flat. "Oh my god! What the hell happened here?" Mickey asked as Rose came rushing into the room.

"What happened?" Rose moved to Jackie's side, helping her off the ground. "Mum? Are you all right?"

"Now I am, yeah." She nodded as they all followed the Doctor out of the flat as he put on a dark blue dressing gown.

"What happened?" Rose asked as Mickey joined them.

"A Christmas tree tried to kill us." Jackie said.

As they stood outside, they gazed down at the group of Santa's on the ground, one of which was holding a remote. "That's them." Mickey said, pointing to them. "What are they?"

"I bet you that remote was for the Christmas tree." Jackie said.

"Shh!" Rose hushed as the Doctor raised his sonic and pointed it at them menacingly, sending a cold gaze which made them back away a few paces. Then, they disappeared in a flash of blue light, which shot up to the sky.

"They've just gone." Mickey scoffed. "What kind of rubbish were they? I mean, no offence." He said quickly to the Doctor, but he was still staring up at the sky with his cold gaze. "But they're not much cop if a sonic screwdriver's going to scare them off."

"Pilot fish." The Doctor muttered.

"What?" Clara asked, everyone looking at him.

"They were just pilot fish." He gasped, clutching his head as he collapsed to the ground, the four moving to help him.

"Doctor talk to me. What's wrong?" Clara asked with worry.

"You woke me up too soon." He panted. Even though his voice was devoid of accusation, Clara still gave him a guilty look. "I'm still regenerating. I'm bursting with energy." He sighed, breathing out another wisp of golden energy, Mickey and Jackie looking at it with surprise before returning their attention to the Doctor. "You see? The pilot fish could smell it, a million miles away. So, they cut away the defence, that's you lot, and they carry me off. They could run their batteries on me for a couple of years!" He gasped again, still clutching his head as Jackie moved to his other side. "Aaah! My head! I'm having a neuron implosion! I need-"

"What do you need?" Jackie asked urgently.

"I need-"

"Just say it. Tell me. Tell me. Tell me."

"I need-" Now the Doctor bore an aggravated face, Clara looking at Rose and Mickey for help, who just shrugged at her.

"Painkillers?"

"I need-"

"Do you need Aspirin?"

"I need-"

"Codeine?"

"I need-"

"Paracetamol? Oh, I don't know, Pepto-Bismol?"

"I need-"

"Liquid paraffin, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E?"

"I need-"

"Is it food?" She gasped. "Something simple? Bowl of soup? A nice bowl of soup? A soup and a sandwich? Oh, soup and a little ham sandwich?!"

"I need you to shut up!" The Doctor gasped.

Jackie looked at them with an exasperated face. "Well, he hasn't changed THAT much, has he?"

The Doctor gasped again, one of his hands slipping and clutching onto his dressing gown. "We haven't got much time. If there's pilot fish then-" Despite his panting, he stopped, pulling out of his gown with a bewildered face, a green apple. "Why is there an apple in my dressing gown?"

Everyone blinked…except Jackie. "Oh, that's Howard. Sorry." They all sent her confused looks.

"He keeps apples in his dressing gown?"

"He gets hungry." Jackie shrugged.

The Doctor's face grew even more bewildered. "What? He gets hungry in his sleep?"

"Sometimes." Jackie nodded.

The Doctor gasped again, collapsing down onto the ground, leaning into Clara who held onto him tight. "Ah! Brain…collapsing!" He groaned, before turning his gaze to Clara. "The p…the pilot fish…" He panted, struggling to get his words out. "The pilot fish mean…that something…something…"

"Something is coming?" Clara finished for him. He visibly relaxed at that, before he passed out again. They tucked him back into bed, this time however his breathing was more ragged, his body shivering like he was freezing despite the warm temperature inside the flat. Rose helped Jackie prepare a few cups of tea while Mickey strode into the flat with a laptop, Clara taking the stethoscope to check on the Doctor. She placed it on the right side on his chest, hearing the ragged sounds of his heart beating. She checked his left and gained a look that mixed worry with guilt as she couldn't hear his other heart. She placed her hand where the stethoscope was to clarify, and she couldn't feel his left heart.

"Jackie, I'm using the phone line. Is that all right?" Mickey asked in the living room.

"Yeah. Keep account of it." Jackie said, passing a cup of tea to him while she gave one to Rose. "It's midnight. Christmas day." Jackie sighed as Clara came out of the room and into the kitchen with a solemn look, Jackie and Rose looking to her at once. "Any change?" Jackie asked, passing her a cup of tea.

"He's worse. Just one heart beating." Clara gulped a sip of tea, but Rose stopped her before she could continue her guilty talk.

"Don't, okay? It wasn't your fault." Rose said sternly. Clara weakly nodded while Jackie smiled approvingly at Rose as the three moved to sit on the sofas. Jackie picked up the remote and flicked the TV back on, which was still on the BBC news channels.

_"Scientists in charge of Britain's mission to Mars have re-established contact with the Guinevere One space probe. They're expecting the first transmission from the planet's surface in the next few minutes."_

The TV flicked to Daniel, who had removed the vest of his suit, his tie a little loose as he spoke in a few pants.  _"Yes, we are. We're-we're back on schedule. We've received the signal from Guinevere One, the Mars landing would seem to be an unqualified success."_

_"But is it true that you completely lost contact earlier tonight?"_  A reporter asked.

_"Yes, we had a bit of a scare. Guinevere seemed to fall off the scope, but it-it was just a blip, only disappeared for a few seconds. She's fine now, we're-we're getting the first pictures transmitted live any minute now. I better get back to it, thanks."_  Despite some reporters protesting and calling out more questions, he walked away, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"Here we go. Pilot fish." Mickey called as he brought over his laptop to them, which was playing a program involving fish and sharks. "They're scavengers, like the Doctor said. Harmless, they're tiny, but the point is, the little fish swim alongside the massive fish."

"Do you mean like sharks?" Rose asked.

"Great big sharks." Mickey nodded. "So, what the Doctor means is: We had them, now we get that." He pointed to the large shark on the program.

""Something is coming."" Rose quoted. "How close?"

"There's no way of telling, but the pilot fish don't swim far from their Daddy."

"So, it's close?"

"Funny sort of rocks." Jackie said, drawing their attention back to the TV screen. It was flickering with static, blurring over something coloured red and brown and…light pink.

"That's not rocks. That's a face." Clara said, the four of them staring at the screen with wide eyes as the static faded and sure enough, it was a creature dressed in red warrior robes and a bone mask with crimson eyes staring at them. He snarled menacingly, the four gasping in surprise, jumping out of their seats.

**Underneath the Tower of London**

Daniel Llewellyn was escorted in two sleek black cars to the Tower of London, exiting the car to see a dark-skinned military man wearing the name tag "Major Blake" walking up to him out of the building.

"This way, sir." He motioned for Daniel to follow him. They walked through the door, towards a large, double wooden door, behind that was a wall of steel. Blake entered a code into the panel on the wall beside them and the wall slid apart, revealing a large room of bustling workers and soldiers, all bearing the name "U.N.I.T" aka "Unified Intelligence Taskforce". Daniel and Blake walked into the room, but Daniel stopped briefly, looking around in surprise at the advanced technology they had. "Mr. Llewellyn." Blake called, making Daniel move to follow him again.

"You've got better facilities than we do." Daniel remarked with a slight hint of disdain. "I've spent all that time asking for funds and…you've built your own mission control. How long's this been here?"

"I'm sorry, all information's on a strictly need to know basis." Blake said. They came to a large work area surrounded by glass with a white desk inside. Within was also Harriet Jones and a young man in a suit. "Mr. Llewellyn, ma'am." Blake said, gaining Harriet's attention before he left the room. Daniel stepped forwards but before he could introduce himself however, Harriet at once held up an I.D card.

"Harriet Jones, Prime Minister."

Daniel blinked in surprise. "Well-well yes, I know who you are." He cleared his throat quickly. "I suppose I've ruined your Christmas."

"Never off-duty. Now, we've put out a cover story, Alex has been handling it." She introduced the young man beside her.

"We've said it was a hoax." Alex inputted. "Some sort of mask or prosthetics, students hijacking the signal, that sort of thing."

"Alex is my right-hand man. I'm not used to having a right-hand man. I quite like it, though." Harriet smiled.

"Quite like it myself." Alex said in agreement.

"I don't suppose there was any chance it WAS a hoax?" Daniel asked.

"That would be nice, then we could all go home." Harriet moved to a coffee machine as Daniel slouched. "I don't suppose anyone's offered you a coffee?"

"Umm…no." Daniel blinked again.

"But, no, the transmission was genuine." Harriet handed a cup of coffee to Daniel. "And this is a new species of alien. At least, not one we've encountered before."

Daniel furrowed his eyebrows. "You seem to be talking about aliens…as a matter of fact."

Harriet smirked. "There's an act of parliament banning my autobiography."

Blake re-entered the room. "Prime Minister." His tone was urgent, making the three straighten their backs.

"I'm with you." They followed him out of the room and back to the mass group of workers, standing behind a young blonde woman.

"Miss Jacobs can explain." Blake motioned for the woman to stand up.

Jacobs took of her headset and stood up from her seat, Harriet speaking at once. "I don't think we've been introduced. Harriet Jones, Prime Minister."

"Yes, I know who you are." Jacobs said without hesitation. "The transmission didn't come from the surface of Mars. Guinevere One was broadcasting from a point five thousand miles above the planet."

"In other words, they've got a ship and the probe is on board." Blake clarified.

"But if they're not from the surface then they might not be from Mars itself. Maybe they're not actual Martians." Daniel reasoned.

"Of course not." Blake said. "Martians look completely different." He muttered to himself. "We think the ship was in flight when they came across the probe."

"And they're moving." Jacobs inputted. "The ship's still in flight now. We've got it on the hubble array."

"Moving in which direction?" Harriet asked.

"Towards us."

"How fast?"

"Very fast." She turned and clicked a few codes into the computer, bringing up on the large screen in front of them a schematic map of outer space Earth and the ship, leaving the proximity of Mars.

"What was your name again?"

"Sally."

Harriet gave her a sad smile, remembering Indra. "Thank you, Sally." At that, the schematic was replaced by a transmission of the alien, this time he had three accomplices standing behind him. They heard him growl at them indecisively, the others joining in with a triumphant roar as he finished.

"Translation software." Blake said to Alex without looking. Alex moved off at once.

* * *

"Rose, Clara." Mickey called them over. "Take a look, I've got access to the military." And indeed, he did, bringing up the same schematic map that Harriet's team was looking at in the Tower of London. "They're tracking a spaceship. It's bit, it's fast and it's coming this way."

"Coming for what? The Doctor?" Rose asked.

"I don't know. Maybe it's coming for all of us."

Then, the schematic was replaced by the transmission of the alien. Then the first began to speak, his growling voice modulated by the feedback into Mickey's laptop.  _"Gatz tak ka thaa! Ka zu me fedrok, ka zu me Sycorax!"_

"Have either of you seen them before?" Mickey asked.

"No." Rose said.

_"Adzeek. Kwadra fi peloodza, kwadra fi milzon bor, zu pedra kayi, zu bandak. Zu masak jal ban, kulja jiyi sykora jak. Di-ga gah! Di-ga gah!"_

"I don't understand what they're saying." Rose muttered. "The TARDIS translates languages you don't already understand inside your head; all the time not matter where you are."

"So, why isn't it doing it now?" Mickey asked.

"It must be the Doctor." She shrugged.

"It's not his fault." Clara said, making Rose sigh. "He just needs time."

* * *

Harriet stood patiently inside her glass office, hiding her look of concerned agitation at the message sent by the aliens. Blake knocks on the door, making her move quickly to exit and stand before him.

"I'm getting demands from Washington, ma'am. The President is insisting that he take control of the situation."

Harriet clenched her jaw. "You can tell the President, and please use these exact words: He's not my boss, and he's certainty not turning this into a war." Blake nodded and so they moved over to Alex's desk. "What've we got?" She asked.

"Nothing yet. Translating an alien language is going to take time." The translation software on his computer was working frantically, bringing up and discarding words in translating the message.

"How far off is the ship?" Blake asked.

"About five hours."

* * *

Jackie sat beside her bed where the Doctor lay, still shivering and breathing raggedly. "Oh, come on, sweetheart." She cooed. "What do you need? What is it you need? Tell me."

Clara stood at the doorway, looking on with a sad face before moving away.  _It can't be him. The Doctor would never do this. He'd wake up and help us._

_No, Clara, this IS the Doctor. You just need to see him._

_But I can't see him. I just see some skinny pretty boy._

Clara shook her head to stop her internal argument, hearing Jackie sigh as she took her cup of tea and moved to the door.

"Can't see me." The Doctor murmured.

"What?" Jackie whispered.

"She can't see me. Can't see me." And then, he was silent again. Jackie thought for a few moments, before turning her gaze and looking back down the corridor to Clara, who sat on the sofa again.

* * *

As Alex worked, Harriet moved to speak privately with Blake. "I don't suppose we've had a Code 9. No sign of the Doctor?"

"Nothing yet." Harriet sighed, prompting a look from Blake. "You've met him, haven't you?" She nodded. "More like the stuff of legend." He quipped lightly.

"He is that." Harriet smiled. "Should've seen him and Clara. Now THAT is the stuff of legend."

Blake blinked. "Clara? Who's Clara?"

"Let's just say…she's his carer." Harriet thought for a moment, letting the smile drop into contemplation. "Failing them…what about Torchwood?" Blake's eyes widened, and she spoke at once. "I know I'm not supposed to know about it, I realize that. Not even the United Nations knows. But if ever there was a need for Torchwood, it's now."

"I can't take responsibility." Blake shook his head.

"I can. Now, see to it. Get them ready." She said sternly. Blake gave a hesitant nod before moving off.

"Prime Minister?" Alex called as he walked over, carrying his laptop with him.

"Has it worked?" Harriet asked.

"Just about." He placed it on the table, Daniel, and Sally walking over to join them. He clacked a few keys to bring up a side by side view of the message, one side the alien language, the other, the translating English version. ""People"…no, that could be cattle." He clacked again, correcting the error. ""You belong to us, to the Sycorax". They seem to be called "Sycorax", not Martians. "We own you. We now own your land, your minerals, your precious stones. You will surrender, or they will die. Sycorax strong, Sycorax mighty, Sycorax…rock."" They looked at him in confusion for a moment. "As in the modern sense, they rock." He clarified.

""They will die". Not "You will die", "They will die". Who's "They"?" Daniel asked.

"I don't know, but it is the right personal pronoun, it's "They"."

"Send them a reply." Harriet said, and Alex pulled out a small notepad. "Tell them, "This is a day of peace on planet Earth". Tell them, "We extend that peace to the Sycorax"." She took a moment to straighten herself before continuing. "And then tell them, "This planet is armed, and we do not surrender"." They looked at her with shock for a moment as she walked away, Alex begrudgingly writing it down.

* * *

Mickey sat at his laptop, replaying the Sycorax message repeatedly, almost hoping that it would translate by itself, but it never did.

"Mickey, could you give it a break for a second, please?" Jackie asked as she and Rose finished making new cups of tea. Mickey conceded, turning off the message. Rose handed a new cup of tea to Clara, who took it gratefully and then…her eyes widened. She began to blink rapidly, rocking back and forth slightly in her seat.

"Clara?" Rose asked, Mickey and Jackie looking at her as well.

Clara didn't acknowledge her as she started to breathe heavily, sweat perspiring on her forehead. "I…I…I feel…" She stammered as her breathing turned into hyperventilating, Rose quickly moving to her side, taking the cup out of her grasp.

"Clara, what's wrong-"

Clara cut her off by shrieking in agony as she clutched her forehead, the pain from earlier now increased tenfold. "Aaah!" Rose and Jackie rushed to Clara, who shrank back into the sofa as Mickey shot up out of his seat. They fruitlessly tried to help her as Clara kept screaming, none of them noticing the Doctor's breathing become more hitched as he listened helplessly. After a single minute, and their ears now pounding, Clara's screams turned hoarse and her panting shallow before she passed out cold. Jackie placed a hand on Clara's forehead, feeling it burning with heat.

"Get me a cloth! Quick!" She demanded, Mickey rushing into the kitchen while she and Rose moved Clara into a more comfortable position on the sofa. Mickey came back with the cold cloth, which Rose used to put on Clara's forehead. Jackie placed a few fingers on Clara's throat, before her eyebrows furrowed. She couldn't find a pulse. She tried again, then again but on Clara's wrist yet it bore the same result. Clara, despite her body being warm and flowing with blood, had no pulse. "Bring me that stethoscope." She said to Rose.

* * *

"They got the message. Here comes the response." Sally reported, everyone in the room looking at the massive screen where the Sycorax stood. The leader, now carrying a large, wooden staff stepped forward and held out his left hand. The hand glowed with blue light before the connection cut off again.

"What was that?" Harriet asked. "Was that a reply?"

"I don't know. Maybe some sort of energy or static?" Alex said.

"Almost like someone casting a spell. It could be a different form of language. Some sort of ideogram or pictogram." Daniel tried to reassure but he stopped as people started to walk out of the office, Sally included. "What the hell?" He moved out his chair to follow Sally, noticing that she along with the others bore a blank look and a halo of flickering blue light around her head. "It's the light. It's the same light." He muttered, moving up to take her arm, but she didn't even blink. "Sally? What're you doing? Sally?" He tried to tug her back, but it didn't faze her.

"Don't. You could hurt her." Harriet called. "She may not even know what she's doing."

The U.N.I.T soldiers raised their rifles at them. "Let them pass." Blake ordered.

They lowered their rifles again, still staring at the people in confusion as Harriet moved up to them. She saw them for a few moments, noticing that they were all heading for the same exit door. "They're all heading in the same direction." She deducted.

"It's only certain people. Why isn't it affecting us?" Daniel asked. He hurried past the line, seeing them moving into the stairwell, where they started ascending upwards. Moving into the stairwell, he watched them moving past every door, still moving up. He hurried back into the room. "They're going all the way up. To the roof."

"Prime Minister." Alex came up, a finger pressed against his earpiece. "It's happening all over the world. According to reports, one third of the world's population, that's two billion people, are moving to stand on the edges of any high-rise building, ready to jump."

* * *

Rose came back into the room, passing the stethoscope to Jackie. "She'll be all right, won't she?" Rose asked.

"Of course, she will." Jackie snapped, making Rose flinch. "We've already got one mad alien to look after, now we have Clara, so stop worrying."

_"What is wrong with you?"_  They heard a female voice outside the flat.  _"Jason? Jason?"_

Jackie sighed. "Okay, I take it back." She then motioned to the door. "Don't worry. I'll look after her."

Rose nodded, motioning for Mickey to join her as they moved out of the door. They saw a brunette woman in a pink dressing gown following a man with a blank face, a flickering halo of blue light over his head. "Sandra?" Rose called.

Sandra glanced back at Rose. "He won't listen. He's just walking. He won't stop walking. There's this sort of light...thing." Sandra moved back to catch up with Jason. "Jason. Stop it." She pleaded to no avail. "Please Jason, just stop."

Then, a sudden rush of slammed doors came through the Estate as people came rushing out of their flats, hurrying after, and pleading to their family and loved ones, who walked away from them with blank looks and shimmering blue halos. Rose and Mickey followed them, moving slowly up the large staircase until they reached the top, moving out the door and onto the roof of the building. The people with blank looks moved towards the edge and then stopped, still staring straight ahead as everyone else tried to urge them back.

"What do we do?" Mickey asked Rose as they watched.

"Nothing." Rose said, her voice deadpanned. "The Doctor's out, and now Clara's with him. There's no one to save us, not anymore."

* * *

Daniel moved up onto the roof of the Tower of London, following the blank faced Sally. "Sally stop it!" He demanded, rushing in front of her. "It's Danny Llewellyn. Daniel Llewellyn. Sally just concentrate. You're being controlled. Stop it, Sally! We need you!" Sally ignored him, moving past and towards the edge where she stood completely still. Daniel looked at her and everyone else that mirrored her, before turning around with wide eyes. ""Surrender or they will die"." He muttered, before his eyes widened even more in horrifying realization. "Oh my god. It's Guinevere One." He then rushed back to the door and down the stairwell before re-entering the main room, hurrying over to Harriet, Alex, and Blake. "Wait a minute. There is a pattern." He said, drawing Harriet and Blake's attention, yet Alex was turned away, pressing a finger against his earpiece.

"Are you sure?" Blake asked.

"He's right." Alex inputted, taking his finger away from his earpiece and moving up to them. "All these people tend to be father and son, mother and daughter, brothers and sisters, family groups but not husbands and wives."

"It's Guinevere One. It has to be." Daniel agreed. "Have you got medical records on file for all your staff?"

"Of course, we have, yes." Alex nodded, moving over to one of the computers with Daniel.

Harriet motioned Blake to join her in a private part of the room. "What about Torchwood?" She asked.

"Still working on it." He swallowed. "Bear in mind, they have just lost a third of their staff."

"But do they have what we need?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Well, tell them to hurry up." She said sternly. Blake nodded before they re-joined Alex and Daniel.

"Here it is." Daniel said, bringing up Sally's medical file. "Sally Jacobs, blood group: A+. Who else walked out?"

Alex clicked his fingers for a moment. "Luke Parsons."

"Luke…Parsons." Daniel muttered as he found the next file. "A+."

"Geoffrey Baxter." Daniel suggested.

"Geoffrey…Baxter." Daniel muttered for a moment. "A+. That's it, they're all A+."

"How many people in the world are A+?" Blake asked.

"No idea…but I bet it's one third." Daniel said shakily.

"What's so special about that blood group?"

"Nothing, it…it's my fault." They blinked at him. "Guinevere One, it's got one of those plaques identifying humanity. A message to the stars. I mean, you don't expect anything to come of it, but I put on maps and music and samples. There's wheat seeds and water and…blood. The Sycorax have got a vial of A+. I don't know how but through that…"

"They control the blood." Harriet finished for him.

"My god." Daniel mumbled, putting his face in his hands.

"Don't." Harriet said sternly. "Don't beat yourself up over it, especially not now." Daniel nodded weakly before she glanced at Blake. "Major, with me. There's only one more thing I can try."

* * *

Jackie placed the stethoscope's diaphragm drum against Clara's chest, and her eyes widened. She had no pulse and no heartbeat. That made her mind race at a thousand miles an hour.  _If she has no heartbeat, she should be dead. But she feels alive. Hell, she's breathing for Christ's sake! How do you get the Doctor out from sleep when you need him?_  Unknowingly, her thoughts were echoed by Rose, who with Mickey re-entered the flat. Mickey at once picked up the remote and flicked the TV back on, still on the BBC news channels. Now, it was showing Harriet Jones at a desk in front of the camera.

_"Ladies and gentlemen, if I may take a moment during this terrible time. It's hardly the Queens's speech, I'm afraid that's been cancelled."_  She gave a quick smile for reassurance before her own eyebrows furrowed, glancing off camera.  _"Did we ask about the royal family?"_ The answer wasn't picked upon the microphones, but her eyes widened as she nodded.  _"Oh. They're on the roof."_ She quickly fiddled with her fingers for a moment, contemplating her next words.  _"But, ladies and gentlemen, this crisis is unique and I'm afraid to say it might get much worse. I would ask you all to remain calm, but it may be fruitless, knowing what your all going through. I just have one request: Doctor."_ The three exchanged glances, knowing who she was talking about.  _"If you're out there, we need you. I don't know what to do. If you can hear me, Doctor, if anyone knows the Doctor, if anyone can find him, the situation has never been more desperate. Help us. Please Doctor, help us."_

The three looked at each other in silence before Jackie went to sit beside Clara. "Sweetheart." She cooed. "What's wrong?"

Clara shifted slightly in her sleep, still whimpering from the dull pain in her head. "Doctor." She whispered hoarsely. "Doctor, please." Then, aside from her hoarse whimpering, she was silent again. Then without any warning, an earthquake ravaged through the ground accompanied by a booming sound like rolling thunder, causing the windows of the flat to shatter, making the group scream and gasp in shock.

"What the hell was that?" Jackie demanded.

"It's the spaceship. It must be." Mickey said, moving over the broken glass towards the front door. Rose and Jackie got up to follow him outside, onto the glass covered walkways. They leaned over the railing to gaze up past the roof, seeing a mass of charcoal rocks moving over London. This spaceship, they presumed must've been as wide as London, was hovering over the city, casting a dark shadow over every building, blocking out the sun.

"Back inside, now." Rose ordered. Jackie and Mickey followed her as they moved into Jackie's room. "Mickey, we're going to carry him, then we're coming back for Clara. Mum get your stuff and some food."

"Well, where are we going?" Mickey asked.

"The TARDIS. It's the only safe place on Earth."

"What're we going to do in there?" Jackie demanded.

"Hide."

"Is that it?"

"Mum look at the sky!" Rose snapped, making Jackie blink. "There's a great big alien invasion and I don't know what to do, all right?! I've travelled with them and I've seen all that stuff, but when I'm stuck at home, I'm useless! All we can do is run and hide and I'm sorry! Now move!" Jackie sighed but for once didn't argue, moving into the kitchen. Rose took the Doctor by his shoulders while Mickey grasped his legs as they hauled him slowly out of the room.

* * *

"They're transmitting another message." Alex reported.

"Onscreen." Harriet said. He clicked a few keys in one of the computers, bringing up the Sycorax again.

_"Bi kon zu padros paliu ji-kor peldra pelomni."_

""Will the leader of this world stand forward"?" Alex translated.

Harriet cleared her throat and straightened her posture. "I'm proud to represent this planet."

_"Zu kal fulak."_

""Come aboard"."

Harriet exchanged a confused yet worried glance with Alex before turning back to the screen. "Well…how do I do that?" The answer came in a shimmering blue light appearing around her, Alex, Daniel, and Blake.

"W-w-what's happening?" Daniel asked.

"I would imagine it's called a teleport." Harriet quipped lightly.

What came next was a flurry of blinding blue lights for them as the ground beneath faded away, floating in distinct nothingness until the ground returned. However, it was changed into hardened rock, which was echoed by the room they were in when the lights faded away. The room, or cavern, was a large expanse of brown rock formed of ledges, where hundreds of Sycorax stood, all cheering in their language at the arrival of their guests, who stared around in a mixture of wonder and fear. The leader, the one they recognised from the messages, stepped forward. He was cloaked in red robes, covered in bones and trophies of conquest, his fingerless gauntlets showing his clawed hands. He thrusted his staff into the ground, letting it stand upright beside him before raising his hands to his face.

"It's a helmet." Daniel realised. "They might be like us." He said, more in reassurance to himself. Yet the Leader took off his helmet to show a gaunt face behind, with pale crimson eyes and skin, wearing a bone mask that bared his eyes and jaw to them. "Or not." Daniel muttered. The Sycorax Leader gave him a grave smile, baring for them to see, his sharp filed teeth.

* * *

Rose and Mickey carried the Doctor out of the flat, seeing the TARDIS still sitting silently down on the ground floor of the estate. Jackie came out of the flat carrying four bags worth of food and supplies.

"Mum, will you just leave that stuff and give us a hand?!" Rose shrieked.

"It's food! You said we need-"

"Just leave it!"

Jackie rolled her eyes.  _She really doesn't know how long we're going to be in there. Well…better have enough food than none at all._ She then picked up the bags again and followed them to the TARDIS.

* * *

The Sycorax Leader went over to the ship's console and hovered his hand over a large red button. "Jal van korast akus bahkta."

""You will surrender, or I will release the final curse…and your people will jump"." Alex translated with a frown of worry.

"If I can speak." Daniel said, mustering courage as he stepped forward.

"Mr. Llewellyn, you are a civilian!" Blake urged, grabbing onto Daniel's arm.

"No, I sent out the probe, I started it. I contacted these people, this whole thing's my responsibility." He yanked his arm out of Blake's grasp, before turning back to the Leader, straightening his tie in nervousness. The Leader moved his hand away from the button and took a few steps forward, looking at Daniel in curiosity. "With respect, sir, humanity is taking its first step towards the stars but…we are like children compared to you, children who need help, children who need compassion." The Leader blinked at him. "I beg of you now, show that compassion."

Silence fell for a few moments as the Leader stared at him, before he smiled. That smile was indecipherable. Admiration? Respect? Or something else? Then, he took a curled whip from his robes, which turned bright blue at his touch. He reared it back and lashed against Daniel, the whip coiling around his neck as Daniel screamed, his body disintegrating and leaving behind only ash and bone. Harriet breathed shakily while Alex stared with wide eyes of fear, Blake with a look of shock plastered across his face.

"That man was your prisoner!" Blake exclaimed. "Even your species must have articles of war, forbidding-" The Leader lashed again, the whip now disintegrating Blake, who screamed as he joined Daniel's bones on the floor. Alex went to move forward, but Harriet stopped him. She took a breath and pulled out her I.D card.

"Harriet Jones, Prime Minister."

"Ja. Gunavijejo zu."

""Yes. We know who you are"."

"Jal wan kulja ji." The Leader walked back up to the button again.

""Surrender, or they will die"."

"If I do surrender, how would that be better?" Harriet asked.

"Ka tros gaven kivi lisi kul racha."

""One half is sold into slavery or one third dies"."

"Zu kolsia." The Leader hovered his hand over the button again, his face set in a patient grimace.

""Your choice"."

* * *

Rose and Mickey, huffing and out of breath, entered the TARDIS and laid the Doctor beside the console. Jackie came in, hesitant with uneasiness at the interior of the TARDIS.

"No chance you could fly this thing?" Mickey asked as Jackie put the bags down by the console.

"Not anymore, no." Rose said, rubbing her sore muscles.

"Well, you did it before."

"I know, but it's sort of been…wiped out of my head like it's forbidden. If I try it again, I think the universe rips in half."

"Ah, better not then." Mickey said with a nod.

"Maybe not." Rose huffed, not understanding his tone which made Mickey and Jackie roll their eyes.

"So, what do we do, just sit here?"

"That's as good as it gets."

"Now stop your whining!" Jackie snapped, making Rose flinch with guilt as Jackie pulled out a warm flask. She opened the lid and took a whiff of the smell of tea inside. "Here we go, nice cup of tea."

"It's like we're having a picnic while the world comes to an end, which is very British." Mickey said.

"What's wrong with being British?" Jackie retorted, making Mickey shrug. "I'm going to get Clara, come give me a hand, Rose." She called, racing for the doors.

"With Clara?" Rose asked. "You know she's smaller than all of us."

Jackie shook her head with a smirk. "I didn't mean that. I meant that if Clara's got a migraine, she'll need something to help her out, won't she?" Rose nodded at that, Jackie closing the doors of the TARDIS behind her.

"How does this thing work?" Mickey asked, pulling the console monitor over. "Cause if it picks up TV, maybe we could see what's going on out there. We could've surrendered. And like, what do you do to it?"

"No idea. It sort of tunes itself." They flicked a few switches creating a loud bleeping noise, making them jump slightly. "Okay, no idea what that is." Rose muttered.

* * *

The Leader looked at the console with alarm as a bleeping noise rang out into the cavern. "Vebkas fula. Kazful! Sten fa fran. Zu kist."

"The noise, the bleeping, they say it's machinery, foreign machinery." Alex said as the translated words came too fast on his device for him to read. "They're accusing us of-of hiding it, conspiring."

"Kres ta forok si!" The Leader roared.

""Bring it on board"."

* * *

Jackie came to the Estate courtyard, carrying a bag full of medical supplies. "It's okay, Jackie, just tell her. Even though she's smaller, Clara's still too heavy for you. That's all, Rose will understand." Jackie rambled to herself. She noticed too late however that the TARDIS glowed with a blue light. "Rose?" Jackie called as the light turned the box into a blur before it disappeared in a flash, leaving a trail that zipped up to the ship. "Rose!"

* * *

"Maybe it's a distress signal." Mickey offered.

"Fat lot of good that's going to do."

"Are you going to be a misery all the time?" Mickey asked.

"Yes."

"You should look at it from my point of view, stuck in here with your Mum's cooking. Hell, if Clara was awake, she'd set you straight."

Rose shuddered, already starting to feel sorry for the Doctor when she got on Clara's bad side once. Then, Rose blinked. "Where's Mum?" She asked. Mickey shrugged, making Rose get up to move to the doors. "I'd better give her a hand with Clara. It might start raining missiles out there."

"Tell her anything from a tin, that's fine." Mickey called as he picked up the flask of tea.

"Why don't you tell her yourself?"

"I'm not that brave."

Rose smiled sadly at him. "I don't know. You're braver than you give yourself credit for." Mickey went to protest but Rose raised her eyebrows at him. "Do I need to set Clara on you to get yourself straight?" Mickey shook his head in haste, making Rose snigger. "Thought so." Rose then opened the doors and exited the TARDIS, her expression turning into bewilderment as she saw the cavern of the Sycorax before one grabbed her neck from behind. "Aaah!" She shrieked in terror. "Get off! Get off me!"

"Rose!" Mickey lost his grip on the flask and hurried out the door, his face also growing wide with shock at their suddenly different surroundings.

"The doors! Close the doors!" Rose called as she was hauled away to a worried Harriet and a confused Alex. Mickey raced back to the TARDIS, pursued by another Sycorax warrior, closing the doors just in time before he himself was put in a hard grasp and hauled away to Rose, Harriet, and Alex.

"Yas vil!" The Leader called, earning a loud bellow of applause from the Sycorax watching them.

"Rose." Harriet said, pulling a fearful but relieved Rose into a hug. "I've got you, my precious thing." Harriet and Rose glanced at the Leader, who was watching them with predatorial patience. "The Doctor. Is he with you?"

Rose shook her head. "No. He's out of it."

Harriet held back the urge to slouch. "And Clara?"

"She's on Earth. We're on our own."

* * *

Inside the TARDIS, the spilt tea flowed into the circuits underneath the floor railing, sparking, and creating steam that flowed up and around the Doctor's head. He took a deep breath of the fumes before exhaling, expelling an enormous amount of regeneration energy, his body relaxing to a calm stillness.

* * *

"Vos koonik, del panja zu krimit tak saya. Vol…kufa zu prendis."

""The yellow girl, she has the clever blue box. Therefore, she speaks for your planet." Alex translated.

"But she can't." Harriet protested.

"Yeah, I can." Rose denied despite her insides shaking with nervousness and fear.

"Don't you dare." Mickey muttered.

"Someone's got to be the Doctor, even if Clara's not here to do it." Rose stepped forward and Harriet grabbed her arm.

"They'll kill you." Harriet pleaded, but Rose yanked her arm away.

"Never stopped them." The applause in the room swelled in anticipation before the Leader held up his fist, the room calming into dead silence. This didn't help Rose in the slightest, whose anxiety heightened to new, uncomfortable levels. She gulped and took a shaking breath, noticing the Leader already getting a look of irritation in his eyes. "I address the Sycorax…according to Article 15 of…the Shadow Proclamation. I command you to leave this world…with all the authority of…the Slitheen Parliament of Raxacoricofallapatorius and, um…" The Leader now looked at her with wide eyes of bewilderment, while everyone else just looked confused. "The Gelth Confederacy as, uh…sanctioned by the mighty Jagrafess and…oh, the Daleks. Now, leave this planet in peace!"

The Leader glanced at his fellows for a moment, before looking down, as if checking that he really was there before he burst into laughter, the rest of the Sycorax joining in with him. "Zu gang an frak jil ay."

""You are very, very funny"." Alex translated.

"Zu gan chak chifuki!"

""And now you're going to die"."

"Leave her alone!" Harriet roared, stepping forward but was held back by a Sycorax warrior.

"Don't touch her!" Mickey mirrored and was also held back.

"Zu gas gil fayna metsu felsta beena?"

""Did you think you were clever with your stolen words?""

"Gora ve Sycorax!" The Leader proclaimed. "Gasak selfilick."

""We are the Sycorax. We stride the darkness"."

The Leader hissed at Rose in disgust, who gasped in shock. "Be korakal zulfenals fineach."

""Next to us, you are but a wailing child"."

"If zul fan fasch your planet castreak as champion…"

""If you are the best this planet can offer as champion…""

"Then your world will be gutted…"

""Then your world will be gutted…" Unknown to the Leader, Rose, Harriet, and Mickey's eyebrows furrowed at him, as he began speaking English.

"And your people enslaved."

""And your people enslav…" Alex trailed off as he too caught on. "Hold on, that's English."

"He's talking English." Harriet nodded in agreement.

"You're talking English." Rose agreed despite her confusion.

"I would never dirty my tongue with your primitive bile!" The Leader snapped.

Rose shook her head. "That's English. Can you hear English?" She asked the three behind her.

"Yeah, that's English." Mickey agreed.

"Definitely English." Alex agreed as well, Harriet nodding.

"I speak only Sycoraxic!" The Leader roared in frustration.

Rose put the pieces together in her head, which made her nerves pulse with hope. "If I can hear English…then it's being translated…which means it's working. Which means…" She trailed off, trying to not let her hope rise too much in fear of disappointment. She turned around to gaze at the TARDIS, Mickey, Harriet, and Alex following her example. To Rose and Mickey's relief, along with Harriet and Alex's shock, the doors swung open, the Doctor standing there completely fine and with a blinding smile on his face.

"Did you miss me?" He asked. Rose and Mickey smiled, while Harriet and Alex blinked. The Leader however, roared with rage, drawing their attention to him again, as he took his whip and lashed at the Doctor. However, he caught the whip with his hand, wrapping it around his wrist and tugging hard, the Leader loosing grip on his weapon as he holds onto the staff for balance, while the Doctor wraps the whip up with a look of disappointment. "You could've had someone's eye out with that." He walked up to the Leader, tossing the whip aside.

"How dare-" The Leader went to use his staff against him, but the Doctor yanked it away out of his grasp, snapping it in two on his thigh like a matchstick before tossing it aside, the Leader's expression of glowering disbelief.

"You just can't get the staff." He quipped. "Now, YOU just wait." The Leader went to protest. "I'm busy." The Doctor interrupted, pointing a finger a him, making the Leader stare at him in silent shock, his jaw down as he blinked. The Doctor turned around and walked back to the group, his blinding smile back. "Mickey! Hello!" Mickey smirked at him while the Doctor turned to Harriet. "And Harriet Jones, M.P for Flydale North. Blimey! It's like "This is your life". Tea!" Before Rose could say "What?", the Doctor continued. "That's all I needed, good cup of tea. A superheated infusion of free radicals and tannin, just the thing for healing the synapses. Whose idea was that?" He asked.

"Mums." Rose inputted.

The Doctor cocked an eyebrow at her. "Really?" Rose nodded, and he shrugged at her. Then his face went serious in an instant. "Now, first things first, be honest. How do I look?"

Rose blinked at him.  _I really should not be the one answering that question._  "Um…different."

"Good different or bad different?"

"Just…different." Rose shrugged.

"Am I…ginger?"

Rose had to hold back a snort, thinking that might've ruined the mood. "No, you're just sort of…brown."

His face and voice fell into a childish whine. "Aww, I wanted to be ginger. I've never been ginger. And you, Rose Tyler!" He said suddenly, pointing a finger at her. "Fat lot of good you were! You gave up on me-oh, that's rude." He caught himself with a look of shock, while Rose stared at him with a half glare of death. "Is that the sort of man I am now, am I rude?" He shrugged at that. "Rude and not ginger." He flinched with a gasp suddenly, making everyone blink at him as he glanced around. He looked at them with a sheepish blush. "Sorry. It's just…Clara normally has a go at me when I'm rude." Then, his face fell into confused worry as he glanced around at everyone present for a double check. "Hold on…where's Clara?"

"Still on Earth…with Mum." Rose informed.

The Doctor breathed out. "Blimey. How's she going to live?" He muttered. Rose went to tell him of Clara's predicament, but Harriet interrupted.

"I'm sorry. Who is this?" She asked.

"I'm the Doctor." He said with a slightly down face.

Rose nodded. "He's the Doctor."

"Well, what happened to MY Doctor? Or is it a title that's just passed on?"

The Doctor shook his head. "I'm him. Same man, new face. Well…new everything."

"But you can't be." Harriet denied.

"Harriet Jones." The Doctor started, his tone serious again. "We were trapped in Downing Street and the one thing that scared you wasn't the aliens, wasn't the war…it was the thought of your Mother being all on her own."

Harriet's eyes widened in shock. "Oh my god." She mumbled.

The Doctor's blinding smile came back again. "Did you win the election?"

Harriet smiled with a slight blush. "Landslide majority."

"Oh, that's fanta-" He stopped himself, blinking in confusion. "No, hold on, fanta…fanta-f-f-fantas…fa-fa…" He waggled his tongue around to clear his mouth, everyone, even the Sycorax Leader, looked at him in puzzlement. "I can't say it anymore, it doesn't fit the teeth." He clacked his teeth together a few times before whining. "Aww, I like that word. What am I going to say now? B…brilliant? Brilliant. Bri-lli-ant. Brilliant!" He tried with enthusiasm before his face fell again. "No, um, um, excellent. Oh, that's-that's-that's excellent, nah. Uh, superb. M…marvellous, m…uh…molto bene, oh, I don't know." He sighed. "Let's just settle for "Very, very good". Yes, that's very very good. That's really very very good-no, it's not taking off is it?"

"If I might interrupt?" The Leader asked with irritation.

Everyone looked at him, the Doctor's smile back again. "Yes, sorry. Hello, big fella."

"Who exactly are you?"

The Doctor held back a snigger. "Well, that's the question."

"I demand to know who you are!" The Leader roared.

"I don't know!" The Doctor roared back, impersonating his voice before calming down again. "See, that's the thing. I'm the Doctor, but beyond that, I-I just don't know. I literally do not know who I am, it's all untested. Am I funny? Am I sarcastic? Sexy?" He went to wink before realising that Clara wasn't there. _Blimey, will she still think of me as a looker…even without the ears?_  "Right old misery? Life and soul? Right-handed, left-handed? A gambler, a fighter, a coward, a traitor, a liar, a nervous wreck? I mean, judging by the evidence, I've certainly got a gob." Then, he glanced at the console and the red button, grinning again. "And how am I going to react when I see this? A great big threatening button." He said before walking to stand up next to the button, everyone moving closer to watch. "A great big threatening button, which must not be pressed under any circumstances, am I right?" He winked playfully at the Leader, who clenched his teeth together in irritation. "Let me guess…it's some sort of control matrix, hmm?" He looked down at the button's stand, seeing wires through the cracks in the side. "Hold on…what's feeding it?" He knelt, pulling open a latch door in the side, seeing a small pod holding a broken vial of blood, hooked up to wires moving into the ship's console and latched into the red button. "And what've we got here?" He dabbed a finger inside the blood, standing back up again. "Blood?" He tastes the blood, making the group scrunch their faces in disgust. He ran his tongue through his mouth, before his scrunched into disgust as well. "Yep. Definitely blood. Human blood. A+, with just a dash of iron." He waggled his tongue about, wiping his finger on his gown. "Oh Doctor, why did you do that?" He muttered to himself. Then his eyes went wide, looking at Rose in horror. "Don't you dare tell her." He warned.

"Don't I dare what?" Rose said innocently, nudging Mickey when he looked back at the button, making Mickey send a knowing smirk her way.

The Doctor shuddered briefly, before clearing his throat. "Sorry. That means…blood control." He eyes now went wide with childish glee. "Blood control! Aww! I haven't seen blood control for years!" He looked at the Leader, still grinning. "You're controlling all the A+'s." The Leader hissed at him, but he could detect in his eyes…worry, and fear. That made his own eyes glint with delighted madness. "Which leaves us with a great big stinking problem.  _*Clicks tongue*_ Cause, I really don't know who I am. I don't know when to stop. So, if I see a great big threatening button, which should never, ever, ever be pressed…then I just want to do this." He slammed his hand down on the button, the red light from within fading away.

"No!" The group yelled in unison at him.

"You just killed them!" Alex said in horror.

" _*Scoffs*_ Come on." He drawled. "Try to keep up. Where's Clara at when you need her?" He muttered under his breath, no one bothering to retort to that. "What do you think, big fella?" He asked the Leader, who gulped at his words. "Are they dead?"

"We allowed them to live."

""Allow"?" The Doctor scoffed again. "You've no choice!" He turned back to the group, who looked at the Leader in relived surprise. "See? That's all blood control is. A cheap bit of voodoo. It scares the pants off you, but that's as far as it goes." He stared distantly for a moment before moving to lean against a nearby rock. "It's like hypnosis. You can hypnotize someone to walk like a chicken, or sing like Elvis, but you can't hypnotize them to death. The survival instinct's too strong."

"Blood control was just one form of conquest." The Leader growled. "I can summon the armada and take this world by force."

"Well…yeah, you could. Yeah, you could do that. Of course, you could, but why?" The Leader glanced off briefly in questioning, making the Doctor inwardly sigh. "Look at these people, these Human beings. Consider their potential. From the day they arrive on the planet and blinking, step into the sun, there is more to see than can ever be seen. More to do than-no hold on." Everyone glanced at each other in amused confusion as he gazed off distantly again. "Sorry, that's "The Lion King". But, the point still stands: Leave them alone!"

"Or what?" The Leader asked.

"Or…" He snatched a large broadsword from a nearby soldier, rushing back to the main area with the TARDIS and holding the sword up for all in the cavern to see. "I challenge you!" He proclaimed. The Leader laughed heartfully, the whole of the chamber erupting into pleased applause. "Oh, that struck a chord." He muttered to himself. "Am I right that the sanctified rules of combat still apply?"

The Leader unsheathed his own sword, moving to stand opposite the Doctor, the rest of the group moving to watch. "You stand as this world's champion?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Thank you. I've no idea who I am, but you've just summed me up." He took off his dressing gown and tossed it to Rose, before grasping the broadsword with two hands. "So, do you accept my challenge? Or are you just a cranak pel casacree salvak?"

The Leader hissed at him, before they grasped their swords below the hilt and raised them, the crowd cheering before they knelt on the ground, the swords held upright in their grasp. "For the planet?" The Leader asked.

"For the planet." On that, they stood and grasped their swords, moving slightly on both feet to keep on the edge. The Doctor struck at his right side, the Leader parrying before he tried again with the left. The Leader blocked the strike, placing pressure on the Doctor's sword as he tried to wrench the sword free, only succeeding in spinning their joined swords in front of each other. The Leader then shoved with his weapon, sending the Doctor stumbling back with a grunt. He clenched his jaw as the Leader struck a hawk's guard pose with his sword, allowing him to block the Doctor's next two swipes with ease. After he does, he swings the sword, making the Doctor stumble again to get out of reach. He then ducked as the Leader swung over his head, then swung for his side, which he barely parried, causing him to stumble to his back on the floor. Then the Leader raised the sword above his head.

"Look out!" Rose called as the Doctor rolled out of the way, the Leader's sword hitting right where his arm had been.

"Oh yeah, that helps. I wouldn't have thought of that otherwise. Thanks." The Doctor called sarcastically before returning to the fight. He struck two more blows against his opponent, before pressing down onto his sword with all the strength he could muster. The Leader grunted and snarled as he tried to push the Doctor back. Unfortunately, the Doctor took the opportunity to try and take his sword out of his opponent's grasp, who merely elbowed him in the ribs, making the Doctor stumble back with a gasp. The Leader regained his balance and chased after the Doctor with murder in his eyes. The Doctor however had to buy time to dull the pain in his ribs and bring back his stolen breath. He looked around the chamber frantically before grinning, despite his panting. "Bit of fresh air?" He called, rushing through the Sycorax warriors, and pressing a red button in the cavern wall. This opened a hidden door in the rock wall, streaming bright white light and rushing wind into the cavern as he charged through, the Leader and the group following swiftly behind with a few Sycorax warriors. The Doctor calmed himself as the pain in his ribs dulled, regaining his breath to a relaxed stillness. The Leader laughed, twirling his broadsword in his hands before advancing on the Doctor, each strike increasing with pressure as the Doctor neared the edge of the ship's wing. The Doctor rolled out of the way to escape falling to his death, allowing the Leader to take a sudden swipe at the Doctor, who's block caused his grip on the sword to loosen. The Leader sent a backhanded fist at the Doctor, striking his head, causing him to groan in pain. Rose went to rush forward, but Mickey held her back, just as the Doctor held out a hand. "Stay back!" He warned, the Leader briefly stopping to see the commotion. "Invalidate the challenge and he wins the planet!" The Leader growled in irritation, rushing at the Doctor again with a sudden strike, the Doctor blocking it but holding his ground with clenched teeth. The Leader spun their swords with a steading pressure, then without a moment's hesitation, twirled the swords downward, causing the Doctor's to stab into the rock wing. He then head butted the Doctor, causing him to stumble away from the sword before backhanding him across the face again, sending him to his back, his head hanging over the edge of the wing. The Leader raised his sword again and struck down, severing the Doctor's right hand at his forearm, sending the limb tumbling down towards the Earth. When that happened, silence fell as the Doctor stared at his empty sleeve with disbelief while the Leader gazed at him triumphantly. "You cut my hand off." The Doctor breathed.

"Jah! Sycorax!" The Leader proclaimed, the soldiers present roaring and raising their swords in honour of him. Rose, Mickey, and Alex looked at them with shock, while Harriet had a hand over her mouth to cover her own.

The Doctor, clenching his face together to fight off the pain in his arm, stood up on shaking feet, gazing at the Leader's turned back with a cold grin. "And now, I know what sort of man I am. I'm lucky." The Leader turned to gaze at him in irritated puzzlement. "Quite by chance, I'm still within the first fifteen hours of my regeneration cycle, which means I've got enough residual cellular energy to do this." He held out his empty sleeve, as he felt a numbing coolness spread through his right arm. The energy flowed through his body into his arm, re-growing what had been removed with a golden light into a brand-new hand. He clenched his new hand together, before twiddling his fingers around to test them. Everyone, including the Leader, stared at him in awe filled disbelief.

"Witchcraft." The Leader muttered, his shock now turning into a new-found anger.

"Time Lord." The Doctor said with new found arrogance…and coldness. His new hand felt stronger than the last, and he reached his arm out without even looking at Rose, who had stolen a sword from a nearby soldier and tossed it to him.

"Doctor!" She called as she did, who caught the sword's handle without even looking at it, twirling it around before grinning in her direction.

"Oh, so I'm still the Doctor, then?!"

"No arguments from me!"

"You want to know the best bit?" He asked, turning back to the Leader. "This new hand…it's a fightin' hand!" He yells in a perfect Southern accent, his mind going wild with glee.  _Yes! I can do accents now! Whoo!_  He lashed at the Leader with new, renewed strikes, each one more pressured than the last. The Leader, desperately parrying each blow, found himself striding backwards to stay a distance from the advancing Time Lord, the mad glint in his eyes now burning bright. The Leader tried to get the Doctor's sword into a pressured block again, but he simply twirled his sword away, forcing the Leader to withdraw his own to protect his exposed wrists from his blade. But as he did, the Doctor swung hard, causing the Leader to stumble, loosing his grasp on his sword which the Doctor took hold off just below the hilt, wrenching it out of his grasp before impaling the Leader on his own sword. The group watching winched in unison as the Leader gasped in pain, falling to his knees as he grasped the sword imbedded in his side, while the Doctor held his own blade against the Leader's throat. "I win." He said coldly.

"Then…kill me." The Leader gasped, the pain burning in his side, the pouring wound unnoticeable against his red robes, yet his exposed sword shined with a dull crimson glow in the sun.

"I'll spare your life if you'll take this champion's command: Leave this planet and never return. What do you say?"

"Yes."

"Swear on the blood of your species!" The Doctor demanded, pressing the tip of his blade harder against the Leader's throat, a drop of blood already showing on his skin.

"I swear." He choked with a strained voice.

The Doctor then shrugged, taking the blade away and jamming it into the ground. "There we are then. Thanks for that. Sorry about the wounds, big fella." He said before turning away to walk back to the group.

"Bravo!" Harriet applauded, while Rose and Mickey grinned with Alex bearing an impressed look.

"That says it all. Bravo!" Rose said, tossing the gown back to the Doctor.

"Yeah? Not bad for a man in his jim-jams. Very Arthur Dent." He put the gown back on as the group gathered around him. "Now, that was a nice man." He paused, wringing his new hand about in his pockets. "Hold on. What have I got in here?" He pulled out a satsuma to his bewildered eyes, Rose and Mickey rolling theirs while Harriet and Alex looked confused. "A satsuma. That friend of your mother's, eh Rose? He does like his snacks, doesn't he?"

"I'm sorry, but did we miss something?" Harriet asked.

"My Mum had a  _*Clears Throat*_  "Friend" around, and he likes to keep snacks in his gown in case he gets hungry." Harriet sent her a puzzled look, which just made her shrug.

"But doesn't that just sum up Christmas?" The Doctor asked as they walked back to the door. "Big bloody tree in your living room, all the presents piled up underneath it by good ol' Papa Crimbo. Once you've gone through them all, then you find, tucked away at the bottom, there's either a pointless tangerine or one stupid old satsuma. Who wants a satsuma? I'd rather have a tangerine than a satsuma." At that moment, all but the Doctor turned at the sound of an enraged growl, seeing the Leader standing up with a glowering face of rage, the sword imbedded in his body removed, now back in his grasp. He stood up on shaky legs before moving to charge. The Doctor, without looking behind, tossed the satsuma at a button beside the door, which drew back part of the wing, causing the Leader to fall off the ship, screaming as he descended to his doom. "No second chances." The Doctor said, his voice cold again. "I'm that sort of a man." They moved back inside the cavern, which had now fallen completely silent as they stopped in front of the TARDIS, turning back to look at all the warriors inside. "By the ancient rites of combat, I forbid you to scavenge here for the rest of time." He proclaimed to the Sycorax, his voice echoing throughout the cavern. "And when you go back to the stars and tell others about the Earth, of its riches, its people, its potential, then make sure you tell them this: It. Is. Defended." On that, the blue light that transported the TARDIS onto the ship appeared all around them and the box, the group disappearing from the ship and reappearing back on the Earth. The Doctor gazed around, seeing the familiar buildings of the Powell Estate and the Sycorax ship, still hovering above their heads.

"Where are we?" Rose asked.

"We're just off Bloxham Road." Mickey answered, before beginning to laugh with joy. "We're just around the corner! We did it!"

"Wait a minute!" The Doctor called, everyone still looking at the ship. The ground began to rumble beneath their feet as the ship slowly slugged forward, building momentum as it moved up towards the sky before racing away, growing smaller and smaller as it did. That made everyone, including the Doctor relax.

"Go on, my son! Oh yeah!" Mickey whooped, Rose laughing as well.

"Yeah! Don't come back!" She called.

"It is defended!" Mickey and Rose embraced in a hug before she raced over and took a bewildered Alex in one too.

"Sorry." She quickly muttered before racing back over to Mickey, laughing with joy as she did. The Doctor turned and walked up to Harriet, both of them grinning as they looked at each other.

"My Doctor." She said.

"Prime Minister." They embraced in a quick hug before parting again.

"Absolutely the same man." They turned back to look where the ship had been, their faces growing calmer as they did. "Are there many more out there?"

"Oh, not just Sycorax. Hundreds of species, thousands of them. And the Human race is drawing attention to itself. Every day, you're sending out probes and messages and signals. This planet's so noisy. Every single day, you're getting noticed by many more. You'd better get used to it." The Doctor missed Harriet's look becoming sullener at his words, as he saw out the corner of his eye, Jackie rushing up the street.

"Rose!" She called.

"Oh. Talking of trouble." He muttered, walking back to Mickey as Rose rushed to Jackie.

"Oh my god!" Jackie exclaimed as she took Rose in a hug.

"We did it, Mum!"

"Oh, Rose!"

"You did it, too! It was the tea, fixed his head."

"Really?" Jackie asked the Doctor as he walked over, Mickey loosely hugging Jackie with one arm while Rose mirrored him on her other side.

"That was all I needed. Cup of tea." The Doctor nodded.

"I said so!" Jackie proclaimed.

"And look at him!"

Jackie sent Rose a small, blinking look. "Is it really him, though? Is it really the Doctor?" The Doctor nodded behind him, where Jackie saw Harriet standing with Alex behind her, who was talking into his earpiece. That made her jaw drop. "Oh my god, it's the bleedin' Prime Minister!"

"Come here, you!" The Doctor said, opening his arms. Jackie laughed, rushing in, and grasping him in a tight hug, while Rose and Mickey joined in.

"Group hug." Mickey quipped, making them smirk.

"Are you better now?" Jackie asked.

"I am yeah."

Behind them, Alex walked up to Harriet, giving her a grim look. "It's a message from Torchwood. They say they're ready."

Harriet looked down sadly, not able to look at the group for a moment. "Tell them to fire." She said, her voice breaking as she did.

Alex nodding before moving to the side again. "Fire at will." He said into his earpiece.

"You two left me behind." Jackie accused to Rose and Mickey as they all parted their hug.

"I'm sorry." Rose quickly said, Mickey nodding.

"I gave you all the food. I couldn't carry Clara on my own, even if she's smaller than me."

Rose scoffed. "You serious?" She quipped.

"Woah, wait, hold on, "Carry"? What do you mean, "Carry Clara"?"" The Doctor asked, his voice now filled with worry.

Everyone glanced at each other awkwardly, Jackie deciding to be the one to speak. "There's something wrong with her. And I don't mean like how you were. She's…" She trailed off, still not sure how to explain it.

"What do you mean?" The Doctor asked. "What's wrong with her-" The Doctor was cut off as five beams of bright green electricity shot out from around them, converging together before pulsing three times then firing a sixth beam straight into space.

"Wait. What's happening?" Rose asked as they looked up, their looks filled with puzzlement and worry as they did. The beams continued firing into space before it exploded in a blaze of fire and rock, the group already guessing what the laser had destroyed. "What is that? What's happening?" Rose asked again.

The Doctor didn't answer her question, instead turning an accusing but cold gaze towards Harriet. Everyone saw who he was looking at and what he was emoting, allowing them to fill in the blanks before giving their own gazes of disdain towards her. "That was murder." The Doctor accused.

"That was defence." Harriet explained. "It's adapted from alien technology, a ship that fell to Earth ten years ago."

"But they were leaving!"

"You said yourself, Doctor. They'd go back to the stars and tell others about the Earth. I'm sorry, Doctor, but you're not here all the time, you come and go. It happened today. Mr. Llewellyn and the Major. They were murdered. They died right in front of me while you were sleeping. In which case, we have to defend ourselves."

"Britain's golden age." The Doctor growled.

"It comes with a price."

The Doctor clenched his jaw. "I gave them the wrong warning. I should've told them to run as fast as they can, run and hide because the monsters are coming, the Human race."

"Those are the people I represent. I did it on their behalf." Harriet said, her voice raising higher while the Doctor's remained the same.

"And I should've stopped you."

"What does that make you Doctor?" Harriet asked with squinting eyes. "Another alien threat?"

That made him burst. "Don't challenge me, Harriet Jones, because I'm a completely new man!" He roared, Harriet blinking a bit before composing herself again. "I could bring down your government with a single word." He said, back in his cold tone again.

She smiled sadly. "You're the most remarkable man I've ever met…but I don't think you're quite capable of that."

"No, you're right, not a single word…just six."

"I don't think so."

"Six words."

"Stop it!" Harriet snapped

"Six." He said, ignoring her outburst, and moving straight past her towards Alex. Without taking his eyes off Harriet, he took Alex's earpiece out, placed it into his hands and leaned into his ear. "Don't you think she looks tired?" He whispered. Alex blinked at him before flickering his gaze between the Doctor and Harriet for a few moments. The Doctor then without a word, strolled past him and Harriet before silently motioning for the group to follow him back to their flat.

Harriet rushed over to Alex with a terrified look on her face. "What did he say?"

"Oh, well, nothing really, he…" Alex stuttered.

"What did he say?!" She freaked.

"I-I-nothing. I don't know, he…"

"Doctor!" Harriet called, but he simply ignored her. "What did you say, Doctor?! Doctor!" The group kept walking, not glancing back at Harriet until they were out of sight. Harriet slouched her shoulders, Alex walking away and leaving her alone. "I'm sorry." She said, her voice full of guilt as she stood there, silent, and alone.

* * *

The Doctor, followed closely by Jackie, Rose and Mickey, opened the door to the flat, finding the living room empty. "Clara?" He called, receiving no answer. "Clara?" He moved slowly into the flat, glancing around before moving into the hallway towards the bedrooms. "Clara? You in here?" He opened the only closed door, Jackie's room, finding Clara sitting on the bed with the stethoscope in her hand. "Clara?" At the sound of his voice, she glanced up at him with wide eyes, before they dulled into weariness. He moved slowly to sit beside her, taking her shaking hands in his. "What's wrong?" He asked. She said nothing, just pushing the stethoscope into his hand. He blinked at it before plugging the ear plugs in, using it to check her heartbeat. Just like Jackie, he couldn't find any. He checked again, this time for her pulse, but it bore the same result. He quickly stood and grasped his old leather jacket, pulling out his sonic and doing a quick scan on Clara, which once again, bore the same result. Alive, but not exactly Human. Alive, but her aging is…slower. Practically as slow as a Time Lord's, yet she still carried a faint trace of Human DNA in her. Alive, but her heart was dead.

"What's happened to me?" Clara asked, her voice hoarse and broken from her earlier screaming. The Doctor went to place a hand on her cheek, but she recoiled slightly, uncertainty and confliction in her eyes as she gazed at him.

"Clara, I can't help you if you don't let me in." He said gently.

Clara choked out a sob, leaning into his hand with pleading eyes. "I don't know how." She said. "I want to but I…" She closed her eyes, trying to hold off another sob. "Is it me? Is it me that's wrong?" She asked.

"There's nothing wrong with you Clara." He said earnestly.

"It must be." She cried. "I don't want to let you in, and yet I want to. I don't know why I'm thinking this, because you're right here, but you can't be." She sniffed, trying her best not to give in and dive in for a hug. "Please, just tell me what's wrong with me." She pleaded.

The Doctor just gave her a sad smile. "If I can't convince you otherwise, then I know someone who can."

"Who?"

He blinked. "Didn't you already figure it out, Clara?" Clara shook her head, but then, without warning, her phone rang. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as the noise blared in the room. "I told you I needed to phone someone." He smiled warmly before moving up from the bed, holding off his inward relief as Clara indistinctively reached for his hand again. "You'd better get that." He walked out of the door and into the hallway, Rose, Jackie, and Mickey standing there, staring at him incredulously.

"What're you doing?" Rose asked in a hush voice.

"Just give her a moment." The Doctor said, holding up a hand as they leaned back into the doorway, watching as Clara picked up her phone and answered the call.

"Hello?" She asked into the phone. No answer came, making her blink incredulously. "Hello?" She tried again, her voice only able to become slightly clearer due to its overuse.

_"It's me, Clara."_  If she had a heartbeat, it would've rocketed through her chest into her throat. It was the Doctor, specifically, it was  _her_  Doctor. His instantly recognizable northern voice put her into a state of calm she tried to deny to the new Doctor.  _But how can it be him?_

"When are you phoning me from?" She asked. She missed Rose, Jackie and Mickey's eyes growing wide as they heard faintly the voice on the phone. The present Doctor just smiled in unison with his past self.

_"Two words, Clara: Bad Wolf. I just took the Vortex out of Rose. We're orbiting around the Earth and I'm…"_  She heard him wince in pain, knowing he would've grasped the door to steady himself.  _"What you may have seen Clara, it's all still about to happen for me, and it's coming. I can feel it coming, Clara, and let me tell you…"_  He gasped out a small sob in the pain of the Vortex burning the insides of his body.  _"It's not going to be very fun for me. And I'm sorry, but I can't stop it."_

Clara wiped a tear from her eye, restraining her urge to sob at the pain in his voice. "Why would you do this?"

_"Because I think…you might be scared right now. But remember, Clara, however scared you are, the man you are with right now, the man I hope you are with…believe me, he is more scared than anything you can imagine right now. And he…he needs you, Clara. If you are in anyway conflicted on how you feel towards him…towards me…you need let it go. Let him in, Clara and I promise you, that everything will be all right."_

The present Doctor, number Ten, at that moment decided to interrupt. "So, who is it?" He asked, even though he already knew the answer.

" _Is that the Doctor?"_  Nine asked.

"Is that the Doctor?"

"Yes." Clara answered to the both of them.

_"He sounds young. Real young."_  She heard him groan before whining.  _"Oh, please tell me I didn't become some pretty boy teenager. I don't want to go through that ever again, please!"_  He whined, Clara giggling slightly.  _"Hold on, does he have any hair?"_ He asked.

Clara smirked. "Yes."

Nine had to ask, and she could hear him stammer awkwardly as he spoke.  _"Is he…you know…good looking? Like…I mean…you know…do you-"_

"Yes." Clara admitted.

She heard him sigh in relief, while Ten smirked out of the corner of her eye.  _"Now, you know what to do, Clara. Help him and he will help you. Please, do it for me."_

"I don't know what to do." She admitted, whatever happy feeling she had now drained back to sadness.

_"You really don't?"_  Nine quipped lightly.  _"You need to keep up, slow poke."_  Clara didn't answer to that, so he took a small breath.  _"He…I will tell you. And you don't need to be afraid, not anymore. Okay?"_

"Okay." She sniffed.

_"Goodbye, Clara. I'll see you soon."_  Then, he hanged up, the dial tone now ringing through the phone, so she put it down.

"Well?" The Doctor, the present Doctor, asked as he stepped back into the room again.

"Well what?"

"He…I asked you a question. Will you…let me help you?"

"How?"

He sighed. "You look at me, Clara, and you can't decide if you want to see me or not. Do you have any idea what that's like?" He asked, and her eyes shone with guilt through her tears. "I'm not on the phone and I didn't die on the TARDIS, Clara, I'm right here, standing in front of you." Her eyes now radiated with pleading, and he already knew what she was thinking. "Clara, all you have to do…is see me. That it. Please, just see me."

Clara blinked away the tears and moved to stand directly in front of him, searching his face with uncertainty.  _Young. Different accent. Ears aren't as big, nor is the nose. Hair is much thicker that it was._  Then her gaze shifted to meet his own, and as she stared into his eyes, it all fell into place.  _Those eyes. Still so old, so sad and yet…so kind._  She smiled, feeling relieved as her own inner conflict finally ended. "Hello...Doctor" She choked.

He returned her smile. "Hello Clara." He then pulled her into a hug, Clara crying with joy and relief as the Doctor stroked her hair, the both of them calming down with relief at each other's presence.

"Thank you." She mumbled.

He blinked with confusion. "What for?"

"Phoning." She said simply, and he smiled at that. He pulled back slightly to cup her cheek.

"Now, I believe you have a question to answer. Will you let me in?"

She almost shrugged at that. "How do you mean?"

"By this." He placed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. Clara's widened as she felt the Doctor not only still in a loose hug with her, but he was now inside her own mind.

"How?" Clara breathed.

"Touch telepathy, Clara. Another Time Lord trick." He explained simply.

"Do you know what's happened to me?" She asked.

"Your heart isn't beating anymore yet your body still behaves as if it did. Your mind as such can't comprehend it, that's why you keep getting migraine attacks."

""Migraine attacks"?"

He almost shrugged. "Couldn't come up with a better name."

She suddenly felt her mind throb again, another mind attack coming on and yet…it never did. She opened her eyes to briefly see a small amount of regeneration energy being poured into her head. "What'd you do?" She asked. She still felt tired, considering how much actual energy she has used over the course of one day, but her mind felt so…calm now.

"I just healed your mind, so you wouldn't get those attacks ever again."

"Thank you." She said gratefully. "But I have to ask, what happened to my heart?"

_"It was Rose."_  He said, but his voice was now inside her mind, not coming from his own body.  _"When she became the Bad Wolf, she wanted to turn you into a Time Lady, but…let's just say that she barely knows anything about my kind."_

_"Is that why my heart isn't working?"_  She asked in her mind.  _"It was meant to get another, but it didn't work?"_

_"That's the simplistic version, but yes."_

Clara sighed.  _"Is there anything else that's different about me?"_

_"Well, if it's good news, you've got a compensation. You can live forever and never age if you want to, but you can still die."_

She thought of a comparison.  _"Like an elf?"_

_"A bit, yeah."_  He shrugged.

She giggled with disbelief in her mind.  _"I'm an immortal. It feels…not that much different."_

_"Well, you've only just found it out. Check back in a few hundred years and things might seem different compared to now."_  He parted from her mind, cutting off their psychic connection.

"What the hell was that about?" Jackie interjected, making them jump. They almost forgot about those three standing there, who looked at them with small smiles.

The Doctor looked between her and Clara awkwardly. "Well…we…I…"

Clara shook her head. "It's all right. We figured it all out now."

"Well then, I don't give a bleeding damn what you think, you two are staying here until she gets better."

"We weren't going to go anywhere." The Doctor defended, acting like a guilty kid trying to prove his innocence.

"Doesn't matter. Until she gets better, you two are staying." Jackie said. "Besides, me, Rosie and Mickey can't eat Christmas dinner by ourselves, now can we?" Jackie then left for the kitchen before Rose could retort.

"Looks like we're going to help her out." Rose said to Mickey as they left the room.

Clara looked at the Doctor and motioned to his state of dress. "You should fine something better to wear than…that."

He nodded. "I'll be right back. I'm sure the TARDIS can find me something nice."

"You could just change right here in front of me." She flirted.

The Doctor gave her a dark look. "I'm holding you to that." He said before leaving.

* * *

The Doctor stood inside the TARDIS wardrobe, gazing helplessly at the hundreds of options on display. Everything from flowered flannel shirts to raincoats, normal coats, fur coats, dress robes, suits, Victorian clothes, Shakespearian clothes, medieval armour, hell even a construction hard hat, which still confused him as to why it was there. The Doctor took out a glamourous, red shirt and tried it, scrunching his face in disgust at it. "Blimey, it's going to take ages to find something decent. What would Clara think? Would she like this?" He tried on a white shirt, with a blue coat and red scarf before shrugging. "Nah. That's for the old days."  _Come on, Doctor. What would Clara like-no, stop it. It's just clothes._  He smacked his head with his hand to stop his inner conflict before flicking on a music box in the corner. "Something nice." He flicked through the many options before smiling at one choice, so he played it before returning to his browsing.

_Well I woke up today_

_And the world was a restless place_

_It could have been that way for me_

_And I wandered around_

_And I thought of your face_

_That Christmas looking back at me_

_I wish today was just like every other day_

_Cause today has been the best day_

_Everything I ever dreamed_

_And I started to walk_

_Pretty soon I will run_

_And I'll come running back to you_

_Cause I followed my star_

_And that's what you are_

_I've had a merry time with you_

The Doctor almost gave up with a childish sigh, but he pressed on. More flannel shirts, woman's dresses, woman's nightwear, thick winter coats. He searched and searched until one finally caught his fancy. A brown suit with blue pinstripes, a matching overcoat, and a pair of cream white Converse All Stars trainers. "Brilliant." He grinned, running off and changing quickly into his new clothes. As he finished, he stepped in front of the wardrobe mirror. Putting his hands in his pockets, he twirled around a tad, being pleased with his new getup. Then, he looked at his face. He ran a hand over his jaw, feeling his sideburns with a blink then ran his tongue over his new teeth. His hair was brown, just as Rose said, and had a messy, spikey attitude. He tried to brush it down, but it fought back and simply stayed where it was. Giving him a final once over, he muttered with a shrug, "I can work with this." Then, he turned and left the wardrobe.

* * *

As the Powell Estate was bathed in night, another new Christmas tree in the flat was lit up as Jackie, Clara, Rose, and Mickey raced around to prepare their Christmas dinner, complete with a steaming, stuffed chicken. Jackie and Clara placed the rest of the meal down, while Rose brought out all the glasses, cutlery, and plates while Mickey tried, albeit poorly, to carve the chicken.

"How long does it take for him to change?" Jackie asked.

"No idea." Clara shrugged, moving to pass a bottle of wine to Jackie, while she grabbed a cold glass of water. She took a long sip, feeling it cool and refresh her weary throat. It still burned, but the pain had long since dulled. Then the door to the flat opened and closed, the four turning to see the Doctor standing there in his new getup.

"So…what'd you think?" He asked Clara.

She smiled, flittering her eyes up and down his body appreciatively. "Foxy." She said simply, and he winked at her. The Doctor then took off his overcoat and laid it on the sofa, before moving to the table where they all sat. There was only five chairs at the table, so the Doctor improvised, sitting down at one and pulling a shrieking Clara into his lap.

"God can you guys please do the flirting in your own time?" Jackie asked with a groan, Rose nodding with her.

""Our own time"?" Clara giggled. "We haven't had much-"

"You know what I mean."

Mickey, to their confused eyes, stood up and raced from the room, before momentarily returning with a handful of Christmas crackers. "You can't have Christmas without these!" He exclaimed.

"Don't we know about it?" The Doctor said, sending Clara a wink. The Doctor and Clara took one in both their hands and pulled, Clara almost falling out of her seat as she received the reward. "Oh, bugger!" The Doctor retorted playfully.

"What'd I get?" Clara muttered, pulling out an orange hat. "Ooh! I like orange." She placed it on her head, noticing the Doctor gaining a thoughtful look. "What?"

"Nothing." He smiled.

"Come on, spill it. What were you thinking about?"

He rolled his eyes. "I got an idea."

"What idea?"

"Oi! It's a surprise! And it'd be spoilers if I revealed it!" He admonished.

Rose then picked up a cracker and handed one end to Jackie. They pulled, Rose receiving the award. "Oh!" Jackie groaned as Rose pulled out a pink hat.

"It's pink!" Rose awed. "Mum! It should be yours!" She placed the hat on her head, while Mickey grabbed the remote and flicked the TV on.

"Look!" Mickey pointed to the TV. "It's Harriet Jones." They turned to the TV, the Doctor blinking as he found he just couldn't read the words on the screen. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of dark tortoise-shell rectangular frame glasses and put them on.

_"Prime Minister is it true you're no longer fit to be in position?"_  A reporter asked an agitated Harriet.

_"No. Now, can we talk about other things?"_

_"Is it true you're unfit for office?"_

_"Look, there is nothing wrong with my health. I don't know where these stories are coming from. And a vote of no confidence is completely unjustified."_

The flat phone rang, Jackie getting up to answer it.  _"Are you going to resign?"_

_"On today, of all days, I'm fine. I'm fine. Look at me, I'm fine. I look fine, I feel fine."_

"Aww." Clara mumbled. "I liked her."

"You wouldn't have liked what she did in the end." The Doctor grumbled.

Clara blinked. "What did she do?"

He sighed. "I'll tell you later." Clara turned her gaze to him, to encourage him to explain now, but she didn't. She just stared, a small blush growing on her face. "What?" He asked, moving to take his glasses off, but she stopped him.

"I'll kill you if you take those off." She whispered playfully, and he smiled.

"I'm not getting rid of them." She chuckled at that, allowing him to pocket the glasses.

Jackie returned into the room, the phone pressed against her shoulder. "It's Bev. She says, "Go and look outside"."

"Why?" Rose asked.

"I don't know. Just go outside and look. Come on, shift!" She clapped her hands, everyone moving to do as she said. They put on appositely warm clothing, the Doctor putting his overcoat back on as they exited the flat and descended the outside stairs to the ground floor of the Estate. Snow was falling all around them, already an inch of it covering the ground, creating a delicate crunching sound as they walked. They strolled along to the outside of the Estate, getting a more unobstructed view of the world around them. In the sky, amidst the darkness of night and the blowing of snow in the wind, they saw golden streams of light in the sky.

"Oh, that's beautiful." Rose awed. "What are they, meteors?"

"It's the spaceship, breaking up in the atmosphere." The Doctor explained as he and Clara stood side by side. "This isn't snow, it's ash."

Rose slouched her shoulders. "Okay…not so beautiful."

The Doctor carried on. "And this is a brand-new planet Earth. No denying the existence of aliens now, everyone saw it. Everything's new."

"And what about you two?" Rose asked. "What're you up to next?"

"Well…back to the TARDIS, same old life. Why? Do you not want to travel anymore?" He asked.

"What? No." Rose said obviously. "I don't want to stop."

"You're very welcome to at any point." Clara agreed.

"Ugh, that's it. I'm done with you two, you drive me bonkers." Rose groaned, making them chuckle.

"You're never going to stay, are you?" Jackie asked sadly.

Rose slouched her shoulders, taking her Mum's hands. "Mum, there's just so much out there, so much to see. But I'm not leaving, okay? I'll always come back, even if I have to drag them down with me."

"You'd better." Jackie agreed. "Besides, I reckon you're mad, all three of you. It's like you go looking for trouble."

"Nah, come on, Jackie, trouble's just the bits in between!" The Doctor said with glee. "It's all waiting out there, and it's brand-new to me. All those planets and creatures and horizons, I haven't seen them yet, not with these eyes." He glanced down at Clara with a beaming grin. "And it is going to be…fantastic."

Clara smiled and hugged his side, leaning her head into him as he wrapped an arm around her. "Where are we going to first?" She asked.

"Umm…" He pointed a finger out to their right. "That way. No, hold on." He retracted again, moving the finger towards their left a bit more before nodding. "That way. What'd you think?"

"Time or space?" She asked.

"How about both?" They chuckled at that.

"Well, sorry to break up the moment, but we've got a chicken to finish." Jackie admonished. "And it's freezing out here, so come on!" They followed her and moved back towards the flat.

"Oh, by the way…" Rose started with a smirk.

"Don't you dare." The Doctor warned, Clara's gaze flickering back and forth with bewilderment.

"He got his hand chopped off in a sword fight." She grinned with her tongue in her teeth.

Clara's jaw dropped before it turned stern. "You didn't?"

"You're not going to hit me, are you?" He squeaked, making Rose, Mickey, and Jackie snort.

Clara sighed. After that regeneration energy hit, she was beginning to feel a bit tired again. "Maybe later."

He breathed out at that. "Okay, fair enough."

* * *

The entire group had feasted that night, devouring every morsel of food that was offered until they felt so tired, even Mickey decided to crash on the sofa for the night. The Doctor however, decided to carry Clara all the way back to the TARDIS and into their own room. They quickly changed into nightwear before snuggling into each other in the bed. Clara, to his surprise, whimpered and she drew closer to him.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I keep thinking at any moment, you'll leave." She said. She looked up at him as he cupped her cheek, her eyes were trying to fight off her sleep, but she was beginning to fail. "I've missed you." Clara said softly.

"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere." He returned her tone, pulling her into a hug.

"I…" Her voice grew weary as well, her body slouching but she still tried to fight it.

"It's all right, Clara, you can sleep. I'll be right here where you need me." He said, and he drew her in tighter. He felt her relax and sigh, before her body calmed completely and the only sound that filled the room was her soft breathing as she drifted away. He kissed her forehead and leaned his head onto hers, before following her into the realm of Morpheus.

**AN: Welcome to the TARDIS, David!** _***Squeals before clearing throat*** _ **Sorry. I do hope you managed to understand what I was trying to with Clara there, in order to keep her in the Doctor's life. I also didn't want to go with the whole "Clara is secretly a Time Lady" route, cause it felt a tad gimmicky, so I hope this one made some form of sense. Anyway, I can't wait to start Season 2. Especially "The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit". If it wasn't for "Heaven Sent", that two-parter would be my favourite Nu Who episode I've ever seen. Anyway, as always, thanks for reading and leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	28. New Earth

**New Earth**

**Powell Estate, London  
** 3rd January 2007

When Jackie had practically forced the Doctor and Clara to stay a few days during Christmas to let Clara recover from her literal "Mental Episode", it surprisingly turned into an entire week. One whole week of friendly chatter with Rose, Mickey, and yes, they inwardly groaned at Jackie's consistent, nonsensical rambling, especially with Bev's latest cook recipes or how she tried to get back with Howard again, to no avail. When the week ended, the Doctor, Clara and Rose in unison decided to restart their travelling again. Jackie, of course, tried fruitlessly to make them stay longer but they couldn't be swayed. Now, at a bright yet remarkably cold midday, Rose, Jackie, and Mickey stood outside the silent TARDIS. The Doctor and Clara had already gone within to prepare for departure, while Rose was packed to the brim with clothes, despite the enormous wardrobe inside the ship. Rose had taken a new outfit to try, a diesel blue and purple top, with black Topshop trousers and a magenta jacket. Jackie, as usual, was fussing over Rose's every detail, to Rose's astonishment and Mickey's enjoyment.

"Are you sure you've got everything?" Jackie asked again.

"I've got everything, don't worry."

Jackie finally nodded in contempt. "Be careful."

They embraced in a hug with a parting kiss on the cheek. "You'll have to call Mo about that-"

"Oh, never mind Mo." Jackie interrupted.

"Okay, I'm going now. I love you." Rose said as they parted.

"Love you." Jackie requited.

Rose then hugged Mickey, the two parting with a kiss on the cheek. "Be careful out there." He said.

"See you later." Then, Rose rushed inside the TARDIS, closing the doors behind her just as the Doctor put the TARDIS into flight, dematerialising away from the Powell Estate and into the Vortex. She placed her bag on the Captain's chair, before glancing around, seeing only the Doctor at the console. "Where's Clara?" She asked.

"In the wardrobe. Said something about trying out "A fresh look"." The Doctor said as he worked.

She shrugged at that. "So, where are we going?" Rose asked as she gripped the console.

"Further than we've ever gone before." He said simply, the two sharing a grin. He then flicked a large lever on the console, sending them tumbling through fast into the Vortex, rocking the ship as if it was in a sea storm. The Doctor whooped before he flicked the same lever again, the ship now landing at their desired destination with a thump. They stumbled slightly against the TARDIS, laughing as they did. He then grabbed his overcoat while Rose went to the door. "Hold on." He called. "Wait for Clara."

As if on cue, they hear the click clack of heels as Clara re-enters the console room. As she does, Rose cocks an eyebrow while the Doctor's jaw drops. Clara had donned a velvet lapel blazer, matching trousers with a boyfriend shirt, a floppy bow, and a pair of heels. Even her hair was brushed, framing her face on both sides. She smirked, looking at the Doctor who stared at her. "Like what you see?" She flirted.

He grinned wolfishly while Rose plugged her fingers in her ears. "Mmmmmmmm." He…purred. That made Clara giggle, walking up to him and grasping his tie.

"You see, I figured that if you can pull that look off, maybe I can too."

"Well, I'm sure that-that there are a few looks of mine that y-you wouldn't-" Clara cut off his sheepish stammering by smashing her lips on his, allowing him to pull her in tight. Rose just glanced away with a look of disgust. When they parted with slightly flushed faces, Clara turned to Rose, holding her arms out.

"So, what'd you think?" Rose just squinted her eyes, and Clara rolled hers. "Come on, look at me." She twirled around briefly before Rose cut her off.

"Yeah, ok." Rose shrugged.

Clara blinked a bit before shaking her head. "No, no, no, no. I meant like…" She brushed her hair back with a beaming smile. "Look at me."

"I am looking." Rose shrugged with a huff.

Clara's face deflated at that. "Seriously?"

"Yes. You look like you're about to go to a bank." Rose shrugged as if it were obvious.

"No, I don't!" Clara huffed, making Rose snort as she walked to the door.

"If it makes you feel any better, Clara, you look incredible." The Doctor complimented, hugging her from behind.

"Thank you." She said honestly.

"Hold on." Rose double checked on Clara. "Are you taller?"

Clara's jaw dropped. "Did you not hear the heels from a few seconds ago?" She asked, kicking up a foot to show her footwear.

"Why're you wearing them? Do you need to reach a high shelf?" Rose quipped with her tongue in her teeth.

"Ugh, come on! We could be late." Clara said, pulling the Doctor past Rose and out the doors.

Rose blinked. "For a shelf?" She muttered before shrugging and following them out. As they did, any bickering they were partaking in evaporated in an instant to be replaced with awe, while the Doctor gazed on with a blinding grin. The TARDIS had materialised on a pure green countryside, a small distance from a nearby blue ocean. Beyond was a grand spiralling silver city with hordes of racing, flying cars zooming over their heads, circling the city, and moving throughout its infrastructures. Although, it didn't help their vision with the flowing wind billowing their hair around them, while the Doctor's overcoat kept flapping about.

"It's the year five billion and twenty-three. We're in the galaxy "M87" and this…this is "New Earth"."

"That's just…that's just…" Rose couldn't find words for a moment before she burst into laughter.

"It's beautiful." Clara awed before she too giggled.

The Doctor nodded. "Not bad. Not bad at all."

"That's amazing." Rose awed with a grin. "Oh, I'll never get used to this, never. Different ground beneath my feet." She bounced up and down on the spot like an excited kid. "Different sky." She breathed out before blinking. "Wait, what's that smell?"

The Doctor sniffed before kneeling, snatching a stalk of grass, and sniffed it. "Apple grass." He concluded with a grin.

"Seriously?" Clara muttered. The Doctor gave it to her and she sniffed. Then she burst into laughter. "You weren't kidding." He winked at her as she let the stalk fly away in the wind.

"Oh, I love this." Rose said earnestly. "Can I just say? Traveling with you two, I love it."

"Hold on." Clara tutted with a smirk. "Didn't you just make fun of my outfit?"

"Oh fine!" Rose huffed. "You look great."

"Thank you. And to add to your statement…so do we." Clara winked. Then the Doctor took their hands in his.

"Come on!" He beamed, leading them off down the countryside. They were unknowingly being watched by a small spider drone. It's beady red eye focused on them as they raced across the landscape, before the Doctor took off his overcoat and placed it down on the grass. The Doctor and Clara snuggled into each other on it while Rose lay beside them, the three staring up at the sky and the city.

 _"Human!"_  A breathless voice spoke within the drone's computer.  _"The blonde! She's pureblood human."_  The eye zoomed into focus on the back of Rose's head.  _"Her face. Who is she? Move closer. Closer."_ The voice implored, and the drone silently crept around them, keeping a few paces away to remain unnoticed.

"So, the year five billion, the sun expands, the Earth gets roasted." The Doctor said.

"That was my first trip with you." Rose said with a grin.

"We still didn't pay up, did we?" Clara asked with wide eyes.

"Oh, it's all right. It wasn't even that dare." Clara sighed in relief at that.

"So, anyway, planet gone, all rocks and dust but the Human race lives on, spread out across the stars." The Doctor continued his rambling. "Soon as the Earth burns up, oh, they get all nostalgic, big revival movement, and they find this place. Same size as the Earth, same air, same orbit, lovely. Call goes out, the Humans move in."

"What's the city called?" Rose asked.

""New New York"."

"Oh, come on." Rose groaned.

"It is!" The Doctor whined. "It's the city of "New New York"." Then he thought for a moment. "Strictly speaking, it's the fifteenth New York since the original. So that makes it "New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York"." Clara giggled, making him blink. "What?"

"You're so different and yet…you're not." Clara said cryptically with a smirk.

"New New Doctor. But if this is my tenth face, that would make me "New New New New New New New New Doctor"." Clara couldn't handle it and she burst out laughing at that. "What?" He whined.

"Sometimes you're foxy…other times, you're cute." Clara mocked in her giggling.

"You're going to pay for that, missy." The Doctor flirted before rolling on top of her giggling form and kissing her deeply. Rose looked away, waggling her tongue out like she tasted a horrible meal.

"Bloody hell." She muttered. "Get a room."

Unknown to them, the drone still watched them closely.  _"Impossible!"_  An English voice rang through the drone's mind.  _"I recognize that blonde child. And the brunette. Their faces. Show me their faces!"_ She demanded.

 _"Closer. Closer."_  The rasping man ordered.  _"Face. Face. Face!"_

"Can we go visit New New York, so good, they named it twice?" Rose interrupted, making the pair jump slightly as they got up with flushed faces, Clara helping the Doctor place his overcoat back on.

"Well  _*Clears Throat*_  I thought we might go there first." He nodded to a large, silver infrastructure separate from the city. Tall with a slight round face at the front with a large green crescent moon in a circle on the side.

"Why? What is it?" Rose asked.

"Some sort of hospital. That's the green moon on the side, the universal symbol for hospitals."

"What about the red cross?" Clara asked.

The Doctor sniggered. "It's the universal symbol for kindergartens."

"You're kidding?" Clara growled.

"Don't blame me!" The Doctor squealed as she readied to slap him. "Blame whoever came up with that."

"Why're we going there then?" Clara asked as she took a breath to calm herself.

"I got this." He pulled out his psychic paper, which brought up a message saying, "Ward 26. Please come". "Someone wants to see me."

"Hmm. And I thought we were just sightseeing." Rose muttered. "Come on, then. Let's go and buy some grapes."

"Are we buying?" Clara asked as they walked off.

The drone quickly got a shot of their faces and heard the English voice gasp.  _"Clara Oswald and Rose Tyler, I knew it! The brunette and her dirty blonde assassin."_

_"They're coming here, mistress!"_

_"But this is beyond coincidence. This is destiny."_ The voice smiled. _"At last, I can be revenged on that leprechaun and her little b-"_

* * *

"Bit rich, coming from you?" Rose retorted as they entered the ground floor of the partly empty hospital.

"I can't help it." The Doctor shrugged. "I don't like hospitals, they give me the creeps."

 _"The Pleasure Gardens will now take visitors carrying green or blue identification cards for the next fifteen minutes."_  An automated female voice rang through the room.  _"Visitors are reminded that cuttings from the gardens are not permitted."_

"Very smart." Rose drawled as they moved past the long front reception desk and into a large room, the centre holding waiting chairs and three sets of elevators in the nearby wall. "Not exactly NHS."

"No shop. I like the little shop." The Doctor whined, making Clara blink.

"Why're you complaining about the lack of shops?"

"What's wrong with a little shop?" The Doctor asked rhetorically.

"I thought this far in the future, they'd have cured everything." Rose wondered as she stared around the expansive room.

"The Human race moves on, but so do the viruses. It's an ongoing war." The Doctor paused as Clara and Rose were gawping at the white clothed nuns walking around, who had loosened their mask cloths. But they were cats. Humanoid cats in nun clothes and one simply nodding in greeting to Clara and Rose.

Clara, to his surprise, melted a bit. "Aww. I like cats." She cooed.

"Clara." He droned with a slight whine. "You can't tell them that. They'd find it offensive."

Rose stared at them in shock. "They're cats. They're actual, walking cats."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Rose don't stare. Think what you look like to them all…" He looked Rose up and down with a frown of confusion. "Pink and yellow." He shrugged at Clara, who cocked an eyebrow at him. Before Rose could retort, he pointed to an empty spot at a wall. "That's where I'd put the shop, right there." Rose blinked, looking to where the cat nuns had walked to as the Doctor led Clara to an elevator. "Ward Twenty-six, thanks." He called as he and Clara stepped in, Rose rushing to join them as the doors slid shut.

 _"Oh, hold on!"_  Rose called but it was too late.

"Oh, too late, sorry. We're going up." Clara said apologetically.

_"It's all right! There's another lift!"_

"Ward Twenty-six. And watch out for the disinfectant!" The Doctor called.

"The what?" Clara asked with a frown.

_"Watch out for what?!"_

"The disinfectant!" The Doctor said in irritation.

_"The what?!"_

"The di-oh, never mind. She'll find out."

"Find out what?" Clara asked but he simply gulped.

In the other lift, Rose stepped in cautiously, the doors sliding shut. "Um…Ward Twenty-six…thanks." She said awkwardly but felt relieved as the lift moved.

" _Commence stage one disinfection."_  The automated voice called.

A shower of water ran onto the Doctor, Clara, and Rose, the first laughing as it did while the latter two shrieking with a gasp. "That's it!" The Doctor beamed while Clara glared daggers into him. "Oh, relax! It's only water!" He quickly scrubbed his hair before the water shut off and a puff of white steam blew through, drying off all excess water and returning their clothes to normal. Then a heat fan blew through the lift to warm them up again. The Doctor opened up his overcoat, letting the air billow around him with a lazy smile. Clara and Rose both calmed down and used the fan to resort their looks out.

"Okay…do I still look all right?" She asked as she brushed her hair again, improvising with her fingers.

"You look gorgeous." The Doctor complimented before he blinked. "Are you doing that just to impress me?" He asked with a smirk.

The doors opened on cue, allowing a furiously blushing Clara to step out. "No!" She squeaked, and he laughed, racing after her.

Rose exited her elevator yet blinked as she found herself in a mess of a room with pipes and lead strewn all over the floor.

"The Human child is clean." The rasping male voice said. She turned to look into the long hallway, seeing a man wearing a white hospital outfit with a blue bowler hat. However, his skin was dreadfully pale with a sunken, reddish glaze around his tired eyes and lots of markings all over his skin, that looked like the tentacles of an octopus.

"Um…I'm looking for Ward Twenty-six?" Rose asked timidly.

"This way, Rose Tyler." That made her squint her eyes as he turned to walk down the hallway, so improvising, she picked up a lead pipe off the ground in her right hand like a weapon and moved cautiously after the hunched man.

* * *

The Doctor and Clara walked with linked arms as a cat nun escorted them through the working areas of the hospital. "Nice place." He commented before frowning. "No shop downstairs. I'd have a shop. Not a big one, just a shop. So, people can…" Clara stared at him with dull eyes. "Shop." He cleared his throat sheepishly.

"The hospital is a place of healing." The cat lady said.

"A shop does some people a world of good. Not me…other people."

She shook her head. "The Sisters of Plenitude take a lifelong vow to help and to mend." They walked past a hospital bed, holding a large rock man dressed in regal golden robes and an over dressed in black business woman standing by his side. The man groaned in pain, making them look over, Clara especially with wide eyes while the woman frowned.

"Excuse me!" She huffed. "Members of the public may only gaze upon the Duke of Manhattan with written permission from the Senate of New New York."

"That's Petrifold Regression, right?" The Doctor asked, nodding to the man.

"I'm dying, sir, ma'am." The Duke gasped out. "A lifetime of charity and abstinence and it ends like this." He commented dryly despite his condition.

"Any statements made by the Duke of Manhattan may not be made public without official clearance." The woman huffed again.

"Frau Clovis." The Duke tried to reach for her hand, but as he moved, it was only caused a loud, scraping noise, making even the nun scrunch her face. Frau quickly moved back to the bed and took his hand. "I'm so…weak."

"Sister Jatt!" Frau hissed. "A little privacy, please!"

Sister Jatt motioned for the Doctor and Clara to follow her again, while Clara gazed sadly at the Duke. "What's wrong with him?" She asked.

"He's turning to stone." The Doctor said grimly.

"Don't worry. He'll be up and about in no time." The Doctor stared in confusion at Sister Jatt.

"With Petrifold Regression? I doubt it, there won't be a cure for about…oh…a thousand years? He might be up and about but only as a statue."

"Have faith in the Sisterhood." Sister Jatt simply said before glancing around the room. "But is there no one here you recognize? It's rather unusual to visit without knowing the patient."

The Doctor glanced around before his gaze stopped in a corner of the room, a soft smile growing on his face. "No. I think I've found him." Clara and Sister Jatt turned to where he was gazing, seeing a cat nun standing beside the sleeping Face of Boe.

They walked over to gaze at the Face of Boe, the nun turning to look at them. Unlike the nun's they've already met, this one seemed younger, more youthful. "Novice Hame, if I can leave these two in your care?" She asked and Novice Hame nodded.

"Oh, I think our friend got lost." Clara quickly said. "Rose Tyler, could you please ask at reception?"

"Certainly ma'am." Sister Jatt nodded before walking away. They both turned to look at the Face of Boe, who was still sleeping away, but his breathing was rather ragged, accompanied by an occasional groan.

"I'm afraid the Face of Boe's asleep." Novice Hame said softly. "It's all he tends to do these days. Are you two friends or…"

They shook their heads. "We met just the once on Platform One." The Doctor explained. "What's wrong with him?"

Novice Hame blinked sadly. "I'm so sorry, I thought you knew. The Face of Boe is dying."

They gazed at him sadly. "Of what?" Clara asked.

"Old age. One thing we can't cure. He's thousands of years old, some people say millions, although that's impossible." Novice Hame smiled lightly at that.

"Oh, I don't know." The Doctor gazed at Clara with a fond smile. "I like impossible." Clara gazed back at him in adoration for a second before they knelt before the Face of Boe, the Doctor placing a hand on the glass. "We're here. I look a bit different but it's me. It's the Doctor and Clara." The Face of Boe just murmured, shifting around slightly in his sleep.

* * *

Rose followed the man with caution as he moved into a small room at the end of the hallway. After waiting a few moments, she moved through herself, hearing the soft sounds of a piano playing off…a film reel projector. In the middle of the room on a stand was a film reel projector, playing footage reels of a glamorous party, people clinking their champagne glasses together, dressed in slick black and white suits or in beautiful gowns and dresses. The person filming then moved through the room and the camera turned upon a beautiful blonde woman in a silver dress, holding a glass in her hand as she conversed with two men.  _"Well, you never know what your life's going to be like, ever."_ She then passed a glass to one of them with an indifferent look.  _"I'm bored with this drink. Anyway…"_  Another man walks into frame and she smiles.  _"Oh, hello darling."_  He leans in and whispers into her ear and she blushes.  _"Oh! Now, don't! Stop it!"_

Rose squinted her eyes in realization. "Wait a minute, that's-" She turned around to see Cassandra staring at her with the same satisfied smile.

"Peekaboo!" Cassandra said.

"Don't you come anywhere near me, Cassandra." Rose warns, holding up the lead pipe threateningly.

"Why?" She blinks. "What do you think I'm going to do, flap you to death?"

Rose blinks awkwardly at that. "Yeah, but…what about Gollum?"

Cassandra looks at the hunched man. "Oh, that's just Chip. He's my pet."

"I worship the mistress!" Chip interjects.

"Moisturize me. Moisturize me." Cassandra implores, making Chip pick up a spray bottle filled with red liquid. "He's not even a proper life-form. He's a force-grown clone. I modelled him on my favourite pattern. But he's so faithful. Chip sees to my physical needs."

"I hope that means food." Rose quips with a shudder of disgust. "How come you're still alive?"

"After you murdered me?" Cassandra asks accusingly.

"That was your own fault." Rose retorted.

"The brain of my mistress survived." Chip explained before gazing at Cassandra in adoration. "And her pretty blue eyes were salvaged from the bin."

"What about the skin? I saw it, you  _*Chuckles*_  you got ripped apart."

"That piece of skin was taken from the front of my body. This piece is the back." Cassandra explained.

Rose laughed. "Right! So, you're talking out of your a-"

"Ask not!" Cassandra huffed.

"The mistress was lucky to survive. Chip secreted milady into the hospital."

"So, they don't know that you're here?" Rose deducted.

"Chip steals medicine. Helps milady." He smiles sweetly, placing a hand on the back of Cassandra. "Soothes her. Strokes her."

Rose shuddered again. "Okay, you can stop right there, Chip."

"But I'm so alone, hidden down here, the last Human in existence."

Rose groaned. "Don't start that again. They've called this planet "New Earth"."

"A vegetable patch." Cassandra scoffed.

"And there's millions of Humans out there, millions of them."

"Mutant stock."

"They evolved, Cassandra. They just evolved, like they should. And you stayed still. You got yourself all pickled and preserved and what good did it do you?"

"Oh, I remember that night." Cassandra said, ignoring her, and focusing on the film reel. "Drinks with the Ambassador of Thrace. That was the last time anyone told me I was beautiful. After that, it all became…such arduous work." She spat the last words.

"Well, you've got a knack for survival, I'll give you that."

"But I've not been idle, Rose. Tucked away, underneath this hospital, I've been listening. The Sisters are hiding something."

"What'd you mean?" Rose asked, now interested.

"Oh, these cats have secrets. Hush let me whisper. Come closer." Cassandra implored.

Rose scoffed. "You must be joking if you think I'm coming anywhere near you." Rose backed away to the door but suddenly found herself unable to move. She looked to either side, seeing two long black panels shooting golden light out that was latching onto her hands, keeping them stone still.

"Chip activate the psychograft." Cassandra demanded.

"I can't move. Cassandra, let me go!" Rose shrieked as Chip rushed to a lever and pulled it. It caused a circle of blue light to surround Rose's body. "What're you doing?!"

"The lady's moving on. It's goodbye, trampoline, and hello, blondie." Then, Cassandra's skin disappeared in a haze of deep pink, which then shot over to Rose's head and entered her mind. Rose then sighed, and the light disappeared along with the restraints, letting her collapse onto the stone floor.

Chip cautiously walked over to her, blinking before Rose groaned. "Mistress?" He asked.

"Moisturize me." Rose grumbled. Chip nodded and moved to grab the bottle but stopped as he saw her gazing at her hands with wide eyes. "How bizarre. Arms. Fingers." She twiddled them about a bit before her blonde hair fell in front of her face and she stared at it in disbelief. "Hair." She gasped before rushing up off the ground. "Let me see! Let me see!" She rushed over to a nearby mirror before her face fell into shock. "Oh my god! I'm a chav!"

* * *

 _"Hope, harmony and health. Hope, harmony and health."_  The automated voice repeated as the Doctor walked back over to Clara and Novice Hame with a few cups of water.

"Thank you." Clara said softly, and he smiled at her.

"It's very kind." Novice Hame said, taking a grateful sip from the water. "But there really is no need."

"You're the one working." He shrugged, moving to the window to gaze out at the city.

"There's not much to do, just maintain his smoke. And I suppose I'm company. I can hear him singing sometimes, in my mind." She softened her features even more at that. "Such ancient songs."

"Are we the only visitors?" Clara asked.

"The rest of Boe-kind became extinct long ago. He's the only one left." The Doctor gazed down sadly for a moment before walking to stand beside Clara. "Legend says that the Face of Boe has watched the universe grow old. There's all sorts of superstitions around him." Novice Hame said with a smile. "One story says that just before his death, the Face of Boe will impart his great secret and that he will speak those words only to one like himself."

"What does that mean?" The Doctor asked, him and Clara gazing at her with intrigue.

"It's just a story." Novice Hame shook her head.

"Tell us the rest."

She sighed. "It's said he'll talk to a wanderer. To the man without a home. The lonely god." The Doctor gazed at the Face of Boe sadly, so Clara wrapped an arm around him and leant her head into his chest. He relaxed at her gesture, wrapping another arm around her, and kissing her head.

* * *

"Look at me. From class to brass." Rose gasped as she looked at her figure. But then…she stopped. "Although…" She unzipped her jacket sultrily, moving her hands to admire the curves of her frame. "Ooh, curves." She purred. "Oh ho, baby." She smiled as she began to hop slightly up and down on the spot. "It's like living inside a bouncy castle."

"The mistress is beautiful." Chip complimented.

"Absolutement." She said in a French accent. Then, she turned her gaze to the empty skin frame and saw the brain capsule at the bottom was now dead of all activity. "Aww." She and Chip moved to gaze at it closely.

"Oh, the brain meat expired." Chip said sadly. "My old mistress is gone."

"But safe and sound in here." She tapped the side of Rose's head softly before brushing her hand over her collarbone in contempt.

"But what of the Rose child's mind?"

She shrugged. "Oh, tucked away. I can just about access the surface memory. She's…" She blinked as an image of the Doctor and Clara came up in her head. "Gosh. She's with the Doctor. They both still are." Then her eyes widened as she realized that he was the same man. "That man. He's the Doctor. The same Doctor with a new face. That hypocrite!" Then, she shrugged at the remarkable work he did. "I must get the name of his surgeon." She moved back to the mirror, brushing her hair again. "I could do with a little work. Although…" She ran her hands over her backside with a smile. "Nice rear bumper. Not sure if the curves could beat my old self but…" Then, an image of Clara came up in her head and her eyes widened again. "Or Clara's." She bit her lip with a blush. "Blimey, she looks good in that. Scratch that, she looks marvellous."

"Are you suggesting…" Chip let it hang and she blushed.

"Let a girl dream, Chip!" Rose squeaked before clearing her throat. At that, Rose's cell phone rang in her pocket, making her blink incredulously. "Oh. It seems to be ringing. Is it mean to ring?" She asked Chip, holding it up to gaze at it.

"A primitive communications device." Chip informed, and she nodded. She pressed the answer button and held it up to her ear.

 _"Rose, where are you?"_  Clara's voice came through and Rose shuddered in delight.

"Even her voice." She drawled before shaking her head to fight away the blush. "How does she speak?" She whispered to Chip.

"Old Earth Cockney."

"Um…wotcha?"

* * *

Clara stood in a corner, holding her phone to her ear. "Where've you been? How long does it take to get to Ward Twenty-six? First you insult my clothing then you can't even get the right floor."

 _"I'm on my way, guvnor. I shall continue up the apples and pears_." Clara blinked at that.

"You all right, Rose? You're speaking really…odd." She said timidly.

 _"Completely fine. Totally fine."_  Rose sounded a bit breathless at that and she blinked again. Before she could continue, the Doctor motioned her over to the Duke's bed.

"I'd better go. I'll see you in a bit." She walked over to join the Doctor, where they saw a completely fine Duke lying in the bed, holding a champagne glass in the one hand while he laughed with Frau. Even Frau had a delighted smile on her face and a champagne glass in her hand.

"I didn't think I was going to make it, dear." He said and even his voice sounded relaxed and cheerful. Then, his eyes laid on the Doctor and Clara and he beamed. "It's those two again. They're my good luck charm. Come in!" He invited. "Don't be shy!"

"Any friendship expressed by the Duke of Manhattan does not constitute a formal legal contract." Frau quickly said in her huffy voice before she beamed again.

"Winch me up." He said, and she grabbed a remote, pressed a few keys into it and the back half of the bed raised so he could be eye level with them. "Ha! Look at me! No sign of infection!" He said with glee.

"Champagne, sir? Ma'am?" A waiter said, bringing over two glasses of champagne.

"No thanks." The Doctor said, and Clara echoed it as they stared at the Duke in disbelief. "Um…you had Petrifold Regression, right?"

The Duke nodded. ""Had" being the operative word. Past tense. Completely cured." He laughed in delight as another nun walked up to stand by them.

"But that's impossible. I mean, good on you, but that's impossible." He said.

"Primitive species would accuse us of magic but it's merely the tender application of science." The nun explained.

"How on Earth did you cure him?"

"How on "New Earth", you might say." She quipped but the Doctor ignored it.

"What's in that solution?"

"A simple remedy." She shrugged.

"Then tell me what it is."

"I'm sorry, patient confidentiality." She said simply before her eyes squinted. "I don't believe we've met. My name is Matron Casp."

"I'm the Doctor and this is Clara." Clara nodded but Matron's eyes squinted even more.

"I think you'll find that WE'RE the doctors here."

"Matron Casp." Sister Jatt had walked up to them as they talked with an urgent look on her face. "You're needed in intensive care."

Matron nodded. "If you would excuse me." They walked away, being watched closely by the TARDIS duo.

"It's happened again." Sister Jatt whispered. "One of the patients is conscious."

"Oh, we can't have that."

* * *

"This Doctor man is dangerous." Chip reasoned as Rose finished taking off her jacket and unbuttoned the top three buttons on her shirt to expose her cleavage.

"Dangerous and clever. I might need a mind like his. And maybe Clara's will help as well." She smiled sweetly. "The sisterhood is up to something. Remember that old Earth saying? "Never trust a nun, never trust a nurse and never trust a cat". Perfume?" Chip handed her a small bottle and she inserted it into the front of her bra, hanging just below the bottom of her cleavage. They then went ahead to walk out of the room and towards the elevator shafts.

* * *

Matron Casp and Sister Jatt walked through a maintenance door into a basement laboratory with a walkway, overlooking a dark chasm lit by a sickly green light. They turned to the right, moved down the walkway, passing by a number of capsules lit by the same green light.

"It was having a perfectly normal blood wash and all of a sudden, it started crying." Sister Jatt explained before they stopped before one capsule. "It's this one." She said, and she latched open the door. Within was a human male dressed in charcoal rags and covered from head to toe in every form of disease and illness imaginable.

"Please." He rasped. "Help me."

They ignored his pleading, instead staring into his terror filled eyes. "Look at its eyes. So alive." Sister Jatt commented and Matron Casp nodded.

"Positively sparkling."

"Please, where am I?" He asked, and they ignored him again.

"And speech. How can it even have a vocabulary?" She asked.

Sister Jatt shrugged. "Sister Corvin's written a thesis on the migration of sentience. She calls it "The Echo of Life". It's well worth a read."

"Help me." He pleaded again.

She shuddered in disgust. "I've seen enough, thank you." Sister Jatt nodded and closed the door as they made their way back to the entrance. "If this happens again, we'll have to review our brainstem policy."

"And what should we do with the patient?"

"Standard procedure: Incinerate." Sister Jatt moved to a nearby console and inputted a code into the computer before pulling a lever. Within the previously visited capsule, it flared with electrical blue light and the man screamed in agony as Sister Jatt left, the man's screams of pain going unanswered by anyone.

* * *

Rose walked out of the elevator and into Ward Twenty-six, looking around the room for a sign of the Doctor or Clara. She first saw the Doctor inspecting a large group of medical solutions while Clara gazed around the room. Then, her gaze fell on Rose. She squinted her eyes before shrugging at Rose's latest look before moving over to her.

"There you are. Come over here." Clara motioned Rose to join her and the Doctor, so she did. "Have a look at this patient."

The three gazed at a man suspended in mid-air, his skin coloured in a deep crimson. "Marconi's disease." The Doctor explained. "Should take years to recover. Him: Two days. I've never seen anything like it. They've invented a cell-washing cascade. It's amazing. Their medical science is far too advanced."

"And this man." Clara said, moving them over to a pale man, lying in a hospital bed with red and yellow wires running under his gown.

"Pallidome Pancrosis." The Doctor explained. "Kills you in ten minutes, and he's fine." The Doctor gazed around the room for a moment with narrowed eyes. "I need to find a terminal. I've got to see how they do this." He muttered, and the pair moved to follow him.

"Think about it, Rose." Clara said. "If they've got the best medicine in the world…then why is it such a secret?"

"I can't Adam and Eve it." Rose said nonchalantly.

"What's with the voice?" Clara asked, her and the Doctor furrowing their eyebrows.

Rose shrugged, grabbing her top to expose more cleavage. "Oh, I don't know, just larking about New Earth. New me."

Clara shrugged, blatantly ignoring Rose's gesture. "Well, we can talk. New Doctor and Clara."

"Mmm…aren't you just." Rose purred. Then without warning, she grabbed Clara's head and smashed her lips against hers. Clara's body shoots up in shock as Rose passionately kisses her, running her hands through her hair before parting, her breathing ragged with panting and Clara's hair ruffled from her affection. "T-t-terminal's this way." She stammered with a blush before walking away.

Clara watched her go with wide eyes before her jaw dropped. "What the fuck was that?" She glanced at the Doctor for help, who was gazing on with wide eyes and…a blush. "Oh, don't you dare think that." She growled, moving after Rose.

"Love you." The Doctor squeaked. Clara threw a thumbs up behind her and the Doctor relaxed slightly before moving to follow. They approached the terminal, standing there in awkward silence for a while as the Doctor searched the computer, every once in a while, using the sonic to scan past any security system he met. "Nope, nothing odd." He reported with a slight huff after a few moments. "Surgery…post-op…nanodentistry…no sign of a shop. Aww, they really should have a shop."

"What is it with you and shops?" Clara asked.

"I like shops." He whined.

"No, it's missing something else." Rose interjected. "When I was downstairs, those nurse cat nuns were talking about intensive care, but where is it?"

The Doctor exchanged a look with Clara. "You're right. Well done."

Rose didn't pick up on their silent agreement. "Why would they hide a whole department?" She contemplated for a few moments, searching the screen for information. "It's got to be there somewhere. Search the subframe."

"What if the subframe's locked?" The Doctor asked, shooting Clara another look.

"Try the installation protocol."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Yeah, of course. Sorry." He stuck the tip of his tongue in between his teeth as he used the sonic to bypass through the terminal. "Hold on a moment." He muttered before the terminal beeped a few times in succession. Then, a panel in the wall surrounding the terminal gave way, sliding down and disappearing into a slot within the floor, revealing a dark grey and humid pathway within. Rose smirked and moved in first, the Doctor and Clara grabbed each other's hand in comfort and moved after her, none of them noticing Novice Hame closely watching them. "Intensive care. It certainly looks intensive." The Doctor commented. They moved silently through walkways and stairwells before arriving at the full view of the patient capsules. The Doctor pulled out the sonic and unlocked one, unclasping the latch to open it. Their eyes laid upon the patient within, the Doctor's eyes gleaming with sullen anger, Rose's with disgust and Clara's with sorrow.

"That's disgusting." Rose commented. "What's wrong with him?"

"I'm sorry." The Doctor said to the patient, who's eyes were a bottomless pit of emotionless torment. "I'm so sorry." The Doctor closed the door before unlatching the one next to it, seeing a diseased female patient within.

"What disease is that?" Rose asked.

"All of them. Every single disease in the galaxy, they've been infected with everything."

"What about us? Are we safe?"

"The air's sterile. Just don't touch them." He closed the door before glancing at Clara as Rose moved up to the walkway to stare at all the capsules. "I'm sorry I made you see this." He said solemnly.

Clara nodded, but her eyes were blinking back at her tears. "It wasn't your fault. Just don't open another, please." She whimpered. The Doctor nodded and pulled her into a soft hug, his presence allowing Clara to calm down.

"Why would they do this?" She asked, her voice starting to be laced with a dull bitterness.

"Because they think it's the right thing." The Doctor said simply as they parted. Clara stared at the capsules, her eyes slowly becoming bright with a bitter anger which the Doctor mirrored in his own eyes as they walked to stand by Rose.

"How many patients are there?" Rose asked.

"They're not patients."

"But they're sick."

"They were born sick. They're meant to be sick. They exist to be sick. They're lab rats. No wonder the Sisters have got a cure for everything. They've built the ultimate research laboratory. A Human farm!" He spat, moving away from the railing.

"Why don't they just die?" Rose asked. That made them clench their jaws at her, any doubts they had about her behaviour were now solidified.

"Plague carriers. The last to go." The Doctor said simply.

"It's for the greater cause." Novice Hame interjected as she stepped out of the shadows from behind a stairwell.

"Novice Hame." Clara said bitterly. "When you took your vows, did you agree to this?"

"The Sisterhood has sworn to help."

"By killing?!" Clara spat.

"They're not real people. They're specially grown. They have no proper existence."

"So, what's the turnover? How many do you replace each day?" Clara growled, advancing on Novice Hame, glaring a burning fire in her eyes. "A thousand? Another thousand the next? How many thousands, for how many years?" Novice Hame blinked but didn't get a chance to speak. "How many?! Answer me!" Clara roared and Novice Hame flinched.

"Mankind needed us." Novice Hame said with a touch of fear. "They came to this planet with so many illnesses, we couldn't cope. We did try. We tried everything. We tried using clone-meat and bio-cattle, but the results were too slow. So, the Sisterhood grew its own flesh. That's all they are: Flesh."

"And have you taken into consideration that these people are alive?" The Doctor interjected, his tone echoing Clara's.

"But think of those Humans out there, healthy, and happy, because of us."

"If they live because of this, then life is worthless." The Doctor spat.

Novice Hame blinked. "And who are you to decide that?"

"I'm the Doctor and this is Clara. If you don't like it, if you want to take it to a higher authority, then you're sorely mistaken, because there isn't one. It stops with us."

Rose moved beside them, her posture ever so slightly awkward at their heated gazes. "Just to confirm…none of the Humans in the city actually know about this?" She asked.

Novice Hame blinked at bit in the difference in question. "We thought it best not-"

"Hold on a moment." Clara interrupted. "If I let myself think about this for a moment then I can understand the bodies and your vows, but I can't understand this: What have you done to Rose?"

Rose looked at them, holding back her shock while Novice Hame blinked in confusion. "I don't know what you mean." She said simply.

"I am trying to be very calm, right now." Clara warned. "And the only reason I'm trying to be calm is because, and I take this from my own experience, the brain is very delicate. Whatever you've done to Rose's head, reverse it." She ordered.

"We haven't done anything." Novice Hame said nervously.

"I'm perfectly fine." Rose tried to reason but they didn't listen.

"Clara is right." The Doctor interjected. "These people are alive, living in torment and Rose would care."

Rose let her shoulders slouch, dropping whatever act she put up. "Oh, all right, Mr. Smarty-pants and Mrs. Clever clogs."

"What's happened to you?" The Doctor asked as they turned to look at Rose, who moved up close to them.

"I knew something was going on in this hospital, but I needed this body and your mind to find it out." She tapped the Doctor's forehead as she said "Mind" before smirking at Clara. "Of course, it turns out, two minds are better than one."

"Who are you?"

She smiled. "The last Human."

They blinked. "Cassandra?"

As they blinked, they shot each other a confused look, letting Rose take the opportunity to remove her perfume bottle from within her bra. "Wake up and smell the perfume." She sprayed a shot into both of their faces, causing their eyes to roll back into their head before they collapsed to the ground with a thud. Novice Hame looked on with wide eyes.

"You've hurt them." She gasped as she checked the Doctor's pulse. "I don't understand. I'll have to fetch Matron."

Rose nodded. "You do that, cause I want to see her. Now, run along! Sound the alarm!" Novice Hame rushed away and towards the stairwells as Rose pulled a nearby wire, causing an alarm to blare though the room. She then gazed up and down the nearby capsules, spotting only one that was empty. With a slight heave, she hauled the Doctor inside before moving Clara in and into his arms before she closed the door.

* * *

Novice Hame rushed back through the terminal entrance, spotting Matron Casp and Sister Jatt already walking through. "Matron! It's that man and the girls!"

Matron held out a hand to calm her. "We heard the alarm, we shall deal with it. Now get back to work. Tend to your patients." Novice Hame nodded and rushed from the room while the two nuns moved through the door.

* * *

The Doctor groaned as he shook away the forced grogginess of sleep, glancing around briefly inside the small capsule. He found he couldn't move, spotting an unconscious Clara in his arms as the reason but because of that, he couldn't reach the door. "Clara?" He whispered, moving his hands to check her pulse. He then realized it was fruitless, so he withdrew them away.

"Doctor." She whimpered in her sleep and he sighed in relief. Footsteps clacked outside the door and he looked up, seeing Rose through the glass, yet his vision of her was obscured by the heavy amount of green on the glass. "Let us out! Let us out!" He demanded.

"Aren't you two lucky that there was a spare?" Rose asked rhetorically as Clara groaned, fighting off her forced sleep. "Standing room only."

"You've stolen Rose's body. Let me guess, psychograft?" The Doctor asked.

Rose blinked a bit in surprise but shook it off. "Over the years, I've thought of a thousand ways to kill both you and your missus, Doctor. And now that's exactly what I've got: One thousand diseases. They pump the patients with a top-up every ten minutes. You've got about…" She quickly checked her watch. "Three minutes left. Enjoy."

"Cassandra…let Rose go." Clara said in warning.

"I will." She shrugged. "As soon as I find someone younger and…less common. Then, I'll junk her with the waste. Now, hush-a-bye. It's showtime."

"Anything we can do to help?" The voice of Matron Casp came through the glass.

"Straight to the point, whiskers. I want money."

The Doctor and Clara rolled their eyes. "Again?" He grumbled.

Matron Casp scoffed. "The Sisterhood is a charity. We don't give money, we only accept."

"The Humans across the water pay you a fortune and that's exactly what I need. A one-off payment. That's all I want. Oh, and perhaps a yacht." Both the cat duo and the TARDIS duo blinked at each other in puzzlement at that. "In return for which, I will tell the city nothing of your institutional murder. Is that a deal?" She asked, and the cat duo just stared darkly at her.

"I'm afraid not."

"I'd really advise you to think about this." Rose warned.

"Oh, there's no need. I have to decline."

"I'll tell them, and you've no way of stopping me." They cocked their eyebrows at her. "You're not exactly nuns with guns. You're not even armed."

"Who needs arms when we have claws?" She snarled, bringing up her hand and unsheathing her claws right through her gloves.

The Doctor and Clara exchanged a puzzled look. "Did she really not think that through?" Clara asked. The Doctor shrugged.

"Well, nice try." Rose said with a nervous smile. "Chip. Plan B!" Chip moved out from the shadows and pulled a nearby lever on the console. This opened a large batch of green capsules, one of which held the TARDIS duo. They walked out, seeing the nuns looking on with wide eyes as the patients moved sluggishly out of their capsules.

"What've you done?!" The Doctor exclaimed.

"Gave the system a shot of adrenaline, just to wake them up. See ya!" Rose and Chip ran around the corner, the Doctor and Clara in pursuit.

"Don't touch them!" The Doctor called to the nuns. "Whatever you do, don't touch!"

The horde advanced on the nuns, repeatedly saying, "Please, help us. Save us." The nuns backed away, looking on with fear in their eyes. "I think we should withdraw." Sister Jatt urged to Matron Casp, who hastily nodded.

One man from the horde stepped forward towards the console, all the while staring straight at them. "We understood what you did to us. As part of the machine, we know the machine." He said in a raspy voice.

"Fascinating." Matron Casp said as they continued backing away. "It's actually constructing an argument."

"And we will end this." He shot his fist into the monitor, breaking the glass and causing electricity to arc within his body, which shortly thereafter collapsed dead onto the ground. His effect however was tenfold. The latch locks on every single capsule in sight burst apart in sparks, the capsule doors swinging open and letting every patient free from their cell.

"They're free." Sister Jatt said in terror. "By the goddess Centauri, the flesh is free!"

"Stop the pain." A female patient said as she strode forward, straight towards Sister Jatt. Sister Jatt hissed, trying to threaten her with her claws but the patient ignored it, moving until Sister Jatt was backed against the wall and she pressed her hand against her face. Sister Jatt screamed in agony, boils of every disease blaring across her face and throughout her own body. Her nerves and bones shot up in torment as she collapsed to the ground, shaking and shivering as she passed away.

* * *

The Doctor, Clara, Rose, and Chip came to the midpoint in the stairwell, looking on at what Rose had wrought.

"Oh my god." Rose breathed in shock and fear.

"What the hell have you done?" Clara growled.

"It wasn't me!" She tried to defend.

"One touch, you get every single disease in the world and you die. And we want that body safe, Cassandra!" The Doctor said quickly. More of the horde came pilling through the stairwell above them. "We've got to go down!"

"But there's thousands of them-"

"Run!" Clara roared, making a shrieking Rose and Chip rush down the stairs, the Doctor and Clara following swiftly behind as the horde neared closer.

"Down! Down! Go down!" The Doctor demanded as they rushed down.

A few flights below them, Matron Casp rushed up to a phone booth and quickly inputted a code in. "Quarantine the building!" She ordered before rushing away.

_"This building is under quarantine. Repeat: This building is under quarantine. No one may leave the premises. Repeat: No one may leave the premises."_

The group pushed through a door at the bottom of the stairwell, finding themselves in the basement where Cassandra took over Rose's body. Rose and Chip rushed to the elevators, but the Doctor stopped them. "No! The lifts have close down. That's the quarantine. Nothing's moving."

"This way!" Rose shrieked, rushing past and leading them to her old hideout. Moving through the corridors, they turned a corner to see the door. Rose, the Doctor and Clara moved up to the door but looked back as they heard Chip's terror filled whimpering as he was cut off by the horde.

"Don't let them touch you!" The Doctor called to Chip.

"Leave him!" Rose yelled.

"He's going to die!" Clara protested.

"He's just a clone thing! He's only got a half-life, now come on!" She demanded, pushing open the door.

"Mistress, please!" Chip called.

"I'm sorry, but we can't let her escape!" The Doctor called before he and Clara rushed after Rose.

"My mistress!" Chip called fruitlessly as they slammed the door behind them. Most of the horde moved away from the door and towards Chip, reaching out their hands to grasp but he moved away. Chip looked around quickly, his only way out being a waste chute. With some fearful trepidation, he rushed over and jumped in, screaming in terror as he did.

* * *

Frau moved through a door towards the open terminal route with her huffy attitude back. "Excuse me! Can we get some service?!" She called but no one answered. Well…except for the horde, which came from around the corner in mass. She screamed in fright, pressing the alarm before rushing out of the room.

* * *

The Doctor and Clara worked to bolt the door they just went through, while Rose went to the only other way out. She opened the door, quickly being greeted by the horde. With a scream, she slammed the door and bolted it shut, however they all knew it wouldn't last.

"We're trapped!" Rose freaked. "What are we going to do?"

The Doctor turned to her with a stern look. "Well, for starters, you're going to leave that body. That psychograft is banned on every civilized planet. You're compressing Rose to death!"

"Well, I've got nowhere to go. My original skin's dead!" She retorted with a huff.

"Not my problem." The Doctor growled. "You can float as atoms in the air, now get out!" Rose smirked yet it faded as the Doctor raised his sonic at her. "Let her go." He warned.

"You asked for it." Rose smirked.

"Don't you dare." Clara growled but Rose didn't listen. "Don't you-" Rose cut her off by sighing deeply, sending Cassandra's consciousness into the Doctor's body. The Doctor stumbled to keep his balance while Rose fell into Clara's hold.

"Blimey, my head." Rose grumbled, blinking to keep her vision as her head swam with a loud ringing noise in her ears. "What did I miss?" She asked Clara.

"You…Cassandra kissed me." Clara said with squinting eyes.

Rose blinked at that before scrunching her face in disgust. "Ew. I think I'm going to need a breath mint."

"Shut up!" Clara huffed, the two sharing a chuckle before Rose blinked in puzzlement.

"Wait a moment, where'd she go?"

"Guess." Clara said simply, and they turned to look at the Doctor, who's posture was now much more effeminate, almost hilariously so.

"Ooh, my." The Doctor said, looking around the room with a look of uncertain amusement. "This is…different."

"Cassandra?" Rose asked but the Doctor ignored her.

"Goodness me, I'm a man. Yum!" He said with a grin. "So many parts and…hardly used?" He smirked, glancing at Clara. "Ooh, you are a bad girl. Haven't done it with his new face yet, have you?" He drawled.

"Cassandra." Clara warned.

The Doctor ignored her as well, blinking with a look of shock and pleasure. "Ah! Two hearts! Oh, baby, I'm beating out a samba!" He exclaimed, pumping his chest out in rhythm with his heart beats.

"Get out of him!" Clara growled.

"Ooh, he's slim." The Doctor purred, running his hand down his body in delight. "And a little bit foxy." He winked at Clara, who blushed against her will.

"Stop it." She warned, but her voice was higher pitched.

"Is that why you wore that delicious outfit, Clara?" He asked with a knowing smile. "What thoughts have ran through your head about him?"

Clara cleared her throat. "Nothing." She squeaked.

"Mmm, you like his new face, don't you?" He asked, moving closer. "I wonder, how much more entertaining would it be if he was a g-" At that, one of the doors burst open, the horde moving through, all of them staring at the trio. "What do we do? What would he do?" He repeatedly demanded to Clara. "The Doctor, what the hell would he do?"

Clara looked around, past Cassandra's old skin cart to a ladder at the far end of the room. "That. We've got to get up." She said, making them turn to the ladder.

"Out of the way, shorty and blondie!" The Doctor said, moving past Clara and Rose to hastily climb up the ladder. Rose moved to follow, looking back to see Clara pulling out a pair of normal running shoes, hastily slipping them on and stuffing the heels into her pockets.

"How do those fit in there?!" Rose asked as Clara mounted on the ladder and climbed up after her.

"Bigger on the inside!"

"You're serious?!"

"Yes! I am not climbing a ladder in heels! This isn't Jurassic World!"

"Jurassic what?!"

Clara groaned. "Spoilers!"

* * *

Chip climbed out of the waste shute, finding himself back in intensive care. The horde quickly closed in around him, and he was forced to climb into an empty green capsule. They continued to grope and grasp at the glass to no avail while he whimpered and shivered in fear inside.

* * *

"If you get out of the Doctor's body, he can think of something!" Rose called as they continued to climb the ladder up the abandoned elevator shaft.

"Yap, yap, yap." The Doctor mocked as he climbed. "God, it was tedious inside your head, hormone city."

"Cassandra, just do it!" Clara growled. "We're going to die if-" She was cut off as a hand grabbed her ankle, making her grasp onto the ladder to not be pulled off. "Get off!" She demanded, looking down to see Matron Casp being the culprit.

"Get off of her!" Rose yelled as she and the Doctor looked down.

"All of our work! All that healing!" Matron Casp accused, making the Doctor roll his eyes. "The good name of the Sisterhood! You have destroyed everything!"

"Go and play with a ball of string!" The Doctor mocked.

"Everywhere, disease! This is the Human world, sickness-" She gasped, letting go of Clara's ankle as another hand grasped hers, this one being a patient of the horde. She felt her body burn with agony and the fire of torment as the diseases racked her entire body, causing her to loose grip on the ladder and fall screaming to her doom.

"Ow." Clara muttered. "I know how that feels."

"Clara, stop mucking about!" Rose freaked. "Cassandra, move!" The Doctor did as she said, moving up the ladder in haste, whimpering in fear as he did. They managed to gain some distance from the horde, coming to a panting stop at a closed elevator door.

"Now what do we do?" The Doctor asked as he tapped the door fruitlessly.

"Use the sonic screwdriver!" Clara called.

The Doctor pulled it out with a look of disgust. "You mean this thing?"

"Yes, I mean that thing!"

"Well, I don't know how. That Doctor's hidden away all his thoughts." The Doctor said, making Rose groan.

"Pass it to Clara, then!"

"I don't know every setting on the sonic! He hasn't taught me!" Clara said, making the Doctor and Rose groan.

"Cassandra, go back into me! The Doctor can open it!" Rose ordered but the Doctor looked sceptical. "Do it!"

"Hold on tight." The Doctor breathed in and out deeply, sending Cassandra's consciousness into Rose's body.

"Ah. Oh, chavtastic again." Rose grumbled with a roll of her eyes. "Open it!"

"Not till you get out of her." The Doctor warned, holding out his sonic threateningly.

"Doctor, if we stand here arguing, we're going to die!" Clara growled. "Just do something!"

The Doctor flickered his gaze about, before it landed on the front runner of the horde, a female patient that was getting close to Clara. "Sorry, Cassandra." He muttered before activating the sonic.

"What are you-" Rose cut herself off as she gasped, the consciousness of Cassandra moving out, past Clara and into the female patient. She blinked, looking about in confusion, before looking at herself.

"Oh, sweet lord! I look disgusting!" She huffed.

The Doctor quickly opened the door with the sonic, moving through and pulling Rose in. "Nice to have you back." He said before they both reached their hands out to grab Clara. "What happened to your heels?" He asked.

"You try and climb a ladder in heels." She said simply as they pulled her through.

"Oh, no you don't." The female growled before she sighed. Her consciousness evaporated out of her body and flew straight into Clara, who stumbled to the floor with a groan. The Doctor clenched his jaw and shut the door with the sonic.

"That was your last warning, Cassandra! Now give her back!" He demanded. However, they didn't move as they saw Clara's face become drenched in pitying sorrow.

"Inside her head…they're so alone." She said sadly. "They keep reaching out, just to hold us. All their lives, and they've never been touched." She sighed before her mouth dropped in shock, placing a hand on her chest to find Clara having no heartbeat. "How? She can't be. She should be dead." She muttered, checking her pulse as the Doctor knelt before her. "How is she alive? She can't be alive. And her mind…it's so silent. She's closed off, more than you were. How-"

The Doctor cut off her rambling by placing a hand on hers. "She already had someone inside her head." He said simply, and Clara's face radiated with pity. "I'm sorry, Cassandra, but you need to leave her."

Rose knelt beside them. "Go back into me." She said.

Clara blinked in surprise. "Why?"

"He needs her, Cassandra, you've seen it. Go back into me, and they'll sort this all out." Clara shook her head with uncertainty, but Rose took her hand gently. "It's okay. It'll be all right."

Clara sighed before nodding. "How long will it take?" She asked the Doctor.

"We go through that door and we're back in Ward Twenty-six. I can create a cure for the patients there, but I need her help. Please, you need to leave her."

"Brace yourself." Clara said softly before she sighed, sending her consciousness into Rose, who stumbled back slightly with a groan. Clara blinked, looking around before she saw the Doctor's sad expression.

"Are you all right?" He asked.

Clara nodded. "Yeah. I've been through worse." She quipped lightly but the Doctor took her face, shaking his head.

"Don't wish for that, Clara, okay?" She leaned her head into his hands, giving a soft smile as she did. "Welcome back." He said, placing a quick kiss on her lips before heaving her up to her feet. They jumped slightly as the horde pounded and rattled on the door, before they moved through the other door and back into Ward Twenty-six. They still saw the Face of Boe sleeping, a frightened Novice Hame by his side and the main entrance barred and bolted shut. Suddenly, Frau came charging at them with a growl, holding up a chair as an improvised weapon.

"We're safe!" The Doctor quickly said, stepping in front of Clara and Rose. "We're safe. Look, we're safe."

"Show me your skin!" She ordered.

Rose held up her hands while the Doctor and Clara rolled back their sleeves. "Look! We're clean! We're clean. If we'd been touched, we'd be dead." Frau clenched her jaw but nodded regardless, placing the chair down "So, what's going up here? What's the status?"

"There's nothing but silence from the other wards. I think we're the only ones left." Frau reported. "But I've been trying to override the quarantine. If I can trip a signal over to New New York, they can send a private executive squad." She said, pulling out a communication device as proof.

"You can't do that." The Doctor shook his head. "If they force entry, they'd break the quarantine."

"I am not dying in here!" Frau growled.

"We can't let a single particle of disease get out! There is ten million people in that city, they'd all be at risk! Now, turn that off!"

"Not if it gets me out!" Frau denies.

The Doctor shot Clara an exasperated look. "All right, fine. So, we'll have to stop you lot as well."

"Suits us." Clara grumbled before she turned to the Doctor. "Now, plan?"

The Doctor nodded. "Cassandra, Novice Hame." He quickly moved into the centre of the room, gaining everyone's attention. "Everyone, including you, your grace, beg your pardon." He quickly said.

"No problem." The Duke said quickly.

"Get me the intravenous solutions for every single disease. Move it!" Everyone raced into action, while Clara grabbed a rope and tied it around the Doctor as he improvised with a device, turning it into a hand sized elevator for the deactivated lifts. Everyone else rushed over and used the hooks on the solutions to pin them to the rope around the Doctor. "How's that?" He asked Clara. "Will that do?"

"It'll do fine enough." Clara shrugged as they moved to the elevator, Rose watching them closely.

"Hold on!" She called. "The lifts aren't working!"

"Not moving, different thing." The Doctor said obviously as he opened the door and took a position for a run up. "Here we go." He placed the sonic in between his teeth as he ran and jumped into the shaft, taking a quick grasp onto the steel cable, and clasping his improvised device onto it.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Rose demanded as Clara took position.

"We're going down." He muffled before taking the sonic out and locking the device. "Come on." He called.

"Not in a million years-you're going too?!" She freaked as Clara jumped in, wrapping her arms and legs around the Doctor's back. "You two are completely mad! Now wonder why you like each other so much!" She quipped.

"Cassandra, get back inside that room." The Doctor ordered. "You keep that body safe and we'll fix this mess, all right?"

Rose sighed before nodding. "All right just hurry up!" She yelled before racing back into Ward Twenty-six.

"Seal the doors!" They heard Frau order before they gazed at each other.

"Ready?" He asked with a blinding grin.

"Oh yeah." She said, grinning back at him.

"Going down." He said before pressing a button on the device, sending them plummeting down the shaft, whooping childishly as the wind rushed past, blurring their ears like a rollercoaster ride. Their speed caused small sparks to arc from the device, making Clara squeak with shock, the Doctor laughing manically before they came to a stop, collapsing on their asses on the roof of the elevator.

"Well, that's one way to lose weight." She quipped.

"You don't need to lose weight." The Doctor said with a smirk. "You look gorgeous regardless."

"Shut up!" She blushed before he opened a vat on the elevator roof.

"All right, Clara, when I say so, take hold of that lever." He pointed to the large lever beside the vat.

Clara joined the dots with a grin. "The disinfectant shower?" She asked.

He beamed. "I know. Brilliant, right?" He quickly took one of the solutions off the rope and tossed it in his hands. "But first, I've got to cook up a cocktail. I know a bit about medicine myself." He used his teeth to tear it open before spraying the contents into the water. He did it for every single one, each solution tipped in caused the water to boil and steam. "Now, that lever's going to resist but keep it in position." He tore off the rope and opened the latch in the elevator roof. "Hold on to it with everything you've got."

"Be careful down there, okay?" Clara said, and he beamed at her again.

"Don't worry, I've got an appointment. The Doctor is in." He jumped down the latch and Clara grasped onto the lever, feeling it tug and resist with shuddering jolts. The Doctor opened the lift door with the sonic, at once gaining the attention of the horde outside, who slowly moved towards him. "I'm in here! Come on!" He called, moving into the back of the lift. "Come and get me! Come on!"

 _"Commence stage one disinfection."_ The water sprayed through into the room, immediately drenching him to the bone.

"Hurry up! I'm in here! Come on!" A small group entered the lift with their hands reached out and then…they stopped. They gazed at themselves in awe as the water caused every disease to turn into steam, leaving their skin fair and unharmed. The effects of the water seeped into their bodies, rejuvenating, and replenishing their aching muscles and weary bones, cleansing them of every disease that they bore. One cured patient was grasped by one that was still uncured, and their awe lifted tenfold. The diseased patient found his own illnesses were being cured and so, they spread it out, every touch curing every infected person within reach. This made the Doctor beam proudly. "All they want to do is pass it on, Clara! Pass it on!" He called, jumping up and down on the spot.

"Pass on what?!" Clara called.

"Pass it on!" The Doctor called before he poked his head up through the latch and motioned her down. She quickly moved over, and he helped her down the latch, so she could see for herself. Every single patient was being hugged by those that were cured, continuing the cycle of being cured and cure others as they all intermeshed throughout the room. "You see, Clara?" He beamed, Clara starting to laugh in joy as she watched, all the patients now cured, staring around the room in wide eyed wonder. "I'm the Doctor and I cured them. We both did." He said with glee, walking out of the elevator with her and he was immediately embraced by one of the female patients. "Hey, hey. It's all right. There we go, sweetheart." He cooed. "You're okay." He parted from her and lead her away to a group of patients, all of which embraced her in a hug. "It's a new subspecies, Clara, a brand-new form of life. New Humans! Look at them!" He exclaimed. "Grown by cats, kept in the dark, fed by tubes but completely, completely alive!" He suddenly embraced a shrieking Clara in a hug, sweeping her off her feet and twirling them around, both of them giggling like mad. "The Human race just keeps on going, keeps on changing! Life will out, Clara! Ha!"

* * *

The Doctor and Clara re-joined with a calm, but ever so slightly trepidatious Rose in Ward Twenty-six, seeing the patients being treated to by the NNYPD, the same officers placing the nurses in handcuffs and leading them out of the room. One of the nurses was Novice Hame, who shot the Doctor and Clara a hurt look. They briefly exchanged guilty glances before sighing, leaning into each other for a few moments.

_"All staff will present themselves to the officers for immediate arrest. I repeat: Immediate arrest. Al new life forms will be catalogued and taken into care. All visitors to the hospital will be required to make a statement to the NNYPD."_

"Hold on." The Doctor muttered, his eyes going wide. "The Face of Boe!" He quickly took Clara with him to the other side of the room, Rose following swiftly behind as they approached the Face of Boe. Unlike before, he was awake, glancing around the room with world weary eyes, which quickly fell onto the TARDIS trio.

 _ **"** ** _He_ llo Doctor and Clara."**_ A deep, commanding voice spoke inside their minds.  _ **"It's good to meet you at last."**_

"Telepathic?" Clara asked, her eyes gleaming with awe. The Face of Boe gave a quick smile in answer.

"Weren't you supposed to be dying?" The Doctor quipped.

_**"** ***Scoffs* There are better things to do today. Dying can wait."** _

"Oh, I hate telepathy." Rose groaned, and they rolled their eyes. "Just what I need. A head full of big face."

"Shh!" They hushed, turning back to the Face of Boe.

_**"** **_I_  had grown tired of the universe, but you two have taught me to look at it anew."** _

"There are legends, you know, saying that you're millions of years old." The Doctor said.

_**"** **_*C_ huckles* Well now, that would be impossible. Then again, you have taken quite a liking to the impossible, haven't you?"** _

"Oh, shush." Clara blushed lightly and the Face of Boe laughed.

"I did get the impression that there was something you wanted to tell me."

He nodded.  _ **"A great secret."**_

"It's what the legend says."

He smirked.  _ **"It can wait."**_

"Aww. Does it have to?" The Doctor whined.

 _ **" _We_  shall meet again, Doctor and Clara, for the third time, for the last time and the truth shall be told. Until that day, farewell."**_ Then, in a flash of blue light, he disappeared from the Ward.

"That is enigmatic." The Doctor commented. "That-that is-that is textbook enigmatic." He gave Clara shrug before they stood, turning their attention to Rose. "And now for you."

Rose blinked, shrinking somewhat in fear. "But…everything's happy. Everything's fine. Can't you just leave me?" She protested.

"You've lived long enough. Leave that body and end it, Cassandra." The Doctor said.

Rose sniffed, sobbing into her hand. "I don't want to die." She cried.

"No one does." The Doctor said sadly.

"Help me, please!"

"I can't."

"Mistress!" They turned to see a perfectly fine Chip rushing into the room.

"Oh, you're alive!" Rose gasped.

"I kept myself safe, for you, mistress."

Rose gained a glint in her eyes. "A body. And not just that, a volunteer." Chip nodded hastily, and she smiled.

"Don't you dare. He's got a life of his own." The Doctor protested.

"But I worship the mistress." Rose gave a soft wink at them before glancing back at Chip. "I welcome her."

"Cassandra, don't-" Clara tried to protest but Rose had already sighed out deeply, sending her consciousness into Chip's body, who just breathed it in and didn't even stumble in loss of balance. He just stood perfectly still. Rose on the other hand, had a pounding head, causing her to fall into the Doctor and Clara's arms.

"Woah!" The Doctor said as they caught her. "You all right?" He asked.

"Yeah, I think-" Rose tripped again, pushing back again into Clara.

"Woah! Steady there!" Clara quipped as they balanced Rose, letting her stand until her head calmed down. "You okay now?"

"Yeah." Rose nodded. Then, she smiled at them. "Hello. Sorry for being late." She quipped.

"Well, don't do it again." Clara quipped, the three sharing a chuckle before Chip interrupted.

"Oh, sweet lord, I'm a walking doodle." He quipped, referring to the markings on his skin.

"You can't stay in there. I'm sorry, Cassandra, but that's not fair." The Doctor said, earning a small sigh from Chip. "I can take you to the city, they can build you a skin tank and you can stand trial for what you've done."

Chip gave a "Hmph" face at that. "Well, that would be rather dramatic. Possibly my finest hour and certainly my finest hat." He grinned, patting his hat affectionately. "But I'm afraid we don't have time. You see, poor little Chip is only a half-life and he's been through so much." He blinked a bit. "His heart is racing so." He blinked again, giving a brief puzzled look. "He's failing. You know, I don't think he's going to last very-" He gasped, falling forward and the three caught him.

"You all right?" The Doctor asked.

"I'm…" Chip blinked a few times, looking wide eyed with sadness as he did. "I'm dying. I'm actually dying." He placed a hand over his chest, feeling his heart thundering painfully. "Rather loud." He gazed at Clara. "How do you do it? Being able to bare…not hearing it?"

Clara gave him a sad look. "Find something else to focus on. Something in front of you." She said. Chip glanced between her and the Doctor with a knowing smile.

"Cassandra, please, let me take you to the city." The Doctor said softly.

"No, you won't." Chip said in the same tone. "Everything's new on this planet. There's no place for Chip and me anymore." He relaxed his body, his eyes now gleaming with exhaustion. "You're right, Doctor. It's time to die. And for this…that's good."

"Then there's one last thing I can do." The Doctor said, and they helped him up to his feet, leading him out of the room.

* * *

The TARDIS materialised within a small storage closet, on the same night in the recording that Cassandra had watched earlier. The four of them stepped out, Clara back in her heels again, Rose having rebuttoned her shirt and Chip wearing a large, black hooded robe, his face being the only visible part of his body. They moved through a large black curtain to see Cassandra, the real Human Cassandra intermingling and laughing with the present guests.

"Oh, no, don't! Stop it!" Cassandra said with a giggle. "That's simply not true. It was tiny. Egypt was so dismal, and the mosquitoes, I can't tell you, they were absolutely terrifying."

Chip turned back to the trio with a soft smile. "Thank you."

"Just go." Clara said gently. "Just go and don't look back."

"Good luck." Rose said kindly and Chip nodded in thanks before turning back around. Slowly with caution, he moved through the room in a straight line towards Cassandra, who didn't yet notice his presence.

"And if you actually see them, you're shocked!" Cassandra continued her rambling. "But don't quote me on that. Oh, naughty me. À bientôt." She said with a wave, parting from the group to stand alone. Chip took this opportunity and moved up to her.

"Excuse me? Milady Cassandra?" Chip asked.

"I'm sorry, I don't need anything right now. I'm fine, thank you." She said with a smile.

"No!" Chip quickly said, drawing her attention to him. "I just wanted to say, you look beautiful."

Cassandra blinked before she smiled again. "Well, that's very kind, you strange little thing. Thank you very much."

"I mean it." Chip said earnestly, which took her off guard. "You look…so beautiful."

Cassandra had to hold back the urge to melt, instead letting her appreciation shine through her eyes. "Thank you." Then, without warning, Chip exhaled sharply and collapsed in front of her. She quickly caught him with a look of concerned worry. "Oh, my lord. Are you all right? What is it? What's wrong?" She asked, everyone in the room turning to look with blinking eyes. "Some get some help. Call a medic or something. Quickly!"

"Who is he?" A woman asked as a few people gathered around, trying to help.

"I don't know. He just came up to me. I don't even know his name. He just collapsed. I think he's dying! Someone do something!" She cried, holding Chip tight as people raced about the room. "I've got you, sweetheart. I've got you." She cooed. The TARDIS trio looked on in sadness before the Doctor and Rose slowly moved out of the room. "It's all right. There you are, I've got you. It'll be all right. There, there, you poor little thing."

"Clara?" The Doctor called, moving back to take her hand. Clara gazed at him sadly and he brought her into a hug. "It's all right, she got her chance." He said softly, kissing her forehead.

"I know. It's just…" She leant her head into his chest with a sigh.

"Come on. Let's go." He then lead her out of the room and back into the TARDIS, which dematerialised, leaving the suddenly sad party in silence.

**AN: I always thought that the sad ending was a great ending for that episode. It's just so…sweet? Yeah, let's say sweet. It was a very sweet ending. Anyway, as always, thank you for reading and leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	29. Tooth and Claw

**Tooth and Claw**

**Torchwood Estate, Scotland  
** 1879

They were on a mission. By god, they were on a mission and they will succeed, no matter who stands in their way. A carriage, drawn by horses and led by seven monks, one in the lead and all cloaked in brown robes, grasping wooden staffs, carried the object of their worship across the fields of Scotland, towards their destination: The Torchwood Estate, the house of Sir Robert and Lady Isobel MacLeish. The object of their worship? A rusty steel cage covered with a large brown canvas and containing a silent man covered in a black robe. Despite that, every now and then, he growled with impatience, that caused even the leader to shudder nervously before returning to his steeled gaze. They arrived at the house, moving through the back entrances to greet the workers of the house. The head, Steward Alastair, shook his head with a slight amount of exasperation as the lead monk, Father Angelo, drew back his hood.

"Come now, Father. You should know better. You're not welcome here and especially not today. I've got no time to start old arguments."

Father Angelo squinted his eyes, surveying every detail of the scene as quickly as he could.  _One man and only five accomplices, untrained and barely armed, only with wooden clubs. They will not win this, so they will only get one chance._ He then refocused his gaze upon Alastair. "We want only one thing."

Alastair shrugged. "And what would that be?"

"This house."

Alastair scoffed. "You want the house?"

"We will take the house." Father Angelo warned.

"Would you like my wife while you're at it?" Alastair asked sarcastically.

Father Angelo clenched his jaw in irritation. "If you won't stand aside, then we'll take it by force."

"By what power? "The Hand of God"?"

That drew his final straw. "No. The fist of man." Grasping his staff tight, he smacked it into Alastair's ribs, causing him to buckle to his knees with a gasp. As the man glanced back up, Father Angelo smacked his staff hard across Alastair's nose, sending the man's vision into a daze before, as he stepped back and twirled his staff into position again, kicked Alastair hard in the chest, sending the man skidding across to his group, unconscious and curled on the ground beneath their feet. Father Angelo scowled at them, clicking his neck as the men grasped their nearby improvised weapons in fear. "No flair. Make it quick." He growled, and he clicked his fingers. Each of his acolytes wrenched off their brown cloaks, revealing orange robes underneath. They grasped their staffs and rushed at the men, three of them flipping in the air over the men to keep them surrounded. For the men, it became a flurry of trying to focus on which acolyte was attacking them. The acolytes, in the words of their master, made it quick with successive strikes to their ribs and heads, keeping them dazed and out of breath before they all crashed to the ground, unconscious and broken. "Get the men and the maids in the dungeon. Now!" He ordered, and the acolytes rushed into the house while he went to the cage, pulling back the canvas slightly to see the man inside giving him a small smile of approval, which made him relax in relief. Screams of terror and fright from the women assaulted his ears for a few moments, which then became drowned in the walls of the dungeon. Even Sir Robert's office was silent, which he guessed that an acolyte quickly moved into the room to silence the man, thus speeding the mission even faster to their victory. He pulled back the canvas over the cage as the acolytes came back into the courtyard, hauling the unconscious men over their shoulders and into the dungeon.

* * *

Alastair shot up with a groan, finding himself strung and clasped in irons on the ground inside the hay-strewn, dark, and murky dungeon of the house, along with every single worker, maid and… "Milady?" He said softly, seeing Lady Isobel MacLeish, a brunette woman in a magenta dress and terror in her eyes on the floor beside him, clutching at his arm nervously. At once, the hatch gate to the cell opened, and the monks drew inside the large cage they brought with them on the carriage. "In the name of heaven." He muttered. Father Angelo stepped slowly inside, motioning for the monks to stand back from the cage, gazing at it nervously. "What's in there?" Alastair asked but Father Angelo ignored him. "What is it? What's under the canvas?" He ignored him again. "Father answer me, what's in there?" He demanded.

Father Angelo looked back at them, surprising him with his fearful eyes. "May God forgive me." He said and without warning, he threw back the canvas, revealing the man inside to everyone's horrified eyes, Lady Isobel and the maids all screaming in terror.

"Shh!" The man hissed, and at once, they silenced, still frightened of him. "Keep quiet, and you may live." He said, his voice low yet it carried Father Angelo's authority with such ease, it even made said person shiver slightly. "Keep quiet." The man repeated, and he closed his eyes, motioning for the monks to leave. "Keep quiet." He repeated in a whisper before his breathing steadied, entering a state of pure, peaceful calmness as Father Angelo closed the doors to the dungeon and locked them shut.

* * *

The Doctor tinkered about with the TARDIS console, using the sonic to repair a small device removed as they travelled through the Time Vortex, or should we say, cruised through. It was starting to wear his patience a bit, but he did promise Clara to wait until she and Rose had changed for their next trip. And, speak of the devil, the two reappeared from the hallway, rushing out with giggling faces that made him puzzled. "What?" He asked as he put the device back into the console and the two approached.

"What do you think? Will it do?" Rose asked.

Rose, to his puzzlement, had come out dressed in a pink urban renewal crown shirt with Topshop overalls, deep brown Frye campus boots and black tights.  _Hmm. She's worn better but she can wear worse._  Clara's look however, against his best wishes, made him swoon. Pointelle bow cardigan, cream lace blouse and a checkered mini skirt with tights. Clara…" He stared for a moment to create a dramatic pause before he beamed. "You look adorable."

Clara blushed. "Thank you."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Now I know how the TARDIS feels when you two are alone."

"Oi!" They said in unison.

_*Beeps*_  (Thank you, Rose)

"Don't take her side!"

"Well…does it even look good?" She asked.

"For the late 1970s? You'd be better off in a bin bag." Before Rose, with her jaw dropped could retort, the Doctor clicked a few buttons on the console monitor. "Hold on, listen to this." He played the music he had selected, starting to hum along to it while the pair before him shook their heads in playful exasperation. " _Das ist gute. C'est fantastique_." He hummed for a moment. ""Ian Dury and the Blockheads". Number one in 1979."

Clara giggled. "You can be an utter punk, you know that?" She asked. "That's what you are."

_"It's nice to be a lunatic_." The Doctor hummed, winking at Clara.

"A big old punk, with a bit of…" She blinked and clicked her fingers a few times.

"Rockabilly?" Rose shrugged.

"Rockabilly, thank you. A little bit of rockabilly thrown in.

"Well then, Clara, Clara, Clara. Do you want to see him?"

"Ian Dury?" He nodded. "In concert?"

"What else is a TARDIS for?" He asked rhetorically, and she giggled. "I can take you to the Battle of Trafalgar, the first Antigravity Olympics, Caesar crossing the Rubicon or…Ian Dury at the Top Rank, Sheffield, England, Earth, 21st November 1979, what do you think?" He rambled.

Clara shot Rose a look, who nodded. "Sheffield it is."

"Hold on tight." He flicked a lever, the TARDIS racing through the Vortex at a high velocity, causing them to grip the console, the Doctor laughing manically. "Go on, Clara!" He yelled, and Clara pulled the materialisation lever, causing them to land with a thump against the floor, even the Doctor banged his head on the console before he hit the flooring with them. They laughed gleefully as the Doctor rubbed his forehead, still bearing his beaming smile. "1979!" He exclaimed, getting up off the floor and helping Clara and Rose up to their feet before he grabbed his overcoat. "Hell of a year! China invades Vietnam. "The Muppet Movie", love that film." He beamed.

"Never seen it." Clara simply shrugged, earning shocked looks from the pair before her.

"Well, we're definitely sitting you down to watch that, you're missing out. Oh, Margaret Thatcher…eugh." He shivered as he finished slipping his overcoat on. "Skylab falls to Earth, with a little help from me. Nearly took off my thumb." He opened the door, letting them out into 1879 Scotland. "And I like my thumb. I need my thumb. I'm very attached to…" They were greeted by a group of royal guards, aiming their rifles at them as they guarded a black coach. "My thumb." The Doctor murmured sheepishly before blinking at their attire.  _Horses, gloves on the hands, somewhat older style of clothing._  "1879." He conclude his mental diagnosis before shrugging. "Same difference."

"No, it isn't." Rose hissed under her breath. "There's no concert and we're well under dressed."

"Sorry. We'll take you to one after…this."

"You'll explain your presence." The head soldier, named Captain Reynolds, spoke in his Scottish accent, sitting atop a black horse and aiming a revolver at them. "And the nakedness of these girls."

The Doctor beamed. "Are we in Scotland?" He asked in a perfect Scottish accent.

Captain Reynolds blinked. "How can you be ignorant of that?"

"Oh, I'm-I'm dazed and confused. I've been chasing these-these wee naked lasses over hill and over dale. Isn't that right, you…" He turned to look at them, seeing Rose with a confused look and Clara who was…blushing. Blushing harder than he'd ever seen. "Timorous beasties?" He finished, blinking in confusion at Clara.

Clara blinked a bit and stammered out in a horrific Scottish accent, "Och, aye. I've been oot and aboot."

He bit his lip briefly to stifle back his laugh, Rose having to do the same. "No, don't do that."

"Hoots mon." She tried again with a squeak.

"No, really, don't." A smirking Rose echoed.

The Doctor had to hide his smirk into his shoulder. "She can't do Scottish accents." He squealed to himself before clearing his throat and returning his attention to the Captain. "Sorry."

"Will you identify yourself, sir?" Captain Reynolds asked, with a blend of irritation and amusement.

"I'm Dr. James McCrimmon from the…township of Balamory. I have my credentials, if I may." He said, motioning to his suit pocket. The Captain nodded, and he pulled out the psychic paper, holding it up for the soldiers to see. "As you can see, a Doctorate from the university of Edinburgh. I trained under Dr. Bell himself."

"Let them approach." An English voice called from within the carriage.

"I don't think that's wise, ma'am." Captain Reynolds warned.

"Let them approach." She repeated.

He gave a small sigh. "You will approach the carriage and show all due deference." He said to the trio, and they nodded to him. Moving past the Captain, they approached the side door of the coach, a Steward opening the door to reveal, to Clara and Rose's astonishment, Queen Victoria. The same height as Clara, dressed in black, with greying hair, hypnotic blue eyes and bearing a stern but welcoming look on her face.

"Clara…Rose…might I introduce her majesty Queen Victoria, Empress of India and defender of the faith." The Doctor said, Victoria nodding in greeting, then she blinked at Clara, who took the expression in a separate way.

"Clara Oswald and Rose Tyler, ma'am." They curtsied in greeting. "And our apologies for being so naked."

Victoria scoffed slightly. "I've had five daughters. It's nothing to me." She then squinted her eyes at Clara. "Have we already met? You seem…familiar."

Clara blinked. "I would definitely remember meeting you, but I don't."

Victoria sighed. "Never mind that. You, Doctor, show me these credentials." He passed the psychic to her and she looked at it for a few moments before her eyes widened. "Why didn't you say so immediately?" He blinked in puzzlement. "It states clearly here that you have been appointed by the Lord Provost as my protector."

"Does it?" The Doctor muttered before he cleared his throat, taking the paper back. "Yes, it does. Good, good." Clara and Rose both shot him slightly raised eyebrows. "Um…then, let me ask, why is your majesty traveling by road when there's a train all the way to Aberdeen?"

Her face fell into a grimace. "A tree on the line."

"An accident?"

"I am the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Everything around me tends to be planned."

"Assassination?" Clara asked.

"Afraid so, my dear. But never fear, I'm quite used to staring down the barrel of a gun." Victoria reassured, the Doctor and Rose shooting each other bewildered looks at her first words.

"Sir Robert MacLeish lives but ten miles hence." Captain Reynolds interjected. "We've sent word ahead. He'll shelter us for tonight then we can reach Balmoral tomorrow."

"This Doctor, Clara Oswald and their…timorous beastie," She added playfully, "Will come with us."

"Yes, ma'am. We'd better get moving, it's almost nightfall."

"Indeed, and there are stories of wolves in these parts." Victoria said, in playful dramatization. "Fanciful tales intended to scare the children, but good for the blood, I think. Drive on." She said to the carriage drawer and the Steward closed the carriage door before the company moved ahead. The TARDIS trio took a few paces back from the carriage, the Doctor and Clara linking arms before he leaned into her, grinning wolfishly.

"Clara." He purred, and she blushed again. "What was THAT back there?"

"Nothing." She squeaked.

"You like Scottish accents, do you?"

"No, I don't!

"Mmm." He thought for a moment. "Scottish accents and older men. You're giving me some good idea-"

"Stop it!" Rose growled, making them jump.

"Sorry." They said with a blush.

"It's funny, though, cause you say "Assassination", and you just think of someone like Kennedy, not her." Rose said in puzzlement, deciding to quickly move past their flirting.

"1879, she's had…oh, six attempts on her life?" The Doctor said with slight uncertainty before he grinned again, leaning into Clara. "I'll tell you something else. We just met Queen Victoria!" He squealed.

"I know!" Clara returned.

"What a laugh!"

Rose giggled. "She was just sitting there, like a glorious stamp. Although, she was a touch bit friendly with Clara."

"But she acted as if I've met her before. Could it be I meet her again in the future?" Clara asked.

"Probably not. You know why? Queen Victoria wasn't looking at you like an old friend, she thought she was looking in a mirror for a second. Like I've said before, you are a little bit like her back in the day, bossy attitude and all."

"Did you just call me "Bossy"?" Clara growled lightly.

"No, I-I meant to say that-"

"I know." Clara grinned wolfishly, leaning in to whisper in his ear, "Besides, you never do complain when I'm bossy in the-"

"Oh, for fucks sake! Will you two stop it?!" Rose burst in irritation, making them jump and blush sheepishly. "Seriously, where's my Mum when I need her?" Rose let them fall into an awkward silence for a few moments, the two continuously glancing at Rose before she smirked. "How about we make a bet?"

"What kind of bet?" The Doctor asked.

"I want Queen Victoria to say, "I am not amused"." She said in her best posh English accent. "I bet you two ten quid I can make her say it."

"Ten?" Clara asked in astonishment.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Five from you, five from him."

"Ah." Clara said, nodding slightly. "All right count me in. Doctor?"

"Well, if I gambled on that, it'd be an abuse of my privilege as a traveller in time."

"Clara pays five, you pay ten?" Rose bumps up the bet.

" _*Scoffs*_ Done."

* * *

Robert watched through one of the many windows of his house with shaking breath, sweat pouring down his forehead as Queen Victoria's company and carriage, including the TARDIS trio, arrived through the gates, and stopping right outside the front doors of his house. "I can't do this." He muttered nervously. "It's treason."

Father Angelo, now dressed in a sharp, slick suit, stepped up behind him, his steel gaze burning through his reflection in the glass. "Then your wife will suffer the consequences. And believe me, Sir Robert, she will be devoured."

Robert gulped, moving from the room without a word, just to keep his distance from the unnerving Angelo. Moving through the large house, he opened the front doors to see Victoria's Steward helping her out of the carriage, and he walked up to her with the best smile of warmth he could muster. "Your majesty." He greeted with a bow.

"Sir Robert." Victoria returned. "My apologies for the emergency. And how is Lady Isobel?"

"She's…" He paused for a moment in contemplation. "Indisposed, I'm afraid. She's gone to Edinburgh for the season. And…she's taken the cook with her; the kitchens are barely stocked. I wouldn't blame your majesty if you wanted to ride on."

The Doctor and Clara exchanged a look, seeing right through his words and shooting a quick glance at Father Angelo before said man could see them doing so. "Oh, not at all." Victoria said with a small chuckle. "I've had quite enough carriage exercise. And this is…" She blinked, looking for the words as she gazed upon the large, stone mansion. "Charming, if rustic. It's my first visit to this house. My late husband spoke of it often, the Torchwood Estate." She said with a glimmer of sad fondness before smiling again. "Now, shall we go inside?" Robert hid his defeated sigh, instead nodding. "And do please excuse the naked girls."

"Sorry." Rose said, Clara nodding with her.

"They're both feral children." The Doctor said, returning to his Scottish Accent that, to his own inflating ego, still made Clara blush. "I bought them both for sixpence in old London Town." They both glared at him. "It was them or the Elephant Man, so…"

"Are you done?" Clara growled, making him blush sheepishly, everyone else smirking, even Queen Victoria.

"Sorry about him, he thinks he's funny." Rose said. "But I'm so not amused. What do you think, ma'am?"

Victoria had to hold back her urge to blink in confusion. "It hardly matters." She shook her head slightly to herself before returning her attention to Robert. "Shall we proceed?" Robert motioned her to follow him through the front doors.

"So close." Rose muttered under her breath to the duo.

"Mackeson and Ramsey, you will escort the property. Hurry up." Captain Reynolds ordered.

"Yes sir." Said soldiers said in unison as they moved to take out a small, brown box from the carriage and into the house. The TARDIS trio looked on at it with intrigue.

"So, what's in there, then?" Clara asked.

"Property of the Crown." Captain Reynolds said simply. "You will dismiss any further thoughts, ma'am." Clara gave them a small shrug, which they returned. "The rest of you, go to the rear of the house. Assume your designated positions." All the soldiers moved about in haste as the TARDIS trio, along with the Captain, moved inside the house. Proceeding through many rooms and hallways, almost having to pretend to give a look of admiration especially on the Doctor's note, they entered a room that, to Clara's amusement, definitely got his attention. Filled with artefacts, trinkets and devices, there was a large machine like a telescope sitting in the room, the front end hanging out the window and looking up at the sky with a large wheel beside it for configuration.

"This, I take it, is the famous "Endeavour"." Queen Victoria said as everyone looked at the machine with awe.

"All my father's work built by hand in his final years. Became something of an obsession. He spent his money on this rather than caring for the house or himself." Robert explained.

"I wish I'd met him. I like him." The Doctor said with a beaming grin. "That thing's beautiful. Can we, um…" He motioned a hand to the machine.

"Help yourself."

The TARDIS trio walked up slowly, Rose moving to the wheel while the Doctor and Clara knelt before the bottom gazer. "What did he model it on?" He asked.

"I know nothing about it. To be honest, most of us thought him a little…shall we say, eccentric?" They cocked an eyebrow at Robert. "I wish now I'd spent more time with him and listened to his stories."

The Doctor furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at the machine up close. "It's a bit rubbish." Clara slowly turned her head to gaze at him with a half glare. "How many prisms has it got? Way too many. The magnification's gone right over the top. That's a stupid kind of a-"

"Doctor." Clara put her hand over his mouth. "Stop it."

He blinked at her as she removed her hand. "Am I being rude again?"

"When are you not?"

"Are you calling me rude?"

"It's either that or you have an ego."

" _*Scoffs*_ You can talk."

"What did you say?" Clara growled. "What did you say to-"

"Cut it out." Rose groaned, making them jump up sheepishly.

"It's pretty." They said in unison. "It's very…" They blinked at each other. "You were gonna…should I…never mind." They cleared their throats, glancing back at Queen Victoria, whose expression bore a hint of amusement…and irritation.

"And the imagination of it should be applauded." Victoria said simply, ignoring their bickering.

"Mmm. Thought you might disapprove, your majesty." Rose perked up. "Stargazing. Isn't that a bit fanciful?" The Doctor and Clara rolled their eyes at each other. "You could easily not be amused or…something?" Rose muttered, her tone getting quieter.

"You're not getting her to say it." The Doctor whispered.

"This device surveys the infinite work of God. What could be finer?" Victoria asked rhetorically, also ignoring her words. "Sir Robert's father was an example to us all. A polymath steeped in astronomy and the sciences yet equally well versed in folklore and fairy tales."

"Stars and magic? I like him even more." The Doctor marvelled.

"Oh, my late husband enjoyed his company. Prince Albert himself was acquainted with many rural superstitions, coming, as he did, from Saxe-Coburg." Victoria said.

"That's Bavaria." The Doctor whispered to the pair when they blinked.

"When Albert was told about your local wolf, he was transported." Victoria said, retuning her attention to Robert.

"So, what's this wolf, then?" Clara asked.

Robert shrugged. "It's just a story."

"Then tell it."

The Doctor and Clara saw that Robert's eyes flickered ever so slightly behind him, to Father Angelo, before he hid a nervous gulp in his throat. "It's said that-"

"Excuse me, sir." Father Angelo interrupted. "Perhaps her majesty's party could repair to their rooms. It's almost dark." He informed.

"Of course." Robert nodded, slightly in haste, which the trio picked up on. "Yes, of course."

"And then supper." Victoria said, unfortunately not picking up on the subtle signals. "And…could we find some clothes for Miss Oswald and Miss Tyler? I'm tired of nakedness." She said bluntly.

"What did I tell you?" The Doctor whispered to Clara. "Bossy, just like-"

"Shh!" Clara hushed.

"It's not amusing, is it?" Rose asked Victoria, missing both the Doctor and Clara rolling their eyes at each other.

Victoria also ignored her words, keeping her gaze on Robert. "Sir Robert, your wife must have left some clothes. See to it."

He shrugged slightly. "There may not be much left for the both of them, but I'll see what I can do."

"Then, we shall dine at 7 and talk some more of this wolf." Her eyes glinted with a gleam of excitement. "After all…there is a full moon tonight."

"So there is, ma'am." Robert said in slight dejection with a bow as they left the room. Clara however, stuck close to the Doctor.

"Those servants are really creeping me out." Clara said in a hushed tone to the Doctor.

"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere." He reassured, hugging her close with one arm.

* * *

Father Angelo stepped into the kitchens, ushering in his acolytes who carried bags of mistletoe, dumping the contents onto the counters. "Boil them all. But do it quietly." He ordered, and the acolytes quickly went to work, shredding all the mistletoe into a large pot, boiling it with steaming hot water until the contents became warm, sending a sweet, inviting smell throughout the room. They poured the contents into cast iron mugs, placing them on a few trays to deliver them to every soldier stationed around the house. The remaining acolytes quickly weaved a large amount of the mistletoe into six threaded loops, Father Angelo excluded as he would be inside the house for the night.

* * *

The Doctor and Clara opened a door into a bedroom, seeing a king-sized bed in the centre of the room with a large wardrobe in the corner.

"Will you two be all right?" Rose called from a room at the end of the hall.

"Yeah. Be careful, okay?" Clara said. "I don't trust those servants."

"Don't worry, you two. I'll just bring out my inner Mum on them." Rose said with a playful smirk as she shut the door.

The Doctor shut the door to his own room, while Clara rummaged through the wardrobe, bringing out different dresses and frocks, none of which impressed her. "For a couple that can own a large mansion, you'd think they'd have better taste in clothes." Clara bemused.

"Now, who's being rude?" The Doctor teased.

"Ah-ah." She tutted. "You don't get to do that."

"Yes ma'am." Clara winked at him as she brought out a red dress. While the dress itself wasn't very appealing, the red however did catch the Doctor's eye. "Now, that is a colour you look good in." He commented.

Clara shrugged. "I like red. That and orange. But there isn't many good outfits that have a nice orange in them, do they?" The Doctor didn't answer, and she looked at him curiously. "Why do you always act like that when I bring up "Orange"?"

"Clara." He whined. "It's a surprise."

She huffed. "Well, WHEN is the surprise coming?"

He blinked a few times. "I was going to give it to you now, but it doesn't do wood."

"What doesn't do wood?" She asked.

"Spoilers, Clara!" He whined.

She rolled her eyes. "Ugh, fair enough. It'd better be worth it."

The Doctor inwardly grinned.  _Oh, she has no idea._

* * *

Rose kept swaying back and forth as she surveyed a blue dress from the wardrobe, her expression going from "Nice" to "Mmm. Okay" to "Uh…maybe not". She placed the dress on the bed, before moving to another wardrobe and opened it. She jumped with a gasp as she saw a frightened, black haired maid within, panting with shock and fear as she stared at Rose. "Who are you?" Rose asked, and the maid cowered into the wardrobe. "It's all right, I'm not going to hurt you." Rose tentatively reached for the maid's hand, who seeing that she was alone in the room, slowly allowed herself to be led out of the wardrobe and towards the bed. "What were you doing in there? What happened?" Rose asked.

The maid took several shaking breaths to calm herself, but it proved fruitless as her hands quivered in Rose's grasp. "They came through the house, in silence." The maid said in a hushed, frightened voice to Rose as they sat on the bed. "They took the Steward and the master and milady."

"Hey, it's all right." Rose reassured, taking her hand. "Listen, I've got a couple of friends. They're called the Doctor and Clara. They'll know what to do. But you can't stay hidden in here, you have to come with me."

"I can't, Miss." She shook her head.

"Hey." Rose took her face to calm her whimpering. "What's your name?"

"F-Flora."

"Flora." Rose smiled. "It's a beautiful name. Listen, Flora, we'll be safe, okay? There's more people arrived downstairs, soldiers and everything and they can help us." Flora shook her head in disbelief. "I promise." Flora somewhat relaxed but her eyes were still filled with frightened uncertainty. "Come on. It'll be fine." Flora then allowed herself to be led by Rose into the empty hallway, where they moved to turn the corner, seeing immediately the sight of an unconscious soldier on the floor, a spilled mug in his hands, some of the contents staining the wood and the curtain of a nearby window.

"Oh Miss, I did warn you." Flora said, her suppressed nervousness coming back in full force as Rose knelt beside the soldier.

Rose checked his pulse, finding it faint but present. "He's not dead. He must be drugged or something."

"Mmm!" Flora shrieked into the hand of an acolyte, who pressed a cloth stained with the mistletoe water over her mouth. Rose looked up as this happened but was quickly hauled to her feet by another acolyte, also pressing a stained cloth against her mouth. She muffled her protest against the cloth, but the smell of the mistletoe was too inviting for her to keep fighting, and eventually, she sighed into a reluctant sleep.

* * *

Outside the house, standing in the shadow of night, Father Angelo watched as his acolytes, covered with the rings of mistletoe, grabbed the guns and ammunition off the unconscious guards and took positions around the house.

"Remember: Don't waste that ammo. Only use it to frighten those inside the house, not kill them. He will do what He wants with them." Father Angelo reminded, and he quickly moved back inside the house, locking the back door as he went.

* * *

The Doctor and Clara moved inside a large, candlelit room with a prepped dinner table in the centre, Victoria, Robert, and Captain Reynolds already seated.

"Sorry, ma'am, but I'm afraid that the dresses were to…large for me." Clara said sheepishly.

Victoria gave a reassuring smile. "That, I'm afraid, I know too well, my dear. But I'm only excusing your nakedness on that, nothing more."

"Yes, ma'am." Clara quickly said as she and the Doctor took a seat beside each other and Queen Victoria.

Father Angelo re-entered the room, carrying a bottle of wine on a tray as he closed the door. "Your companion begs an apology, Doctor, Clara. Her clothing has somewhat delayed her."

The Doctor smiled but squeezed Clara's hand in reassurance. "Oh, that's all right. Save her a wee bit of ham." He quipped lightly.

"The feral child could probably eat it raw." Victoria also quipped lightly, causing the Doctor and Clara to smirk.

Captain Reynolds gave a loud laugh, causing the duo to shoot each other and Victoria puzzled looks. "Very wise, ma'am. Very witty." He complimented.

"It was only a tad bit witty." Clara muttered, shaking her head.

"Slightly witty, perhaps." Victoria agreed. "I know you rarely get the chance to dine with me, Captain, but don't get too excited. I shall contain my wit in case I do you further injury."

"Yes ma'am. Sorry ma'am." Captain Reynolds mumbled nervously before clearing his throat.

The Doctor and Clara sniggered under their breath before the Doctor turned his gaze to Robert. "Besides, we're all waiting on Sir Robert. Come sir. You promised us a tale of nightmares." The Doctor said in dramatic playfulness.

"Indeed. Since my husband's death, I find myself with more of a taste for supernatural fiction." Victoria said.

"You miss him, don't you?" Clara asked softly.

"Very much." Victoria nodded before her face went into sorrow. "Oh, completely." She smiled sadly. "That's the charm of a ghost story, isn't it? Not the scares and chills, that's just for children but the…hope of some contact with the great beyond. We all want some message from that place. It's the creator's greatest mystery that we're allowed no such consolation." She gulped silently under her breath to fight back the knot in her throat. "The dead stay silent…and we must wait." Victoria gazed at Clara, seeing a sadness reflected in her eyes. "Who have you…lost?" Victoria asked tenderly.

"My parents." Clara said, and the Doctor squeezed her hand.

"How do you do it? Going on without them?" Victoria asked.

"You live. You live your own live how you will it to be, and you will move on, but that doesn't mean to stop wishing they were still there. You just need to say goodbye." Clara said sadly.

Victoria saw Clara relax as the Doctor rubbed his thumb on her hand, which just made her smile sadly, thinking of her own husband, whom she adored with all her heart. But she shook her head to clear out the sadness. "Come. Now's not the time to mourn and to yearn, it's a time for transportation. Begin your tale, Sir Robert." She said earnestly. "There is a chill in the air and the wind is howling through the eaves. Tell us of monsters."

Robert nodded with a slight sigh of defeat, feeling everyone's gaze fixed upon him. "The story goes back three hundred years. Every full moon, the howling rings through the valley. The next morning, livestock is found ripped apart and de…devoured."

Captain Reynolds sighed. "Tales like this just disguise the work of thieves. Steal a sheep a blame a wolf, simple as that."

"But sometimes a child goes missing." Robert continued. "Once in a generation, a boy will vanish from his homestead."

"Are there descriptions of the creature?" The Doctor asked.

"Oh yes, Doctor." He nodded. "Drawings and woodcarvings. And it's not merely a wolf, it's more than that. This is a man who becomes an animal."

The Doctor and Clara's expression both beamed with increased intrigue. "A werewolf?" Robert nodded.

* * *

Rose, having already fought off her forced drowsiness, gazed around the dark room, lit only by a few candles, which cast an eerie illumination upon the man in the cage, who kept his head down and his eyes closed. She slowly moved her legs to sit up, but Isobel stopped her.

"Don't make a sound." She warned, her voice trembling as she did. "He said that if we keep quiet, we may live."

"May live what? He's in a cage." Rose said with blinking eyes. "He's a prisoner, the same as us."

"He's nothing like us." Isobel said, shaking her head. "That creature is not mortal. And that cage is not to imprison him, but to protect him. They worship him." The man lifted his head and opened his eyes, everyone holding back a gasp at how they weren't just blank in indifference but were also as dark as the night, creating a pit of swirling, boiling rage, waiting patiently to be released. Rose clenched her jaw to contain her own nervousness, standing up and moving slowly towards the cage. "Don't, child, please." Isobel pleaded but Rose ignored her. She felt the chain link on the wall tug on her iron claps, making her kneel on the floor, still a few feet from the cage.

"Who are you?" She asked, and the man clenched his jaw in irritation.

"Don't enrage him." Alastair warned.

"Where are you from?" Rose asked, the man slowly lifting his hand, ready to silence her. "You're not from Earth." That made him pause, his irritation now turning into intrigued amusement. "What planet are you from?"

His eyebrows raised at that, and he sat back in his cage, gazing intently at Rose. "Ohhh. Intelligence." He purred, his slimy voice sending chills down Rose's spine.

"Where were you born?"

"This body? Ten miles away. A weakling, heartsick boy, stolen away at night by the brethren for my…cultivation." He briefly gave a grim, nerve racking smile. "I carved out his soul and sat in his heart."

Rose nodded shakily. "All right. So, the body's Human. But what about you? The real you?"

He smiled, this more of approval before his expression turned distant. "So very far from home."

"If you want to get back home, we can help."

He furrowed his eyebrows at her. "Why would I leave this place? A world of industry, of workforce and warfare." He smiled dreamily. "I could turn it into a new world with such purpose."

"How would you do that?"

"I would migrate to the holy monarch." Everyone shuddered at that. "With one bite, I would pass into her blood. And then it begins, the Empire of the Wolf." He sighed, gazing into Rose's eyes to see something…very familiar. There it hit him, why she seemed so familiar. He lurched forward in his cage, grasping the bars in front of him while everyone jumped with a gasp. "Look! Inside your eyes, you've seen it too!"

"Seen what?" Rose asked, her voice filled with shaking nervousness again.

"The wolf! There is something of the wolf about you."

Rose's eyes widened for a split second in horror, which made him smile. "I don't know what you mean." She denied.

He shook his head with a growl. "You burnt like the sun but all I require is the moon."

* * *

"My father didn't treat it as a story. He said it was fact." Robert continued. "He even claimed to have communed with the beast, to have learned its purpose." He shook his head dejectedly. "I should've listened. His work was hindered, he made enemies." The Doctor and Clara saw Father Angelo move to the window out of the corner of their eyes, who began to pray silently under his breath. "There's a monastery in the glen of St. Catherine. The brethren opposed my father's investigations."

"Perhaps they thought his work ungodly." Victoria offered.

"That's what I thought. But now, I wonder, what if they had a different reason for wanting the story kept quiet?"

"Lupus magnus est, lupus fortis est, lupus deus est." Father Angelo prayed under his breath, but the Doctor and Clara picked up on it. (The wolf is great, the wolf is strong, the wolf is God)

"What if they turned from god and worshiped the wolf?"

Clara clenched her fist, staring at the back of Father Angelo's head. "And what if they were with us right now?" Everyone turned to look at Father Angelo with wide eyes of shock.

* * *

The door of the dungeon slammed open, sending an icy wind and moonlight into the room, drowning around the man, illuminating his pale, sickly form. He gazed out at the sky with a soft look of relief and awe. "Moonlight." He took a deep breath, withdrawing off his cloak and grasping onto the cell bars. He smiled at them before his face began to twitch.

Rose gave a shuddering breath, standing up and grasping her chain. "All of you! Stop looking at him and listen to me! Grab one end of the chain and pull!"

The maids got to their feet, but the servants and Isobel stared at the man in fear. "But he's going to-"

"Stop your whining and listen to me!" Rose interrupted Alastair. "All of you, get up on your feet and pull!" The servants did so, but Isobel stayed put. "That includes you, your ladyship, now come on! Pull!" Isobel gave in, standing up as everyone grasped the chain and began to tug with all their strength.

* * *

"What is the meaning of this?!" Victoria demanded as they shot up from the table, Captain Reynolds withdrawing his revolver and advancing on Father Angelo.

"Explain yourself, sir!" He ordered but Father Angelo ignored him.

"I'm sorry, your majesty, but they've got my wife." Robert muttered.

"Where is she?" Clara growled. "Rose, where is she?! What've you done with her?!"

"I think we can do better than that, Clara." The Doctor said, taking her hand. "This house has a dungeon, yes?"

"Yes, it does." Robert said quickly.

"With us, come on!" The Doctor, Clara and Robert raced from the room.

"Tell me sir! I demand to know your intention!"

"Lupus deus est. Lu-"

"What is it that you want?!"

Father Angelo stopped his chanting, turning to look past Captain Reynolds and straight at Victoria. "The throne." He said simply, and he grasped the Captain's arm, smacking the side of his palm into his joint to sprain it before headbutting him, sending the Captain unconscious onto the floor.

* * *

"1, 2, 3, pull!" Rose yelled, and everyone tugged, each attempt straining the link on the wall and rocketing hope for escape into their hearts.

"Aaah!" The man yelled in agony as every bone in his body snapped, rearranging themselves, causing his face to lengthen into a wolf, his skin turning blue and rapidly growing a light fur that glowed in the moonlight. Each crack from his body made him growl, his voice growing more animalistic as he transformed.

"1, 2, 3, pull!" On that tug, the link gave way, causing everyone to stumble back onto the floor, before they quickly helped everyone out of their loose iron claps. This made the wolf growl in irritation, and he began to pull and claw at the cell bars, ripping and bending each one effortlessly. The house door suddenly slammed open, the Doctor, Clara and Robert rushing through. "Where the hell have you two been?!" Rose demanded.

They turned, and their eyes widened at the sight of the wolf, who snarled at the new intruders. "Oh, that's beautiful." The Doctor awed.

"Yeah, it is, but now's not the time!" Clara reminded.

They turned, helping everyone to their feet. "Get out! All of you, get out!" The Doctor yelled, and they began to rush from the room as the wolf tore the cage apart. Robert quickly hauled his wife to her feet as the room emptied, only the Doctor and Clara left standing in the room.

"Come on!" Rose yelled, and they rushed to follow, slamming the door behind them and the Doctor quickly soniced the lock before they ran down the hallway, the booming howl of the werewolf echoing throughout the valley beyond.

* * *

"I take it, sir, that YOU halted my train to bring me here?" Victoria accused Father Angelo.

"We have waited so long for one of your journeys to coincide with the moon."

"Then you have waited in vain. After six attempts on my life…" She reached into her purse, withdrawing a small armed revolver, and aimed it straight at Father Angelo. "I'm hardly unprepared."

He smiled smugly. "Oh, I don't think so, woman."

Her jaw clenched, and her shaking hands grew steady at his words. "The correct form of address is "Your Majesty"." And with that, she fired, staring blankly as the man collapsed to the floor motionless.

* * *

"Arm yourselves!" Alastair ordered as his accomplices grabbed their emergency rifles and loaded them with bullets. "Lady Isobel, take the girls and get them out through the kitchen."

Isobel turned to Robert with a look of desperation. "Robert, I can't leave you. What will you do?"

"I must defend her majesty. Now, don't think of me, just go." He pleaded.

She nodded reluctantly and gave him a farewell kiss before moving to the maids. "All of you! At my side, come on!" They all rushed out of the room, past the Doctor and Clara, who were removing Rose's iron clasps.

"It could be any form of light modulated species triggered by specific wavelengths. Did it say what it wanted?" He asked as they threw aside the clasps.

"The queen, the crown, the throne, you name it." Rose listed quickly.

* * *

Isobel rushed into the kitchens with the maids, moving to the back door but finding it locked and barred from outside. "It won't open! They've sealed us in!"

"Oh, milady, look!" Flora pointed out the window, the group seeing the acolytes covered in mistletoe and armed with the rifles of the soldiers, keeping their steeled gaze on the house. "They'll never let us out. They mean for us to die!" Flora freaked.

"Don't say that, Flora!" Isobel ordered yet her voice was a similar tone. Suddenly, a loud crash echoed in a nearby room, letting silence fall in the kitchens.

"Milady, what was that?" Flora asked but they already knew the answer.

* * *

The servants quickly got into position while the Doctor moved to the door, seeking to observe the source of the noise.

"Doctor." Clara called but he held out a hand.

"Don't worry. I'm right here." He reassured as he glanced through the open door, staring straight at the wolf. The wolf stood straight up in the hallway, standing atop the remains of the dungeon door, his growling turning low as it stared at the Doctor. "Blimey." He mumbled under his breath and the wolf snarled, causing him to rush back into the room as the wolf charged, taking Clara's hand, and leading her past the line of servants to join Rose.

"Fire!" Alastair ordered the wolf entered the room. A spray of bullets hit the wolf, who flinched back with a whimper. "Fire!" Another round hit the wolf, causing it to retreat from the room. The TARDIS trio coughed slightly at the small puffs of white smoke generated by the guns before the Doctor straightened his back.

"All right, men, we should retreat upstairs. Come with us."

"I'll not retreat." Alastair denied. "The battle's done, there's no creature on God's Earth that could survive such an assault."

"I'm telling you, come upstairs!" The Doctor exclaimed as Alastair moved to the door.

"And I am telling you, sir, that I will sleep well tonight with that thing's hide upon my wall!" Alastair moved to the door, staring down the hallway to find no sign of the wolf. He turned back to them with a smirk on his face. "It must've crawled away to die-" He was suddenly heaved into the roof by the snarling wolf, the sounds of his body being snapped and broken echoing into every one of their frightened ears.

"There's nothing we can do! Now run!" The Doctor ordered, Clara, Rose and Robert following him out of the room.

* * *

"Did they kill it?" Flora asked as the gunshots fell silent. Before Isobel could answer, more gunfire echoed, now accompanied by the sounds of the men screaming in horror and agony, their bodies being ripped apart and devoured.

"Girls." She motioned for them to come close, everyone moving into a huddle by the door, the maids keeping their eyes closed while Isobel kept her gaze fixed upon the open doorway. The growls and heavy footsteps of the wolf came closer, before it's shadow entered the room followed by its own form. It gazed at Isobel and the maids, growling before…it stopped. It blinked, looking around the room as it sniffed before rearing its head in disgust and turning away. Isobel stared with wide eyes of disbelief as the wolf left, gazing around the room while she tried to calm herself down.

* * *

The group rushed through another door towards the stairwell, the Doctor locking it shut while Robert rushed ahead.

"Your majesty! Your majesty!" He called, and Victoria came rushing down the stairs.

"Sir Robert. What's happening?" She asked. "I heard such terrible noises."

"Your majesty, we've got to get out. But what of Father Angelo? Is he still here?"

"Captain Reynolds disposed of him." Victoria said, her tone of indifference, which the Doctor and Clara read through immediately.

"The front door's no good, it's been boarded shut." The Doctor reported, now back to his normal accent, which briefly got Victoria's eyes to widen. "Pardon me, your majesty, you'll have to leg it out of a window." Victoria nodded, the group moving towards a nearby window before Robert stepped in front.

"Excuse my manners, ma'am, but I shall go first. The better to assist her majesty's egress."

"A noble sentiment, my Sir Walter Raleigh."

"Yeah, any chance you could hurry up?" The Doctor snapped. No one, not even Clara bothered to retort to that, regarding the situation at hand. Robert quickly moved to the window and opened it wide, immediately greeted by a spray of gunfire by the acolytes outside. They quickly cowered away, crouching beneath the windowsill. "I reckon the monky boys want us to stay inside."

"Do they know who I am?" Victoria asked dryly.

"Yeah, that's why they want you." Rose informed, earning a look of shock from the Queen. "The wolf's lined you up for a…a biting."

"Now, stop this talk. There can't be an actual wolf." The answer came from the wolf howling, making Victoria shoot up in shock as the Doctor led the group from the room. At the bottom of the stairwell, they saw the claws of the wolf digging through the door.

"All right, Doctor, plan. What do we do?" Clara asked.

"We…run." He answered.

"Is that it?"

"You got any silver bullets?" The Doctor retorted.

"Not on me, no."

"There we are, then. We run." He turned to Victoria. "Your majesty, as a Doctor, I recommend a vigorous jog. Good for the health." He held out a hand for Clara, who took it earnestly as he led them racing up the stairs, the wolf already having clawed through the door, tearing it to splinters onto the floorboards. "Come on! Come on!" The Doctor yelled as they reached the top of the stairs and ran down the hallway, the wolf quickly gaining on them with haste. They turned the corner, running down the corridor as the wolf gained closer and closer, the group spotting an armed Captain Reynolds, waiting patiently with his gun raised. "Duck!" The Doctor yelled as the wolf drew nearer, the group ducking onto their knees and Captain Reynolds fired, hitting the wolf square in the head, causing it to retreat with a whimper. The group rounded the corner, Rose and Victoria clutching their chests and panting heavy breaths while the Doctor and Clara still held each other's hands tight.

"I'll take this position and hold it." Captain Reynolds said as he reloaded a bullet into the gun. "Your majesty, I went to look for the property and it was taken. The chest was empty."

"I have it. It's safe." Victoria said.

Reynolds smiled. "Then remove yourself, ma'am. Doctor, Clara, you stand as her majesty's protectors. And you, Sir Robert…" He stood, readying his gun as he backed slowly from the group. "You're a traitor to the crown."

"Bullets can't stop it!" The Doctor exclaimed.

"They'll buy you time, now run!" The group moved to the end of the hallway, where the opened doors to the study were awaiting them. The Doctor looked back to see Clara still standing there.

"Please, come with us!" Clara pleaded.

"Someone has to do this, now for god's sake, move yourself!" Reynolds ordered.

"Clara!" The Doctor ran back to grasp her hand and haul her away, Reynolds firing his pistol down the hallway as they neared the door, not looking back as the sounds of his screams of agony came echoing through the corridor.

"Barricade the door!" Robert yelled, and they slammed the door shut, improvising with nearby tables, bookshelves and stools to brace the door.

Silence fell, the footsteps of the wolf getting closer, but it was now more calculated and patient. "Wait a minute, shh." The Doctor hushed as the wolf howled before the footsteps drew closer. The Doctor leaned into the door, feeling distantly the murky breath of the wolf coming through the crack in the door as it sniffed and breathed, growling low in its throat before…it walked away. "It's gone." He whispered. "Listen." They could hear him, each thump of his paws hitting the floor, his claws tapping against the floorboards, each scratch sending a chill down their spines. The wolf, every once in a while, would suddenly stop moving to sniff as it snarled low in its throat, sensing its prey beyond the walls and inside the room.

"Is that the only door?" Clara whispered.

"Yes." Robert nodded before his eyes widened. "No!" The three quickly rushed over to the far side of the room, barricading that door as the wolf drew closer.

"Shh!" The Doctor hushed as they backed away. The wolf stopped by the door and it growled. It's paw had been placed on the door and it began to slowly scratch, splinters of wood falling to the floor as it sniffed and growled under its breath. It then howled, but it was a low and irritated howl before it trotted away, the house falling into silence.

"I don't understand." Rose gave a shuddering breath. "What's stopping it?"

The Doctor paced about, looking at every object and wall with a scrutinising eye. "Something inside this room." He glanced back at the doors, blinking in puzzlement. "What is it? Why can't it get in?" He glanced around the room, before noticing Clara's distant gaze, which made him sigh and walk up to her. "Clara." He put a hand on her shoulder and she glanced at him.

"I know. It wasn't my fault."

He smiled. "Then we don't need to go through all that again, now do we?" He asked. She nodded, and he embraced her in a soft hug.

"Thank you." She whispered before they parted, and she cleared her throat. "I'll tell you what, though."

"What?"

"Werewolf." She beamed. "Actual, full grown werewolf."

"I know." He beamed back, the two sharing a childish giggle as they did. They glanced over at Rose, who shook her head at them with a smirk.

"I'm sorry, ma'am." Robert perked up from the corner with a look of guilt on his face, making everyone glance at him. "It's all my fault. I should've sent you away. I tried to suggest something was wrong, I thought you might notice. Did you think there was nothing strange about my household staff?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, they were bald, athletic."

"Creepy." Clara inputted.

"Tiny bit creepy, yeah."

"I'll tell you what though, ma'am, I bet you're not amused now." Rose interjected, earning dull looks from the Doctor and Clara.

"Do you think this funny?!" Victoria snapped, and Rose flinched.

"No ma'am, I'm sorry." Rose said meekly.

"What, exactly, I pray, tell me someone, please, what exactly is that creature?!"

The Doctor cleared his throat. "You'd call it a werewolf, but technically, it's more of a lupine wavelength haemovariform."

"And should I trust you, sir?! You, who change your voice so easily?! What happened to your accent?!"

"Oh." The Doctor said simply.

"I'll not have it! No sir, not you, not that thing, none of it. This is not my world."

"No, it isn't." Clara said grimly. "But until we deal with that werewolf, your stuck in here. And for that, I'm truly sorry."

Victoria sighed shakily but her eyes were still stern. "Then see to it that it is dealt with."

* * *

Isobel gazed outside the window in scrutinization at the acolytes, surveying every ounce of their form until her gaze landed upon the mistletoe. That led her to gaze around the room at the mistletoe inside and the pieces connected. "Mistletoe. They're all garlanded in mistletoe and the wolf doesn't attack them." She turned to the maids. "Who brought this into the kitchen?"

"Must've been the brethren." Flora shrugged.

She clenched her jaw. "Gather it up, quickly. Every last scrap! Quick, now!" She and the maids went to work, picking up every piece of mistletoe off the floor and putting it all in a pile on the counter.

* * *

"Doctor." Clara called, and he came moving to one of the doors where Clara stood. "What's that?" She pointed to the carving on the door.

He blinked, moving in closer to observe. "Mistletoe."

"Could it be…" Clara trailed off.

"It could be." The Doctor answered her unspoken question. "Sir Robert did your father put that there?"

Robert shrugged. "I don't know. I suppose."

The Doctor gazed at the door Robert sat by. "On the other door, too."

"A carving wouldn't be enough, would it?" Clara asked.

"No, it wouldn't." He gazed back at the door in contemplation. "I wonder…" He leant on the door and licked the wood.

"Eugh." Clara grumbled.

"Viscum Album, the oil of the mistletoe, it's been worked into the wood like a varnish. How clever was your Dad?! I love him!" He turned to Clara. "Powerful stuff, mistletoe, bursting with lectins and viscotoxins." He blinked as Clara pulled out a small box and shoved a few tablets into his hand. "What the-" She shoved his hand over his mouth, almost choking on the strong peppermint as he did.

"You do that again, and you'll be properly choking on those altoids." Clara growled.

He cleared his throat, which was already burning from the mints. "Sorry."

"Anyway, mistletoe." Clara returned him to the topic. "Is the wolf allergic to it, or could it have been trained to be?"

He coughed. "Either or. The monky monk-monks could've found it out through years of worshipping the wolf or they just used simple illusionistic training."

"Nevertheless, that creature won't give up, Doctor." Robert perked up. "And we still don't possess an actual weapon."

The Doctor grumbled. "Oh, your father got all the brains, didn't he?"

"Look at that, Clara, he's being rude again." Rose interjected.

"Ah, good. I meant that one."

"Doctor!" Clara snapped. "Do you want more of these?" She held up the box of altoids.

"No." He squeaked.

"Then behave."

He cleared his throat, pacing about the room. "Okay then, if you want weapons, well guess what? We're in a library and libraries have books! The best weapons in the world." He withdrew his "Brainy Specs" and slid them on. "This room's the greatest arsenal we could have." He took out a few books from one of the bookshelves and tossed them to Clara and Rose. "Arm yourselves." The group quickly rushed to work, grabbing every book off the shelf they could see.

* * *

The maids in the kitchen worked furiously, shredding the mistletoe as a large pot of water boiled, waiting for the new contents.

"There's no sound of the wolf, milady." Flora pointed out. "Perhaps it's gone."

"Perhaps it's toying with us." Isobel suggested. "But my husband's up there, and if there's any chance he's still alive, then by God I'll assist him." Flora nodded, and she returned to work.

* * *

The study became filled with indistinctive chatter as they searched through every book.

"Look up biology or zoology. There might be something on wolves in there." Rose suggested.

"Maybe." Clara shrugged.

"This one talks about some form of explosive." Robert offered.

"Maybe…maybe not." The Doctor said as he hopped off the library ladder, placing a large tome on the table, the group moving to look over his shoulder. "Look what your old Dad found. Something fell to Earth."

"A spaceship?" Rose asked.

"Shooting star." Robert interjected as he read on. ""In the year of our Lord 1540, under the reign of King James V, an almighty fire did burn in the pit". That's the glen of St. Catherine, just by the monastery."

"But that's over three hundred years ago. What's it been waiting for?" Rose asked.

"It may not have been waiting." Clara offered.

"Quite possibly." The Doctor nodded. "Maybe just a single cell survived, adapting slowly down the generations, moving through host after host."

"But why does it want the throne?" Robert asked.

Rose blinked. "It said something about the…the Empire of the Wolf."

The Doctor's expression turned grim. "Imagine it. The Victorian Age accelerated. Star ships and missiles fuelled by coal and driven by steam…leaving history devastated in its wake."

"Sir Robert." Victoria perked up, drawing their attention. "If I am to die here…"

"Don't say that, your majesty-"

Victoria held up a hand to stop him. "I would destroy myself rather than let that creature infect me. But that's no matter. I ask only that you find some place of safekeeping for something far…older and more precious than myself."

"With respect, your majesty, this isn't the time to worry about your treasure." Clara inputted.

"I appreciate your concern, Miss Oswald, but there is nothing that is more of a treasure than this." Reaching a hand into her purse, she pulled out a diamond the size of her own hand, curved and round at the bottom that ascended into a fine point at the top, almost like a circular pyramid.

"Your majesty." Robert breathed as they looked at the diamond in awe.

"Is that the Koh-I-Noor?" Rose asked.

"Oh yes. The greatest diamond in the world." The Doctor informed.

"Given to me as the spoils of war." Victoria sighed. "Perhaps its legend is now coming true. It is said that whoever owns it must surely die."

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, that's true of anything if you wait long enough."

"May we?" Clara asked, holding out a hand. Victoria looked uncertain for a moment before she relented, letting it slip softly into Clara's grasp. Clara brought it up for the group to see properly, Rose reaching out a hand. "Careful." Clara said gently as Rose traced a soft finger over the diamond.

"That is so beautiful." The Doctor awed before he blinked. "Well, aside from…"

Clara smiled softly at him. "Thank you."

"How much is that worth?" Rose asked.

"They say the wages of the entire planet for a whole week." The Doctor informed, and they breathed out a bit.

"Good thing my Mum's not here. She'd be fighting off the wolf with her bare hands for that thing."

"And she'd win." Clara quipped, making them chuckle.

Robert blinked at that. "Where IS the wolf?" He moved to pace around the room, scrutinizing everything in sight. "I don't trust this silence."

"Why do you travel with it?" The Doctor asked.

"My annual pilgrimage." Victoria answered. "I'm taking it to Helier and Carew, the royal jewellers at Hazlehead. The stone needs re-cutting."

"Oh, but it's perfect." Clara awed.

Victoria smiled sadly. "My late husband never thought so."

"Now, there's a fact." The Doctor said as he pocketed his "Brainy Specs". "Prince Albert kept on having the Koh-I-Noor cut down. It used to be 40% bigger than this, but he was never happy. He kept on cutting and cutting."

"He always said that the shine was not quite right. But he died with it still unfinished." Clara gave her a soft smile before she flickered her gaze to the Doctor as he fell silent. His expression screamed the intention that his brain was working at a thousand miles an hour.

"Unfinished." He muttered.

Clara quickly gave the diamond back to Victoria. "Doctor? What is it?"

"Oh, there's a lot of unfinished business in this house. His father's research and your husband, ma'am, he came here to seek the perfect diamond." He rambled before running his hands over his face as he paced about the room. "Hold on."

"Doctor, what is it?" Clara asked again.

"All these separate things, but they're not separate at all, they're connected!" He ran his hands through his hair, ruffling it into an even bigger mess. "Oh, my head! I need a bigger head!"

"Please, don't." Clara said, with mental disgust at the image.

"Clara, this house, it's a trap for her majesty, obviously, but what if that's only what the wolf intended? What if there's a trap inside the trap?"

"A rigged trap?" Clara asked.

"Explain yourself, Doctor." Victoria demanded.

"What if his father and your husband weren't just telling each other stories but they dared to imagine that all this was true, and they planned against it, laying the real trap, not for you, but for the wolf!"

Clara's gazed flitted back to Victoria. "And the weapon is…the diamond? That's what the machine is for?"

"Oh yes." He nodded. Clara sneezed as dust fell from the ceiling. "Bless you…" He trailed off, everyone's eyes widening as they followed the dust and looked up. On the glass skylight ceiling above, they saw the wolf crawling onto it, every tap of its claws scratching against the surface. "Blimey." He gulped. The wolf pressed one of its hind legs against the glass, which began to crack under the weight of the wolf's strength. "Out! Out, out, out, out!" The Doctor exclaimed, and everyone tore the barricade from one of the doors and rushed out of the room, just as the glass crashed, sending the wolf tumbling into the room with them as the Doctor closed the door. "Get to the observatory!" The Doctor ordered, and they rushed down the hallway as the wolf burst the door apart, growling as it chased after them. Rushing around the corner, they saw Isobel running up with a large cauldron of steaming mistletoe. The Doctor clicked his neck. "Get down!" He yelled, and Isobel tossed the contents of the pot onto the wolf as it neared, which howled and whimpered in pain, turning heel, and fleeing down the hallway.

"Good shot!" Clara complimented.

"Isobel!" Robert quickly embraced his wife in a hug and a desperate kiss. "Thank you, but you must get back downstairs." He said as they parted.

"Please, keep yourself safe." She pleaded. He nodded, and they gave each other one last kiss before Isobel took the maids hands. "Down the back stairs, back to the kitchens, quickly." They raced from the room as the Doctor patted Robert's shoulder to get his attention again.

"Come on."

Robert blinked, rushing into action. "The observatory's this way." They followed after him, moving back into the stairwell and racing upwards. Reaching the top, they raced down the hallway towards the observatory.

The Doctor quickly observed the doors as they entered the room. "No mistletoe on these doors cause your father wanted the wolf to get inside. But I just need time, is there anything in here that can barricade it?"

Robert contemplated for a moment before Clara interrupted. "Don't you dare." She warned. "Don't you dare do what I think you're thinking."

"But you need time, don't you?" Robert asked.

Clara clenched her jaw. "There is a better way." She said simply.

Robert glanced around the room and he pointed to a nearby table. "Use that." He grabbed a sword from a display plaque and entered the room. "But be quick." He said as he closed and locked the door.

"Good man." The Doctor said as he and Robert rushed over to pull the table to the door.

Clara held out a hand to Victoria. "Your majesty, the diamond."

"For what purpose?" She asked.

"You can already guess." Clara said simply, and Victoria handed it over. "Rose, help me out. Be quick, Doctor!" Clara and Rose hurried to the wheel and began to heave it counter-clockwise. "Come on."

The Doctor and Robert finished barricading the door, so the Doctor ran over to Clara and Rose to help them while Robert motioned Victoria back. "Keep behind me and away from the door, ma'am."

"Is this the right time for stargazing?" Rose asked dryly as they heaved.

"Yes, it is. Argh!" The Doctor said with a strained voice. The door began to crack and splinter as the wolf crashed into it, growling in irritation as it kept trying.

"I thought you said this thing doesn't work." Rose reminded.

"It doesn't work as a telescope because that's not what it is. It's a light chamber, magnifying light like a weapon. We've just got to power it up."

"With what? There's no electricity!"

"Come on, Rose, keep up." Clara retorted.

Rose blinked a few times. "Moonlight." She muttered. "But the wolf needs moonlight. It's made by moonlight."

"You're 70% water but you can still drown, now come on!" The Doctor demanded. The machine kept on raising up, slowly, inch by inch until the wheel shuddered with a halt. The machine began to hum, glowing light blue. At that, the door crashed down, the table bursting apart as the wolf entered the room, standing still and glaring down at Robert and Victoria.

"I've committed treason for you…but no longer." Robert held the sword up. The wolf roared as it readied to pounce, while the light chamber shot a beam onto the floor. Clara quickly tossed the diamond into the beam, reflecting onto the wolf just as it pounced onto Robert and Victoria, sending it flying up in the air and sprawled onto the wall of the room. The wolf slowly melted away, reverting back into the man it had once been.

"Make it brighter. Let me go." The man pleaded. The Doctor gazed at him sadly before he moved over to the machine and grasped a dial, turning it slowly to amplify the light, causing the man to disappear, the only trace left behind being his final howl of contempt before they turned off the machine, the light disappearing, leaving nothing behind.

"Everyone all right?" The Doctor asked as Clara moved to pick the diamond up again.

"Yeah." Rose nodded.

"Fine." Robert said as he put the sword down.

"All good. Don't worry about me." Clara said dryly, making them smirk. Victoria didn't answer as she inspected a small scratch on her wrist. "Your majesty?" Clara called. "Did it bite you?"

Victoria shook her head. "No, its…it's a cut, that's all."

The Doctor walked over as well. "If that thing bit you…"

"It was a splinter of wood when the door came apart, it's nothing."

"Let us see?" The Doctor held out his hand, but Victoria withdrew hers before he could touch.

"It is nothing." She repeated.

"Your majesty, please." Clara said.

"It is nothing." Victoria repeated. They sighed but backed down regardless, Clara outstretching her hand to give back the Koh-I-Noor. Victoria took it gratefully, and Clara saw, just for a second, a small scratch on her wrist.

"Where've they gone?" Robert said, looking out the window, finding rifles and guns on the grounds outside but no sign of the acolytes.

"What does anyone do when the object of their worship gets disintegrated?" The Doctor asked. "They get scared and scarper away, never to be seen again."

Robert gulped, turning to look at Clara. "Why did you…"

"Robert, sir, there's a difference between being brave and being reckless." She said simply. "My advice: Don't get reckless when you still have a life waiting for you."

"You two don't seem to listen to your own advice." He pointed out. The Doctor and Clara grew sad at that, so they just reached for each other's hand to comfort themselves in the awkward silence.

The Next Day

The Doctor, Clara and Rose knelt before Queen Victoria nervously, watched closely by the maids, the awoken soldiers along with Robert, who was being held very close by Isobel.

Victoria brandished out a sword, moving first to the Doctor. "By the power invested in me by the church and the state, I dub thee "Sir Doctor of TARDIS"." She turned to Clara. "By the power invested in me by the church and the state, I dub thee "Dame Clara of TARDIS"." Then, she turned to Rose. "By the power invested in me by the church and the state, I dub thee "Dame Rose of the Powell Estate". You may stand."

They stood, bearing beaming grins on their faces. "Many thanks, ma'am." The Doctor said.

"Thanks." Rose echoed. "They're never going to believe this back home."

"Your majesty." Clara started. "You said last night about receiving no message from the great beyond. I think your husband cut that diamond to save your life. He's protecting you even now, ma'am, from beyond the grave."

"Indeed, and I take solace in your knowledge, my dear." Then, her gaze turned into steel. "Then you may think on this also, that I am not amused."

"Yes!" Rose squealed, Clara rolling her eyes while the Doctor whined.

"I have to pay five extra quid now."

"Not remotely amused." Victoria repeated, and their expressions turned sheepish. "And henceforth…I banish you."

They blinked. "I'm sorry?" The Doctor asked.

"I have rewarded you Sir Doctor, and now you are exiled from this Empire. If it wasn't for Clara's words, or for her saving Sir Robert's life, I would've banished you permanently, but I will be lenient and only make it temporarily." She shook her head. "I don't know what the three of you are or where you're from, but I know that you consort with stars and magic and think it fun. But your world is steeped in terror and blasphemy and death, and I will not allow it! Even your words and attitude is not of this time. You will leave these shores for over one hundred years and I hope that the time given will help you reflect on how you came to stray so far from all that is good and how much longer you may survive this terrible life. Now, leave my world, and until your sentence has passed, you must never return." She said sternly. They nodded and left the room in haste, moving through the hallways and exiting the house at the front door, stopping to gaze at each other.

"Well then, Sir Doctor." Clara said, holding out an arm.

The Doctor took it gladly. "Dame Clara." They turned to look at Rose. "Dame Rose." They said in unison.

"Blimey, that's a bit creepy, Sir Doctor and Dame Clara." Rose said, taking Clara's other arm. Then, they burst into childish laughter, running away from the house and towards the awaiting carriage.

* * *

"Whoa! Whoa!" The carriage driver called to the horse as it came to a halt, only a small walk away from the TARDIS, still standing silent just where they left it.

"Cheers, Dougal!" The Doctor called.

"Thanks for the ride!" Clara called.

The driver waved back before he turned his attention to the path in front of him. "Walk on." He said, and the horse drew the carriage away.

"You see, the funny thing is, Queen Victoria actually did suffer a mutation of the blood." The Doctor informed as he took Clara's hand again. "It's historical record, she was haemophiliac. They used to call it "The Royal Disease". But it's always been a mystery because she didn't inherit it. Her Mum didn't have it, nor did her Dad, it just came from nowhere."

"What, and you're saying that's a wolf's bite?" Rose asked.

"Well, maybe haemophilia is just a Victorian euphemism."

"For werewolf?'

"Could be."

"Queen Victoria's a werewolf?" Clara asked.

"Maybe. And remember, her children had the royal disease. Maybe she gave them a quick nip."

"She couldn't be." Clara shook her head. "It wasn't anything more than a scratch."

"True. They may not be werewolves yet. From that scratch, she may have only gotten a single cell, which could take about…oh, a hundred years to mature? Could be ready by early 21st Century if the timing's right."

"Nah, that's just ridiculous." Rose denied. "Mind you…" She blinked as she stared distantly. "Princess Anne…"

"I'll say no more."

"Oh, if you think about it…" Clara inputted. "They're very private. They plan everything in advance. They could schedule themselves around the moon, we'd never know."

The Doctor pulled out his key to unlock the TARDIS as Rose continued from Clara. "And, they like hunting. They LOVE blood sports." That made the Doctor laugh as they entered the TARDIS. "Oh my god, they're werewolves!" They howled playfully as the TARDIS dematerialised from Scotland.

"Now then, Rose, I believe you wanted to see a concert." The Doctor reminded as he paced about the TARDIS. "How about ABBA?"

"Really?" Rose asked.

"Yeah. Have a fun time, because…" He moved closer to whisper, "I've got something to give to Clara."

Rose cocked an eyebrow as Clara didn't hear. "You're giving her a-"

"Yep."

"Then I'll accept the offer." Rose said with a grin.

* * *

Victoria exited the house with Robert and Isobel, standing outside and greeting the cold embrace of night and the full moon once again.

"What will you do, ma'am? Will you return home again?"

"I think I might. I have a kingdom to guide after all." Victoria glanced back at the house, spotting the name on the large stone plaque above the front door, "The Torchwood Estate". She contemplated for a moment, before leaning in. "Although we may not speak of these events in public, they will not be forgotten, I promise you that. The bravery you both possessed in fighting the wolf…" She glanced at Robert, "The ingenuity of your father, they will live on."

"I thought you wanted nothing more to do with their world." Robert reminded.

"I saw in the Doctor and Clara, two people who could be great beacons of hope, but they are held back by childish excitement. If that was to be let go, well…" She trailed off, deciding a different approach. "I saw last night that Great Britain has enemies beyond imagination and we must defend our borders on all sides. I propose…an institute. To investigate these strange happenings and to fight them." She glanced back at the plaque and smiled. "I would call it "Torchwood". "The Torchwood Institute", and if the Doctor or Clara would ever return, and I doubt that they won't, then they must let go of their childish nature and beware, because Torchwood will be waiting."

**AN: Oh yes, they will be waiting. Besides, Clara's getting…well…you know what it is. ;) As always, thank you for reading and leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	30. Attack of the Graske

**AN: I don't know if you saw this one coming, but if you did, kudos. XD**

**Attack of the Graske**

The TARDIS dematerialised, leaving a dropped off Rose for an ABBA concert at Wembley Stadium, 1979. Then without warning, the Doctor raced from the console room.

"Doctor! Where're you going?!" Clara called.

"Be back in a minute!" He raced through the hallways of the TARDIS, quickly bursting into their room where he grabbed a small box, then raced all the way back to the console room. He stood there, in front of a bewildered Clara, grinning but panting, slightly out of breath.

"Take your time." Clara quipped dryly.

"Clara, Clara, Clara. I believe that it's time…you had this." He pushed the box into her hands.

"What is it?" She asked. He nodded for her to open it. "It better not be a jump scare, Doctor."

He blinked at that. "Define jump scare."

Clara didn't get a chance to continue, as she opened the box and saw within, a sonic screwdriver. It was quite similar to the Doctor's current model, but it's front light was a bright orange. "You didn't." She awed, picking it up with a soft smile. Then, she beamed a radiating smile, giggling hard. "Oh, Doctor, thank you so much!" She embraced him, and he laughed.

"Oh, Clara. My Clara. You're very welcome." He said, beaming back before placing a kiss on her lips.

They parted to resume the hug, giggling like mad. Then, just for a moment, she pushed back slightly, her eyes squinting at him. "Were you going to give this to me back at the house?"

"Yeah but…" He trailed off for a moment before he cleared his throat sheepishly. "Ok, Clara, a few safety rules with a sonic screwdriver." She looked at him like a student to their teacher. "Rule one: Don't let a cat sit on it."

She blinked. "Why not?"

"It just becomes embarrassing for the cat." He shrugged simply. "Rule two: Be careful around someone who's using a hairdryer. It interferes with the sonic."

"Can't you patch that?"

"I'm trying." He whined. "Oh, and rule three: Don't use it on wood."

"Why not?"

He gulped a bit. "Because it doesn't do wood."

Her face fell slightly at that. "You're serious?" He nodded. "What a load of rubbish." She muttered under her breath.

His jaw dropped slightly. "Now that's just rude, missy." He retorted.

"You can talk."

"Do you want to keep it or not?" He asked.

She scoffed. "Yeah."

He grinned again, moving to the console. "So, challenge. What a better way to learn how to use a sonic, eh?" He stopped briefly. "Do remember though, you're still going to pick up on different settings as you go. For example, just the other day, I found that the sonic can tint glasses like this." He placed his "Brainy Specs" on and used his sonic on them. They tinted black like outdoor shades before he undid the effect and pocketed them again. "See? Brilliant! I don't even need shades. Well…maybe sometimes I will. Well…not all the time. Well…unless I can do something cool with shades."

"Doctor." Clara interrupted.

He beamed again. "Right. Sorry." He drew the monitor over. "I've been tracking a bit of odd activity for a while. Not much to follow just yet, but…" He quickly clicked a few keys, "If I can bring it up…come on…" He muttered for a moment before it beeped into action. "Ah ha! There we go!" The monitor conjured up a live feed of a mixed-race family in their living room, consisting of their grandparents, a father, and his wife and their two children, a boy, and a girl. The grandmother wore half spectacled reading glasses and a pink blouse shirt. The grandfather was balding, wearing a black and red checkered sweater. Both the father and the boy wore t-shirts, the father's plain blue, while the boy's was yellow with black and white stripes. The mother wore a pink and purple shirt with a black cardigan on top. Finally, the girl, who was wearing a blue shirt with white sleeves and was holding a small camera up, twiddling around with the settings like any kid does when they get their first piece of technology in their life.

"Doctor are you spying on them?" She asked in playful accusation.

He whined. "Clara, there's a point. Look at them. It looks like any old Christmas and it is." Clara raised her eyebrows. "Okay, no, I'm joking, it isn't. One of these people isn't Human but an alien imposter, a changeling." He moved around the console, keeping a hand out for Clara to stay where she was. "I can't be over there and maintain the connection at the same time, so I need you to figure out which one it is. Look for anything out of the ordinary."

"Are they in any danger, Doctor?" Clara asked.

"Not yet." He said. "This alien has been doing small level work, but he's consistent with it, and it's growing bigger every day, which is why we need to stop him now. The monitor is looking out through their TV, but you can use your sonic to flick to the girl's camera."

"This is borderline "Peeping Tom"." Clara quipped dryly.

"Work them eyeballs, Clara." He said, motioning to his own as he flicked another switch.

Clara turned her gaze back to the monitor, giving a small sigh as she did. "Now I know how security guards feel." She muttered to herself as she turned on the volume.

 _"Christmas video time!"_  The girl shrieked and they both winced at the suddenly loud volume and she slammed it back to mute.

"Clara!" He whined.

"Sorry!" She pressed a few keys to turn it back on, but at a much lower volume.

"Ow, that hurt." He whined a bit, rubbing his ears.

"Think how I felt. I was closer." She grumbled, rubbing her own as she held her orange sonic in her other hand. She turned the volume down just a bit more as the song "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" blared in from the family room off their radio.

 _"Gran? Gran?"_  The girl calls, moving over to her grandmother, who was half asleep on the couch.  _"Graaan?!"_

Clara held back a small sigh of irritation and flicked her sonic to switch the view.  _"Dad, I can't find this part for the game. I need it. Dad?"_  The boy asks from the floor.

 _"Harry, will you put that in the box."_  The Mum said as she knelt in front of him. Clara blinked as her eyes glowed yellow for a second, then they disappeared.  _That is definitely not Human._

"It's the mother." Clara said. "Her eyes glowed, only for a second."

The Doctor furrowed his eyebrows. "Really?" Clara spun the monitor over to him as the grandfather sat on the sofa, the mother kneeling behind it as she picked up wrappers off the floor. She spots grandfather putting chocolate wrappers back in the box and she pats his shoulder.

 _"Wrappers in the bin, Dad."_  She said, her eyes glowing for a split second which the Doctor caught.

He smiled at Clara. "Nice spotting. Quite quick there too." He complimented before he got serious. "But why are they glowing?" An alarm blared on the console, making them jump. "What's that? Why're you doing that?"

"Doctor." Clara motioned him back to the screen. Through their view on the TV, they saw the mother leading the father into the empty dining room. All of a sudden through a golden flash, a small alien, three feet tall, wearing a black jumpsuit appeared on the table. His skin was a blend of crimson and pink with three large strands of skin emerging from his head, bouncing with every step he took as he moved towards the Dad. Holding out his wrinkled, long nailed fingers, he had a small black device with a light blue tip and pointed it to the father and pressed the button. The Dad shuddered up in a jolt as a small blue field was sucked from his body and into the alien's device. With a small, guttural growl, the alien disappeared in the same flash. Then, the Dad and the mother both re-entered the living room and their eyes glowed for a split second before they returned to normal. "Doctor, what was that?" Clara asked as the Doctor raced around the console.

"That creature was a Graske. They take over a planet by replacing it's population. I can follow the trail of that one, but I need you to fly the TARDIS Clara."

"Right on it." Clara nodded as he pulled the dematerialisation lever, the TARDIS jolting with a thump as they sped away into the Vortex. The TARDIS shuddered and rocked, the two grasping the console for support.  _Okay, first: Vortex Loop._  She grasped a black pump, moving it three times before pulling away.  _Next: Vector Tracker._ She reached over to another panel, spinning a small connected twin dial with a red pointer.  _Finally…_  Without warning, her head began to throb in pain, making her frown in surprise as she suppressed a groan. For a split second, she thought she saw a face reflected in the console, but she shook it off and the pain went away. _Shoot! The Dimensional Stabilizer!_  She blinked, her eyes dancing over the console. "Doctor!"

"It's like a lever attached to a wheel!" The Doctor called, already knowing her question.

She blinked as she spotted it. The lever, coming out of a box and attached to a gear like wheel, was right beside her. "Good job, dingus." She muttered before she grasped the lever and pulled it. The TARDIS landed with a jolt, causing them to stumble with a groan.

"Clara? You all right?" The Doctor called as he pulled himself to his feet, moving over to Clara who was panting on the floor.

Clara groaned as he heaved her up. "I'm going to be sore in the morning." She quipped dryly. "Where have we landed?" She asked.

"Nowhere. We're still on Earth." He said as he pulled the monitor back over.

She rolled her eyes lightly. "Okay, WHEN have we landed?"

He smiled at her. "Christmas, 1883. I've coded the DNA trail of the Graske in. So, let's see where it takes us." The monitor showed a gridded schematic of the Earth, zooming in one square at a time until it hovered over a small part of London, the street covered in a few inches of snow. "Now then, time to find that Graske." They quickly piloted the TARDIS to land in a small back alleyway nearby the desired street. "Let's have a look then, eh?" The Doctor called as he threw on his overcoat and they ran outside the TARDIS. He grasped her arm before they moved into the busy street. "Remember, if you see him, use your sonic to scan him, it'll make following his DNA trace much smoother that way."

"Gotcha." She said, and they moved out into the street, grasping each other's hands.

"Come along, come along! Have some mulled wine!" A white-haired old man called from a corner of the street. "Long live Queen Victoria!"

"Yeah, long live the one who banished us." Clara muttered sarcastically.

"Now, don't be brash, Dame Clara." He quipped lightly.

"Shush you." Clara retorted. They kept flittering their gaze around, spotting all assortments of people, carriages, and piles of rubble by the roads. "Okay, if I was a Graske and I needed somewhere to hide, where would it be?"

"In the shadows." The Doctor said simply, and they kept walking, right past a lady being followed by a young urchin.

"I'm ever so hungry, Missus, since the orphanage fell down." The urchin said, holding out a small tattered cup. "Give us a penny. I'm saving up for a Satsuma."

"Where would he be, Clara? Can you see him?" The Doctor whispered as they glanced at every hiding spot hidden by darkness or a shadow.

Clara breathed out a bit as the throbbing pain returned to her head.  _God. Where is THIS coming from?_

 _"I think you know where."_  A voice answered in her head. One so familiar, it sent chills down her spine, but she shook it away, refocusing on the task at hand. And right there, out of the corner of her eye, she saw him.

"Doctor." Clara urged, tugging his arm. He discreetly followed her gaze to a stack of wicker cases, where the Graske was hiding, just partially visible to their position in the middle of the street.

"Get him quick." The Doctor said, so Clara pulled out her sonic, hidden from view by the Doctor's overcoat and scanned the Graske. However, the Graske spotted them out of the corner of his eye and he snarled, rushing away. "Keep after him!" He said, and they rushed to follow. The Graske moved through the hordes of people with the Doctor and Clara hot on his trail, until he stopped by the urchin and pulled out his device. The Graske growled low in his throat and pressed the button. The device beeped three times in succession, causing him to blink in confusion before it exploded in sparks, making him stumble to the ground with a yelp. He glanced over, seeing Clara holding out her active sonic before she pocketed it away.

"Sorry." Clara quipped and the Graske growled. He then pulled back his sleeve to show a wrist pad, and he slammed his hand down onto it, disappearing in the same golden light.

"He's getting away, but we're locked onto him. Come on!" The Doctor pulled Clara back to the TARDIS and they sent it hurling into the Time Vortex. Then, they landed with another stumbling thump. "Bit of a bumpy ride, but we've arrived." The Doctor said, pulling the monitor over.

"Where are we?" Clara asked.

"Griffoth. The Graske home world. We've got a chance to stop them. There's an entrance but it's shielded. I've taken us as close as we can get." He flicked the monitor to the outer view of the TARDIS, a dark tunnel, with a small layer of steam and a door beyond with a purple panel. He grasped her hand and they walked slowly to the doors. "Let's be careful, eh? Don't want to trip any alarms." He said as they moved through, entering the airlock.

"TARDIS shell helping us breathe, right?" Clara asked, and he nodded.

"Don't have any respirators on board, I'm afraid." They moved up to the panel and the Doctor took out his "Brainy Specs". The panel had three symbols on it, two looking like a spiked club while the third looked like a double Fantail. "It's a symbol sequence." He took out his sonic and used it on the panel, showing the first three symbols. The first two were both option three while the third was option two. He tutted slightly, humming in his mouth before he pressed number two. A gear in the centre of the door turned counter-clockwise and it slid open, the Doctor grinning as it did, the pair moving through the open doorway into another corridor. "See? I'm brilliant!"

Clara grinned darkly. "There's another door."

His face fell at that. "Oh. Way to be a killjoy, Clara." He whined.

"And you know what's after that door?" Clara asked, beaming.

He blinked. "Uhhhhh….vegetables?"

Clara giggled. "No. It's another door. Guess what's after that door?"

That hit him, and he grinned. "Jesus?"

"Jesus, yes, Jesus." They, of course, came to another door, this one's panel having a code based on numbers. The first: 79. The second: 98. The third: 89. Clara took her sonic and scanned the panel, bringing up the first three numbers: 56, 67 and 78. Before the Doctor could do anything, Clara immediately pressed option number three and the door slid open. He glanced at Clara with a blend of surprise and admiration.

"How'd you get so good with numbers?" He asked as they moved through.

"Danny." She said. "He was a maths teacher, gave me some help on it."

He blinked, now completely in bewilderment. "Really? He seemed more like a P.E teacher."

"He wasn't."

"No, I'm pretty sure he was."

"Doctor." Clara said in playful seriousness. "He was-"

"A P.E teacher, I know. Oh, another door." The Doctor said quickly to distract her. "Blimey, they've got as many doors as Jim Morrison." He gazed at the panel, seeing a set of three keys, one with four points, one with two and one with three. The lock had four points and he scoffed. "Well, that's easy as fuck." He quipped, grabbing the key with four points.

"Language." Clara admonished playfully.

" _*Scoffs*_ You can talk."

She cocked her eyebrow. "That's the first time in a long while that you've complained about it."

He blinked a bit. "Well…I-I, uh…"

She leaned towards his ear. "Do you like hearing me curse?" She whispered huskily.

He blushed but nodded. "Yes." Clara winked, not needing to say anything, moving through the door as he unlocked it. The door had revealed a large chamber, filled with black pods with glass capsules inside, a large group of Graskes moving about, regularly checking on the pods. Some of them where empty, some of them had dormant people inside. Humans, Slitheen, Sontarans, Ood and Zygons. "Duck." The Doctor hushed as they knelt behind the railing in front of the open door as a Graske looked at the open door with scrutinizing eyes. The door slid shut and after a moment, he walked away, still glancing back at the door with a low growl. "Close one." The Doctor commented lightly as they gazed below the railing. There, they saw a console panel, their eyes instantly lighting up with the expression of "Gotcha".

"Why're these people here?" Clara whispered.

"Their the originals. They need to be kept alive to sustain the copies." The Doctor answered. In their vision, a Graske walked through the pods, coming up to a pair that held the mother and father from the family Christmas earlier. "That's the Graske we chased from Earth."

"Can we reverse this?" Clara asked.

"Yes." He quickly moved through the railing, Clara following his example as they ducked behind the console. "Okay, not exactly enough room to hide us."

"Distraction?"

"I have an idea. Let's just hope it doesn't end badly." He quickly used the sonic and flicked a few switches in the console. It set off an alarm, and one of the pods containing a Slitheen burst open. The Slitheen looked around in shock before it turned into smouldering rage. All the Graske in the room ran up, pulling out small laser pistols but the Slitheen charged at them before they could fire, forcing them to run away. "Okay, there we go." They stood up, gazing at the control panel. In the very centre above a mass number of lettered and numbered buttons was a yellow switch. "That button does…" He took out his sonic to quickly scan it. "It reverses the settings. It'll destroy the duplicates and free the prisoners, teleporting them back to where they were snatched from."

Clara put her hand over the button. "They really have some god-awful security."

"It's what made it easier for us to get through those doors, to Jesus' bounty of delicious confectionaries." The Doctor quipped. She grinned at him and pressed it. They saw the Slitheen chasing the Graske disappear in a flash of golden light. Right after that, everyone in the pods did the same. The Doctor grinned at Clara. "Brava, brava!" He said before they both scrunched their faces in disgust.

"Yeah, nah." Clara quickly said.

"Yeah, that sounded stupid." The Doctor agreed. They quickly took out their sonics and used it on the console. "Let's just turn it all off so they can't restart their mission…" The Doctor muttered, and the room flickered into darkness, the frightened shrieks of the Graske making them flinch slightly. "Feel sorry for them, it is a bit creepy looking like this." The Doctor whispered before he took Clara's hand and they raced back to the TARDIS. Sending it hurtling into the Vortex, they embraced in a giggling hug. "Clara Oswald, you were amazing!" He beamed.

"Thank you." Clara whispered with a blush. "You were pretty amazing too." She gave him a grateful kiss before parting. "Does that mean that I get to be you?" She whispered slyly.

He blinked. "What? No, I…no!" He squeaked. Clara shook her head, grinning madly which made him roll his eyes. "Well then, better get Rose. Be back in a jiffy." They landed the TARDIS back in 1979 and he raced out of the door, leaving Clara to herself for a while.

For a few sudden moments, her head swam, causing her to blink rapidly and clutch her forehead with a groan. She fought it off, staring around the empty room with a hardened glare. "I told you: Stay out of my head." She growled.

 _"Clara."_  That voice came back. HER voice. That same emotionless yet hateful voice.  _"Clara, Clara, Clara. Do I even need to tell you why I'm back?"_

"Fun and games?"

_"No. Use it."_

"Stop it." Clara growled. "Stop the riddles. Why are you back?"

_"The sonic, Clara. Use it."_

"Why?" There was silence for a moment, so Clara tried again. "What're you hoping to achieve from this?"

She could almost hear that voice smile.  _"Nothing at all. Just use the sonic."_

Clara clenched her jaw but did so anyway, taking out the sonic and scanning herself. Checking the readings, she rolled her eyes. "It's the same readings I've-"

 _"No."_  Cyber Clara growled.  _"Use it again. You're missing something very important."_

Clara scanned again and looked carefully at the readings, which made her freeze. "What?" She muttered.

 _"I'm afraid so."_  Cyber Clara said, but her voice was devoid of pity or remorse.  _"Keep trying if it will help."_

Clara scanned repeatedly, over and over again, her hands starting to shake as it kept producing the same result. "But…I've never even planned to have…why?"

 _"Did you really think that no heartbeat was the main drawback of your immortality? *Chuckles* I'm not actually sorry, Clara, I just came to tell you…because I felt like it."_  She could now feel the voice disappearing once again from her mind.  _"Goodluck trying to give the Doctor children now."_  She taunted. Clara stood there, her breath shaking as she grasped the console. She felt so much self-remorse right now. Not because she couldn't have kids, but because she never even thought of it, ever. And now…

 _*Beeps*_  (Clara? Are you all right)

"I'm fine." Clara grumbled.

 _*Beeps*_  (Clara. What's wrong?)

"Please, be quiet."

 _*Beeps*_  (Clara, I can't help you if you don't-)

"Shut up!" Clara burst, and the TARDIS fell silent. She felt a trickle of tears rolling down her cheeks and restrained her urge to sob. She wiped away the tears and took a few deep breaths to calm herself and now she looked completely normal again. Inside however, she was still fighting back the urge to cry.

* * *

The Doctor finally found Rose, standing alone after the concert had finished and people were pilling out of the large stadium. "So, how was it?" He asked.

"Oh, it was great." Rose beamed. "And how was Clara with…you know."

He grinned. "She loved it."

Rose laughed, smacking his shoulder. "Good for you two." Her phone then rang, making her jump slightly. "Excuse me." She pulled it out to check the number, her face jumping a bit with a smile. "Oh, it's Mickey."

"Really?" The Doctor asked in surprise.

She nodded and answered the call, putting the phone to her ear. "Hello there."

_"Rose, listen."_

His serious tone made her perk up. "What is it?"

_"There's this school, had strange lights in the sky over it, that kind of stuff. But I looked into it. As soon as the lights disappeared, most of the staff in the school was replaced and now the students in the school are becoming far too smart for their age. You tell this to the Doctor since he said it to me first but…I need him. All three of you."_

Rose fought back a grin at that. "All right. We'll be there." She hanged up.

"What'd he say?" The Doctor asked.

"He said "I need you". And he was referring to you." That made him blink repeatedly before he beamed.

"Well then, let's go and see old Mickety Mick-Mickey." And with that, they raced back to the TARDIS.

**AN: Well well well…Sarah Jane's a coming. This may get a bit interesting. As always, thanks for reading and leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	31. School Reunion

**AN: Goddamn, this one was a bit tough to write. Didn't expect it to take this long. Then again, that's what happens when you try to create a cover art and you're really bad at Photoshop. XD Anyway, hope you enjoy.**

**School Reunion**

**Deffry Vale High School, London  
** 2007

To the headmaster's office he went. Each footstep echoing down the cream coloured stairwell as he moved, arriving at the right floor, a hallway painted green, and all the dull colours still irritated him. 6ft tall, with blue eyes and dark hair, which was starting to bald thanks to his receding hairline, is slicked back behind his large ears, showing off the somewhat built yet gaunt features of his face. Dressed in a slick black suit with a red tie, he held out his left hand, tapping his fingers against one another in a distant hum, trying to remember some Earth song that got stuck in his head, but failing to do so. Unlike his brothers and sisters, who much preferred their true skin compared to these thin Humans, Mr. Finch actually quite admired them and their intellect and their ambition. Until he came across those ones that he just abhorred, but even then, he still enjoyed them for his own reasons. For example, sitting in a chair by his office door, he saw a nine-year-old girl, black haired and dressed in the school uniform of a grey sweater over a white collared shirt and a red and white tie. He stared down at her for a few seconds in some irritation, wanting desperately to draw her into his office and devour her alive, but he instead waited. They couldn't draw THAT kind of attention to themselves after all they've achieved. "What do you want?" He asked.

"The nurse sent me, sir." She said, her voice bearing a tired and exhausted tone that gave him the urge to tilt his head to the side, but he restrained it. "I was in English and I got a headache."

He blinked in puzzlement. "Then don't bother me. Go home."

She shook her head. "I can't."

"Why? Is your mother at work?"

"I live in Ambrose Hall, the children's home."

That made him shiver in delight on the inside. He once again repressed an urge, this time to grin darkly.  _Never mind then. I CAN feast after all._  "No parents." He summarised, not letting the girl in onto his inner thoughts. "No one to miss you." She looked down slightly in sadness and he adopted a respectfully gentle tone. "I see why the nurse sent you. You poor child. Poor…" He quickly glanced over her figure.  _Thin. Very thin but could be a decent meal regardless._ "Thin child. Come inside." She followed him, standing up out of her chair and moving to the door. "Your headache came at an opportune time. It's nearly lunch." He said, and the girl beamed. He moved her inside and just before he closed the door, he quickly gazed outside down the hallway, giving a small smile as he saw no one there. Then, he closed the door and turned to the girl. "Besides, I never did specify the meal, did I?" He asked in a rhetoric, sinister tone and the girl blinked. Then, without warning, he lunged at her, grasping a hand over her mouth with the other on her shoulder to pin her against a wall in the lonely office before he let his body loosen. His skin turned dark and cragged, his teeth filed into sharp fangs, his bone's cracking as his body rearranged itself, spreading out large bat wings from his back. The morphic illusion melted away, revealing his true form as his clawed hands kept their grasp over the horrified girl. "No one to miss you." He repeated darkly with a growling, animalistic voice and then, he unhinged his jaw and dived in, the girl's screams of torment muffled by his own quickly reddening hand.

* * *

The school bell had rung, and the students hurriedly rushed from their well-earned lunch break and towards their classes. In one science class, all the loud and chattering kids piled in, taking their desired places at the long desks. Then, two pairs of footsteps entered and the door to the class closed without warning, indicating for the students to sit down in their chairs, quickly hushing each other into silence. Standing at the front of the room was the Doctor, wearing his "Brainy Specs" as he placed a large brown bag on the front desk. Clara took a seat in another desk at the side of the room, dressed back in her "Teacher Outfit", already feeling comfortable again in her grey sweater and black jeans.

"Good morning, class. Are we sitting comfortably?" He took their awaiting silence as confirmation. "Good." He then picked up a red marker and wrote "PHYSICS" on the whiteboard. "So…physics. Physics, eh?" He tossed the pen back on the desk, earning a few puzzled looks as he strode to stand in front of it. "Ph-h-ysics." He rolled the word about as he leaned back on the desk. "Phy-y-y-y-y-sics. Physics!" He tried gleefully. "Physics." He tried seriously. "Physics, physics, physics, physics, physics, physics, physics!" He rambled. He saw Clara biting her lip to contain her giggling and he quickly winked at her. The kids raised their eyebrows at him for a moment. "I hope one of you is getting all this down." He cleared his throat, properly gaining their attention. "Okay, let's see what you know. Two identical strips of Nylon are charged with static electricity and hung from a string, so they can swing freely. What would happen if they were brought near each other?" One brown-haired boy with glasses at the right end of the nearest table raised his hand. "Yes, uh, what's your name?"

"Milo."

"Off you go, Milo."

"They'd repel each other because they have the same charge."

"Correctamundo!" The Doctor complimented. The students watched as he and Clara scrunched their faces in unison. "That is a word I've never used before and hopefully never will again." He grumbled before returning to his cheerful attitude. "Next one: I coil up a thin piece of Nichrome wire and place it in a glass of water. Then, I turn on the electricity and measure to see if the water temperature is affected. My question is this: How do I measure the electrical power going into the coil?" Milo raised his hand again but no one else did. "Anyone else want to take a crack at it?" He asked politely. The students looked at each other in confusion so he inwardly sighed. "Okay, Milo, go for it."

"Measure the current and P.D using an ammeter and a voltmeter."

He exchanged a quick look with Clara, who nodded in understanding, so he leant back against the desk with his arms crossed. "Two to Milo. Right then, Milo, tell me this, true or false: The greater the dampening on a system, the quicker it loses energy to its surroundings."

"False."

"What is non-coding DNA?"

"DNA that doesn't code for a protein." The students started to look at Milo in wide eyed shock.

"65,983 times 5?"

"329,915."

"How do you travel faster than light?"

"By opening a quantum tunnel with an FTL factor of 36.7 recurring."

The Doctor held back his urge to blink, instead taking a small breath. He looked over at Clara, seeing her shake her head at him, holding a hand discreetly out of sight. Then, he let his gaze go distant, the room becoming a blur. " _First, slow down."_  He entered the storm room in his mind, standing at the console of the TARDIS. Clara was also there but had her back to him as she stood in front of a blackboard. The monitor showed what was truly happening in his own vision, but to him, it was going at such a slow speed, it could've been mistaken for a paused video.  _"Second, lock the door."_  The Doctor pressed a small black switch, bolting the TARDIS doors shut. Then, he turned to look at Clara.  _"Looks like Mickey was right, Clara. There is something strange going on here."_  Clara, of course, didn't reply as this was only a figment of his imagination. Nevertheless, he started to pace around the console.  _"So, let's break this down. All of those kids never, not even once reacted to anything I said, other than a begrudging, "Well, I guess I have to look like I'm paying attention", like so many kids always act in school. But Milo, he didn't just answer those questions perfectly, he timed his reaction right down to when I finished asking the question, as if he knew every word I was going to say in advance."_

The Doctor turned as the sound of Clara scribbling on the board with a piece of white chalk. Her message read, "Question one: What changed that boy to make him become so intelligent?".

The Doctor scoffed.  _"Well, that's easy. He could've been replaced by-"_

Clara scribbled again, her new message reading, "Shut up and think".

The Doctor blinked, contemplating deep for a few moments before his eyes widened and he nodded. He clicked both fingers and re-entered the memory of the moment.  _"Rewind."_  He ordered, watching the moment go back for three seconds.  _"Stop."_  Everything in the memory was as it was, but everyone was completely still, including a past version of himself, all feeling like a dream, surreal yet serene.  _"Blimey, now I really know how Sherlock feels."_  He muttered to himself before he moved over to Clara, hearing, muffled by her own hand, an activated sonic. He followed the central point of her clenched fist, looking back up at Milo and he understood, dissolving his memory.  _"You were scanning him to see if he was an alien in disguise, but he's just Human, isn't he?"_

His answer was Clara scribbling another message: "Question two: What was the cause of the change?"

The Doctor squinted his eyes for a few moments.  _"Most likely, it would've been something given to him. Maybe by the school itself. But what would they be giving him? Would they be giving it to the other students?"_

Clara scribbled down one last message: "Question three: What do they stand to gain from this?"

At that, he unlocked the doors and left the room, returning to his conscious state, were only a mere three seconds had passed, everyone staring at him in puzzlement.  _Well, let's see if their lunch time provides the answer._

* * *

The Doctor and Clara waited in line as their lunch trays were filled by the cafeteria staff, complete with chicken, chips, steamed corn, and gravy sauce. One of the staff members was Rose, who glared daggers at them, making them smirk cheekily at her before they walked to sit alone at one of the many tables.

"Doctor, what was that?" Clara asked as they started eating at the food.

"What do you mean?' The Doctor blinked in ignorance.

"After Milo finished answering your questions, you just went blank for a few seconds. What was going on in that head?" Clara asked with scrutinizing eyes.

He motioned her to lean in. "I was inside my storm room." She blinked at that and he sighed. "It's a bit like a mind palace, off that Sherlock thing." That made her nod slowly in understanding. "I was trying to theorize that if the kid wasn't Human, which you confirmed by the way."

Clara cocked an eyebrow. "You were paying attention?"

He huffed. "Of course I did. Anyway, if these kids are all Human, then they must have been given something by this school to make them smart." He saw her go to make a smart, quippy comment. "Other than classes." She bit her lip to hold back a snort. "Besides, if the kids are made to be much smarter than so many people on this planet, then what is their goal? What're they hoping to achieve?"

Clara gave him a soft look. "You figured all that out in three seconds?"

He nodded. "Yeah." Her look started to radiate adoration and he smiled warmly. "Come here." He motioned, and she moved her chair over to sit beside him and he drew her into a loose hug. They both stopped eating the chips with blinking eyes.

"Doctor, what's in these?" She asked, holding one up for him to see.

"I don't know." He quickly pulled out his sonic and scanned the chips before anyone else could see the device, putting it away with a small huff. "Reading undetectable, but there is definitely something on these."

Clara looked at him with puzzled eyes. "So, in basic words, they're being fed intelligence?"

He shrugged. "Pretty much, yeah."

Rose walked over to them, making them gaze at her. "Good thing I could you two in a cute moment and not in an irritating one." She quipped dryly.

The Doctor quickly shot Clara a playful look. "Sorry, could you just…" He pointed to a small spot on the table. "There's just a bit of gravy there."

Rose rolled her eyes, moving to sit down opposite them. "Two days we've been here." She groaned.

"Blame Mickey. He's the one who put us onto this." Clara retorted.

"And he was right." The Doctor inputted. "Boy in class this morning, got knowledge way beyond planet Earth, at least in this time."

"Are you eating those chips?" Rose asked the pair.

"Nah." They said in unison as Rose picked one up and stuffed it into her mouth.

"They're just a bit…umm…" Clara thought for a moment.

"Off? Weird?" The Doctor offered.

"Let's go with off." He nodded in agreement. "They're a bit off."

Rose shook her head with a blissful look as she swallowed the chip down. "I think they're gorgeous. Wish I had school dinners like this."

"It's a bit well behaved, this place." The Doctor perked up with furrowed eyebrows. "I thought they'd be all happy-slapping hoodies. Happy-slapping hoodies with ASBOs. Happy-slapping hoodies with ASBOs and ringtones, yeah?" He looked between the two, earning a puzzled look from Rose and a dull look from Clara. "Oh, come one, don't tell me I don't fit in."

Clara raised her eyebrows at him. "As your observer and certified teacher, you've got a long way to go before you can properly teach."

His face fell at that. "Aww, Clara." He whined, and they giggled at him.

At that, a brunette dinner lady, Mrs. Jackson, walked up to them with an ice-cold scowl, practically glaring daggers at Rose. "You are not permitted to leave your station during a sitting."

Rose stood up with her hands raised defensively. "I was just talking to these teachers."

"Hello." They said in unison.

"They don't like the chips." Rose explained.

Jackson clenched her jaw at them. "The menu has been specifically designed by the headmaster to improve concentration and performance. Now, get back to work." She walked away, earning a roll of the eyes from Rose.

"See? This is me." Rose motioned to herself. "Dinner lady." She grumbled as she walked away.

"I'll have a soufflé." Clara called. "And he'll have the crumble."

Rose shook her head, knowing that they were smirking like mad at her. "I'm so going to kill you two."

The Doctor and Clara leaned back into their seats, Clara placing her head back into his chest as they gazed around the room. Then, she felt him tapping her on the shoulder gently. "Clara, look up." He said simply. She gazed up with him to see Finch looking down from a balcony on the second floor. Finch was gazing about the room with a scrutinizing eye, which eventually fell and steeled onto another teacher, a dark-skinned man in a blue and black suit, who walked into the cafeteria and straight up to a nearby table.

The man leaned onto the table over the shoulders of the kids, one of them being a young brunette girl with braces. "Melissa, you'll be joining my class for the next period. Milo's failed me, so it's time we moved you up to the top class."

Melissa nodded with a small smile. "Yes, Mr. Wagner." He nodded at her in silent approval before turning to leave the room.

THAT made them squint their eyes at the back of Wagner's head as he walked away. "But Milo was really good." Clara said.

"Look's like they're hoping for better." They looked back up at Finch, seeing his gaze follow Wagner until he was out of sight, then he resumed his monitor of the room. He gazed around, every so often clenching his jaw or relaxing his shoulders, and sometimes gave a few small cocking of his eyebrows. Clara tugged the Doctor's suit, so he could lean his ear down. "I'm getting a creepy Charles Magnussen vibe from him."

He nodded. "But I'm sure he doesn't have a Danish accent."

She shrugged slightly, leaning back into his hug. "Shame."

* * *

Rose stood silently in the cramped school kitchen absentmindedly cleaning a few washed cooking wares, right down to the last oven tray as a group of four dinner ladies led by Jackson entered the room. They, to Rose's intrigued puzzlement, were escorting what looked like a large toxin barrel on a barred trolley. Even the dinner ladies themselves were covered head to toe in protective wear, including eye goggles, gas masks, disposable body suits and large grey gloves.

"Careful." Jackson reprimanded, her voice slightly muffled by the gas mask. "Keep it steady. Don't spill a drop." The eyes of the other dinner ladies looked highly nervous, which made Rose even more puzzled. One of them miss timed their step, making the barrel rattle in its confines. "I said: Keep it steady." She growled lowly and they resumed their highly cautious walk. "Careful. That's it. Easy now. Steady." Rose's phone went off in her pocket and she immediately answered, knowing that it was Mickey. Still watching as she placed her phone to her ear, they moved the barrel into place in a small storage cupboard before they took the empty trolley away. "Right, second barrel. Quickly now."

"What've you got?" Rose whispered.

_"Confirmation. I just got into army records. Three months ago, massive UFO activity. They logged over forty sightings, lights in the sky, all of that."_  She heard a few more clicks of computer keys followed by a failed prompt message and a groan from Mickey.  _"I can't get any photos, cause then it gets all classified and secret. Keeps locking me out."_

"Tell you what though, three months ago, it turns out all the kitchen staff were replaced…and this lot are weird."

_"See? There's definitely something going on. I was right to call you home."_

Rose cocked an eyebrow. "Are you sure there wasn't anything else?"

Mickey stammered a bit.  _"N-No. Did you think I'd just invent an emergency?"_

Rose smirked. "You wanted to ask if you could come with us, did you?"

Mickey scoffed slightly.  _"That's the last thing I'd do."_

Rose muttered "As if" under her breath. Before she could carry on, the ladies suddenly tripped and knocked the barrel over, one of them was trapped under the spilled yellow liquid. Yet, as it spilled onto her, she started to steam and burn, all the while screaming in pain and agony. "I've got to go." Rose quickly said into her phone before she hanged up. The ladies and Jackson hauled the screaming girl to her feet and pulled her into the storage cupboard, then Jackson lowered the blinds to the room. Rose quickly went to dial for an ambulance, but Jackson came back out, taking off her goggles and mask.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Calling an ambulance." Rose said obviously, but her voice was full of worry.

"No need. She's quite all right." Jackson said. Her eyes closed with a small groan as a large puff of smoke suddenly emerged from the room and the girl screamed again, accompanied with the sounds of kitchen cutlery and cookware crashing to the floor. "It's fine." Jackson said quickly as Rose was about to talk. "She does that." Jackson then went back into the room and closed the door, leaving Rose completely bewildered at her behaviour.

* * *

Finch stood waiting eagerly at the front entrance of the school for his new visitor. After everything they've achieved and all they've done so very well to hide from the public, excellent publicity is what they need to propel them even closer to their goal. And right now, it was coming into their hands so effortlessly. A brunette woman, hair brushed back to frame her head, dressed in a brown tweed dress, carrying a dark green bag, and wearing heels was here to write a profile on him and his achievements at the school for something called "The Sunday Times", not that he could figure out what that was. Still, he held out a hand with a smile and she reciprocated, shaking his own. "Miss Sarah Jane Smith is it?" He asked.

"Yes. And you must be Mr. Finch?" Sarah Jane returned.

"That I am. Please, let me show you around." Sarah Jane nodded and followed him into the school.

"I must say, the transformation you've brought about to this school is amazing." Sarah Jane complimented, and he smiled with a perfectly practiced, small blush.

"Well, when I was brought into this school, I saw a remarkable potential that just wasn't being brought to fruition in its students here. So, we've done a lot of changes here including a frequent but monitored use of our computer systems. Me and my fellow staff noticed that while it helped the students immensely, it also distracted them a lot from their most important studies. It's just one of the many corner stones of our work here."

Sarah Jane nodded. "I completely agree. Computers and the internet can help students tremendously as long as it's used right."

"Yes, indeed. But my improvements aren't confined to the classroom. We introduced a new policy: School dinners are absolutely free but compulsory. Oh, please do try the chips." He offered quickly.

"Oh, I'd love to, thank you. I will say, there could be something to be said about working the children a little bit too hard now and then, but I think satisfactory results are more important than anything."

"Exactly. You're a woman of vision, Miss Smith." Sarah Jane nodded. He didn't realise the fact all of her compliments were putting him off from realising that it actually wasn't honest. In fact, when he wasn't looking, Sarah Jane was scrutinizing every part of the school.  _Oh, Mr. Finch, I can see everything very clearly._  She however resumed her front and continued to follow him. "Oh but please, let me introduce you to my staff first. They're not just completely reliable and trustworthy, but they are marvellous at their job and they know exactly what the school needs to improve at every turn." Mr. Finch added.

* * *

The Doctor and Clara sat in the teacher's room, both holding cups of tea and chewing politely on a few biscuits they had brought with them from the TARDIS, just to avoid eating anymore of those off-putting chips. They were talking to the history teacher, Mr. Parsons, a balding man with a moustache and dressed in a light brown suit and nursing a cup of coffee.

"Yesterday, I had a twelve-year-old girl give me the exact height of the walls of Troy in cubits."

"And it's ever since the new headmaster arrived?" Clara concluded.

"Finch arrived three months ago. Next day, half the staff got flu. He replaced them with that lot." He said, nodding to a few other staff members in black suits. "Well, except with the teacher you two replaced and that was just plain weird, her winning the lottery like that."

The Doctor shrugged. "How's that weird?"

"She never played. Said the ticket was posted through her door at midnight. I mean, I know you're a student teacher and all, but by god, somethings are just off putting here." He mused as he walked away.

Clara shot the Doctor a cocked eyebrow, while he tried his best not to smirk madly. "It's a strange and funny old world, isn't it?" He asked.

Clara nodded. "That it is." She then leant in and pinched his side, making him jump a bit.

"Oww. What was that for?" He whined under his breath.

Clara gazed distantly for a moment before she shrugged. "Don't know. I just felt like doing it."

"Oi." She giggled at his sullen face.

"Oh relax. It's not like it hurt that much."

"It hurt a bit." He grumbled, and she just smirked at him.

"Excuse me, colleagues, could I please have a moment of your time?" Finch asked as he walked into the room with Sarah Jane. "May I introduce Miss Sarah Jane Smith?" The teacher's stood up to greet her, while the Doctor and Clara shot each other wide eyed looks, trying to contain their glee.

"That's her?" Clara whispered.

"That it is." The Doctor nodded hastily.

"Miss Smith is a journalist who's writing a profile about me for "The Sunday Times". I thought it might be useful for her to get a view from the trenches, so to speak. Oh and, don't spare my blushes." He quickly winked, making them chuckle while the Doctor and Clara simply beamed.

Sarah Jane walked over to them first, also smiling. "Hello. Sarah Jane Smith."

"Clara Oswald." Clara quickly shook her hand.

Sarah Jane gazed at the Doctor, who stared a bit dumbly at her, making her blink in confusion. "And you are?"

He stuttered for a moment. "Sorry, uh…Smith. John Smith."

"John Smith?" Sarah Jane repeated with raised eyebrows. Then her gaze went nostalgic for a few moments. "I used to have a friend who sometimes went by that name."

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, it's a very common name."

"He was a very uncommon man." At that, she melted her nostalgic expression and returned her smile. "Anyway, nice to meet you." She held out her hand.

The Doctor shook it, his expression now beaming again. "Yes, nice to meet you."

"So, um…have you two worked here long?"

"No, it's only our second day." Clara answered.

Sarah Jane nodded. "Oh, you two new then?"

They nodded. "He needed a place to learn how to teach." Clara indicated to the Doctor.

"You're a student teacher?" She asked him.

"Yeah."

"And how is it?"

He shrugged. "I could be doing better."

Clara huffed. "Tell me about it. Spends about half a minute at the start of class rambling to himself on the separate ways he can say the word "Physics"."

Sarah Jane snorted. "Well, he's got a long way to go, hasn't he?"

"I'm right here." The Doctor whined, and they laughed at him.

Sarah Jane cleared her throat a bit when they calmed down, to his relief. "So, what'd you think of this school? I mean, this new curriculum, so many children getting ill, doesn't that strike you as odd?"

Clara slyly cocked an eyebrow. "You don't sound like someone just doing a profile."

Sarah Jane gave a small smirk. "Well, no harm in doing a little investigation while I'm here."

"No, good on you." Clara complimented. Sarah Jane smiled, giving them a wave as she walked away.

The Doctor giggled with glee beside her. "Oh, good for you, Sarah Jane Smith."

Clara smiled sweetly beside him. "Oh, it was lovely meeting her."

"Yeah? I told you Clara, I only take the best, and Sarah Jane was one of the best." Clara nodded, and he blinked a bit at her. "You-You're not going to harass me for leaving her behind, are you?"

She gave him a sad look at that. "Doctor, you know it wasn't your fault, and it wasn't hers either. Just remember, if we meet her again properly, you need to explain it to her, okay?"

The Doctor gazed at her and took her face in his hands. He could see in her eyes a lingering sorrow that she was restraining down. "Clara, what's wrong?" She quickly blinked away the sadness, bringing on a blank face.

"It's nothing."

"Clara, whatever it is, please don't lock me out."

"It's nothing." She repeated.

He sighed, moving to place a kiss on her forehead but she stepped back, looking down at the floor to avoid his hurt gaze. "Okay." He muttered sadly. "Just say it when you're ready." He reassured, but it helped neither of them. At that, the school bell rang, and the teachers started to move out of the room, already the thundering noise of rushing students could be heard outside. "Looks like we'll have to continue this investigation later on, eh?" He muttered, and she nodded.

Midnight

The school was now dead silent, lit only by the moonlight amongst the darkness of the void and nary a soul was to be heard from within. The TARDIS group walked slowly and cautiously back up to the school, Rose now dressed in her normal attire of jeans, hoodie, and yellow shirt. Mickey also accompanied them, wearing a similar style to Rose, except his shirt was blue and he swapped a hoodie for a jacket. The Doctor took out his sonic and unlocked one of the back doors into the school. They entered, Rose getting small shivers at the silence within.

"Oh, it's weird seeing school at night. It just feels wrong. Did you know, when I was a kid, I used to think all the teachers slept in the school?"

Clara smirked lightly. "As a fellow teacher, I refute that statement."

"By the way, where's the TARDIS?"

"A storage closet in the gym." The Doctor answered. "All right then, team." The Doctor said before wincing. "Oh, I hate people who say "Team". Um…gang. Um…comrades. Uhhhhh…"

"Doctor." Clara interrupted.

"Right. Sorry. Um…Rose, go to the kitchen and get a sample of that oil. Mickey, the new and weird staff are all maths teachers. Go and check out the maths department. Clara, you, and I are going to look in Finch's office. Meet back here in ten minutes or if something goes wrong." They quickly nodded, the Doctor and Clara walked away and up the stairs.

"You going to be all right?" Rose asked Mickey.

"Me?  _*Scoffs*_  Please! Infiltration and investigation? I'm an expert at this." Mickey walked away through a nearby door, and Rose stood smirking to herself.  _3, 2, 1._  Right on cue, Mickey came back with a sheepish face. "Where's the maths department?"

Rose pointed to another door. "Down there, turn left and through the fire doors on the right."

"Thank you." And with that, Mickey walked away, Rose cocking an eyebrow before moving in the direction of the kitchens.

* * *

The Doctor and Clara, hand in hand, walked silently along the hallways of the school, keeping their eyes peeled around every corner for any sign of the new teachers.

"I don't like this." Clara whispered. "All this silence. It feels like a segment in a horror game right now."

The Doctor gave a small smirk. "Don't play "Outlast 2" then."

"Outlast what?"

The Doctor smiled. "Spoilers."

Clara squinted her eyes. "Why're you smiling?"

The Doctor cocked one eyebrow at her. "Do I have to remind you how you wanted a warm, tight hug after you saw Mantis?"

"How could I not?" She defended with a squeak. "He's creepy!"

He held his hand over his mouth to muffle his voice. "Hmm…you have not saved often. You are somewhat reckless."

"Stop it." She warned.

"Put your controller on the floor. Put it down as flat as you can." He continued.

"Stop it." She warned again. "Aren't we supposed to be-"

Without warning, a loud screech rang through the hallway, making them jump in fright, unconsciously coming closer to each other. Following that was a loud flapping like a pair of wings fluttering about outside the school. "Blimey." The Doctor breathed but before he could continue, they both saw a shadow moving at the very end of the hallway, away from Finch's office. They both shot each other a look.

"Was that Sarah Jane?" Clara asked.

"I think it could've been." The Doctor answered. Clara responded by squeezing his hand tighter. "Clara?" He whispered, turning his gaze to her.

"You're going to follow her, I know." She said bluntly despite her soft tone. "Just remember, don't leave her in the dark on why you didn't go back, okay?"

"Yes boss." He said, but his thankful gaze was rather a mask.  _What is it that you're not telling me, Clara?_ They followed the shadow of Sarah Jane, which moved quickly through the school hallways, leading them to the direction of the school gym. Moving through, they saw Sarah Jane, now dressed in a leather jacket, pink shirt, and blue jeans, slide her way inside the closet where the TARDIS was located, so they walked up to it quietly as Sarah Jane slowly backed outside of the closet, keeping her gaze fixed upon it. Then, she froze up, breathing out a few small huffs as she turned slowly around. Her gaze went wide in shock as she looked at the duo in front of her. "Hello, Sarah Jane." The Doctor said.

Her gaze turned into soft relief and joy at his words. "It's you. Oh my god, Doctor, it is you, isn't it?" He nodded at her. "You've regenerated, obviously." She said.

"Well…half a dozen times since we last met."

"But you look…incredible." She beamed.

"So do you."

Sarah Jane rolled her eyes a bit. "Mmmph. I got old."

"No." Clara inputted. "You look good."

She glanced down shyly. "Thank you." She muttered. Then, her gaze went scrutinizing for a moment. "What're you doing here?"

They shrugged, and he answered. "Well…a UFO sighting, a school gets record results, I couldn't resist. What about you?"

She smiled. "Same." They both chuckled at that for a moment before her eyes closed and they could tell she was holding back a few tears. "Where did you go? I thought you died! I waited for you and you didn't come back." Sarah Jane sniffed.

"I lived, but everyone else died." The Doctor said grimly.

She blinked. "What do you mean?"

He struggled to find an answer for a moment, so Clara placed a hand on his shoulder and he gave her a soft smile before turning his gaze back to Sarah Jane. "There was a war, Sarah."

"War? What war?"

"There was a war, back on Gallifrey, and everyone died. Except for me."

Sarah Jane's expression turned into sadness and pity at that. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." He said gently.

Sarah Jane figured it out through the lines and through Clara's soft gaze. "It still hurts, doesn't it?"

He nodded. "Yes, it does."

Sarah Jane turned her gaze to Clara. "And you helped him?"

Clara blinked a bit at that. "It's a bit complicated, but yeah, I did."

Sarah Jane nodded, her face going through a range of emotions. First, she gave a warm smile to Clara, a sad one to the Doctor, then her eyes closed as she breathed in and out for a few moments, and then she went to calm. "I just can't believe that it's you." Before she could continue, they heard the sound of Mickey squealing and shrieking in terror, which drew their attention to the gym door. "Okay, never mind! Now I can!" Sarah Jane quipped, and they laughed, racing to the door. Moving right through the school's many hallways and rooms, they came back to the intersection they started from, almost bumping into Rose.

"Did you hear that?" Rose asked then her eyes fell on Sarah Jane. She blinked in confusion for a few seconds before shaking her head. "Sorry, uh…who are you?"

Sarah Jane stared a her for a few moments trying to catch her breath before she too blinked and shook her head. "Sorry." She held out her hand. "Sarah Jane Smith."

Rose shook it, still showing her confusion. "Rose. Rose Tyler."

They let go of their hands, staring around a bit in awkwardness, which made the Doctor and Clara shoot each other furrowed eyebrows. "Well…" Sarah Jane thought, trying to produce something to alleviate the tension. "You can tell he's getting older when his friends are getting younger. Trying to keep up with everything."

"He's getting older because he's older!" Clara snapped, taking them by surprise and Sarah Jane looked guilty at that.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"I know what you meant!" Clara growled, and she walked away. Sarah Jane moved to follow but the Doctor put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's not you." He said simply with a sad look. Both Rose and Sarah Jane blinked at his sudden change in behaviour.

"Doctor, what's wrong with Clara?" Rose asked. The Doctor said nothing and moved down the hallway, Rose and Sarah Jane quickly moving to keep up. They caught up with a silent Clara as they moved into the maths department, seeing Mickey standing in a lit cupboard, with bagged dead rats strewn all over the floor around him.

"Sorry." Mickey quickly said as he panted. "It was only me." The Doctor blinked at him, moving to kneel on the floor, picking up and inspecting the rats. "You told me to investigate, so uh…I started looking through some of these cupboards and all these fell out onto me."

"Oh my god." Rose breathed. "They're rats. Dozens of rats. Vacuum packed rats."

"And you decided to scream?" The Doctor stood up with a quip, hopefully to get Clara to smile again.

Mickey threw out his arms defensively. "It took me by surprise."

"Like a little girl?" The Doctor tried again, and to his relief, Clara smiled a bit.

"It was dark. I was covered in rats." Mickey excused.

"9, maybe 10 years old. I'm seeing pigtails and a frilly skirt." The Doctor continued, and Clara started giggling at his words and Mickey's frightened face.

"Hello, can we focus?" Rose interrupted. "Does anyone notice anything strange about this? Rats in school."

"Maybe." The Doctor said, his expression now back to serious.

"They could just be used for biology lessons." Sarah Jane offered, and Rose shrugged a bit. The Doctor turned to Clara, seeing her own face furrowed in contemplation.

"Clara?" The Doctor asked, and they all turned their attention to Clara.

"Could they…" She trailed off with a shake of her head.

"Clara?" The Doctor tried again, grasping her hands in his.

She gazed up at him as he did, still with a gaze of contemplation. "Maybe…are they…um…food?"

He smiled. "Come here." He drew her into a soft hug and she relaxed. "How far deep were you in that head of yours?" He quipped lightly.

"A bit too deep. Sorry." She muttered.

"It's all right, Clara." They parted from the hug, but he still grasped her hand. "Anyway, all of this started when Mr. Finch arrived, so we should go and check his office. Come on." He led them out of the room and down through the hallways, Rose moving up alongside Sarah Jane as they did.

"I kept forgetting to ask, but who are you? At least…you know…" Rose trailed off, but Sarah Jane picked up on it.

"I used to travel with the Doctor." Sarah Jane answered.

Rose blinked at that. "Huh. Sorry to say, but he never mentioned you."

Sarah Jane's face fell at that. "What? Not even once?" Rose nodded apologetically. "He didn't mention me once?"

"Did he mention her to you, Clara?" Rose asked.

"No. The TARDIS did." Rose and Sarah Jane blinked at that while the Doctor groaned.

"Oh, Clara." He whined. "Why do you always have to take the TARDIS' side on everything?"

"Because, frankly, you are a horrible pilot." Clara quipped dryly. Then, to his horror, she smirked darkly. "Sarah Jane was he a horrible pilot when you knew him?"

Sarah Jane scoffed. "I trust you've seen him first hand, I don't need to remind you." They both shared a laugh at that while the Doctor flinched.

Mickey laughed at his expression. "Oh-ho, mate!" He grasped the Doctor's shoulders from behind. "The missus and the ex…and they're getting along. Welcome to every man's hell on Earth."

"Oh, I'm sure it won't be that bad. Right, Doctor?" Clara asked but the Doctor just looked at her like a terrified kid. "Doctor?"

"Yeah." He squeaked. "Yeah, it-it'll be fine." He then proceeded to quickly move away from a devilishly smirking Clara. "Sure, it-it'll be fine." He stammered again before clearing his throat. Moving through the corridors, they came back to Finch's office and the Doctor pulled out his sonic, unlocked the door and slowly nudged it open. Within, suspended upside down from the ceiling, was thirteen large bats. Their bodies were lanky, their skin stretching tight across their own flesh with their large, veined wings curled up behind their backs. Their arms were wrapped around their elongated heads, curling their three fingered, clawed hands together in tight fists, growling low in their throats as they slept. "Rose…you know how you used to think all the teachers slept in the school? Well…" He opened the door, letting the group behind him see the thirteen bats. "They do." He finished, and their eyes widened at the sight before them.

"No way!" Mickey freaked in a hushed tone before he moved quickly away from the door and down the corridors again. Sarah Jane, Rose, and Clara moved to follow while the Doctor silently closed the door. His muffled footsteps moved away, letting the room fall into silence.

That is, if you excluded one of the bats dropping swiftly from the ceiling, turning back into the form of Mr. Finch. The rest of the bat brethren opened their eyes, staring at him in curiosity. "Stay here and do not follow." Finch ordered before he exited the room. Moving quietly through the school, he unlocked a side door and stepped outside. A brief, chilly breeze blew past, making him flinch his eyes with a small shudder. Then, he let himself relax and turn into his true bat form and fly high up above the school, landing onto the roof and gazing down at the front of the school, seeing the TARDIS group rush out into the parking lot, holding onto their knees and panting as they did.

_"I am not going back in there! No way!"_  Mickey denied. Finch inwardly cursed with a low growl for in his bat form, his hearing of the world around him was distorted.  _That is the FIRST thing I'm fixing when we're finished._

_"Those were the teachers?"_  Rose asked.

The Doctor nodded.  _"When Finch arrived, he brought with him seven new teachers, four dinner ladies and a nurse. Including him, we get our thirteen big bat people. Come on."_ He motioned for them to follow him back into the school.

_""Come on"?! You've got to be kidding!"_  Mickey refuted.

_"We need the TARDIS."_  The Doctor explained.  _"How else can we analyse that oil from the kitchen?"_  Finch blinked at that.  _TARDIS. Where have I heard that name before?_

_"Actually,"_  Sarah Jane interrupted.  _"I might be able to help you there. I've got something to show you."_

He shrugged.  _"Lead the way."_  They followed Sarah Jane as she moved towards a silver car, where she unlocked and opened the boot, showing something covered in a green checkered, wool blanket. The Doctor withdrew the blanket and his eyes widened with a beaming grin. What was revealed was a grey metallic, mechanical dog, with small curled antennas for ears, a thin rod of steel for a tail and a red panel for eyes, with a small socket hole in the middle for devices.  _"K-9!"_  The Doctor exclaimed with glee. Sarah Jane smiled while Clara blinked in curiosity, Mickey and Rose in confusion and Finch in bewilderment.  _Their secret help is…a tin dog? Their either completely insane or utter morons. "Clara Oswald, Rose Tyler and Mickey Smith, allow me to introduce K-9! Well…"_ The Doctor trailed off slightly.  _"K-9 Mark III to be precise."_

_"Why does he look so…disco?"_  Rose muttered.

_"Oi! In the year 5000, this was innovative!"_  The Doctor defended.

Clara melted a bit and stroked K-9's head.  _"Aww. He's so cute."_  She cooed.

_"Clara!"_  He whined.

Sarah Jane however just smiled with a small blush.  _"Thank you."_

Clara smiled back before returning her gaze to K-9. She slowly furrowed her eyebrows as she stroked a finger alongside his dormant head, feeling small scratches and dents amongst the patches of rust.  _"What's happened to him?"_ Clara asked.

Sarah Jane shrugged.  _"One day, he just…"_ She indicated wordlessly to K-9.  _"Nothing."_

_"Well, didn't you try to get him repaired?"_  The Doctor asked sarcastically.

Sarah Jane scoffed.  _"It's not like getting parts for a mini metro. Besides, the technology inside him could rewrite Human science. I couldn't show him to anyone."_

_"Ooh."_  The Doctor cooed, leaning his head close to K-9's.  _"What's the nasty lady done to you, eh?"_ He said, mimicking baby talk and placing a kiss on K-9's head.  _"Oh, shhh. There there."_  He cooed.

_"Doctor."_  Clara interrupted.

_"What-"_  He turned to look at her and she immediately shoved a couple of altoids in his mouth, forcing him to swallow.  _"What was that for?!"_  He exclaimed with a hoarse voice, feeling his throat beginning to burn from the mints. Clara just raised her eyebrows at him and he shivered slightly.  _"Right. Sorry."_  He muttered with a cough.

Clara gave a small smirk at that.  _"Now, as much as I enjoy petting K-9, I believe that we're busy with something else."_ That made everyone spring into the car, the Doctor closing the boot before they drove off. Finch gave a small roll of his eyes.  _Insane, moronic, and childish. What next?_  Flying high in the night sky to avoid getting noticed, he followed Sarah Jane's small silver car for five minutes before it parked outside a small café called "Coffee House". Finch landed on the tall roof of the opposite building and with a small growl, turned into his Human form again, his hearing of the world returning to normal. Once he finished, he saw the group already inside the café, Mickey, and Rose at the counter while the Doctor, Clara and Sarah Jane sat a table, K-9 placed on the table as the Doctor fixed him. Rose and Mickey got their order and, to the trio's confusion, went to sit at another table. "How come you're sitting over there?" Clara asked.

"We just thought to…you know…give you guys a bit of space for a moment." Rose explained.

Clara slowly nodded in understanding. "What've you got?" She asked quickly.

"Chips and tea." Mickey said. Clara cocked an eyebrow before shrugging and turning back to K-9 while Rose and Mickey went into their own conversation.

"I thought of you, on Christmas day." Sarah Jane said as the Doctor worked. Clara, who sat beside him, gave him a hand every once in a while. "This Christmas just gone, great big spaceship overhead, I thought, "Oh yeah, bet he's up there"."

He nodded. "Right on top of it, yeah." Finch cocked an eyebrow.  _The Sycorax? Was he the one who drew them away from the planet?_

"Rose and Mickey?" She asked.

"They were there too."

"And you, Clara?"

Clara slowly let her gaze drop to her own hands in front of her in sadness, the Doctor briefly halting his work as her mood changed. "No, I…it's a long story."

"What happened?" Sarah Jane asked, now in a soft tone. Clara didn't speak, instead answering by taking Sarah Jane's hand and placing her fingers on her wrist. She blinked in puzzlement which quickly turned into wide eyed disbelief. "You don't-"

"No."

"Did he-"

"No." They said in unison.

"Then how do you not have…"

"One of the drawbacks of being…" Clara didn't finish, still not very comfortable with the term "Immortal".

""One of the drawbacks"?" Sarah Jane asked.

Clara didn't say anything to that, which made the Doctor grasp her hand. "Clara, what's wrong?" She shook her head. "You've got to tell me, Clara. What's wrong?"

"I can't."

"Clara, please."

"I can't." She repeated sadly. He just sighed, keeping her hand in his.

The three of them sat in an awkward silence for a few moments before Sarah Jane perked up her courage to ask the Doctor a question. "Did I do something wrong?" She asked. The Doctor looked at her in bewilderment. "Cause, you never came back for me. You just dumped me."

"I told you. I was called back home, and, in those days, Humans weren't allowed." The Doctor explained.

"I waited for you. I missed you."

He shook his head with a gentle smile. "Oh, you didn't need me. You were getting on with your life."

"You were my life." Sarah Jane quickly glanced at Clara, who just nodded for her to continue. "You know what the most difficult thing was? Coping with what happens next. No, with what doesn't happen next. You took me to the furthest reaches of the galaxy. You showed me supernovas, intergalactic battles and then you just dropped me back on Earth. How could anything compare to that?"

"All those things you saw, you want me to apologise for that?" The Doctor asked, once again in bewilderment.

"No, but…we get a taste of that splendour, and then we have to go back." Sarah Jane explained with a hint of sadness.

"But look at you now. You're investigating, you found that school, doing what we always did." The Doctor reassured.

"You could've come back." Sarah Jane offered.

The Doctor's tone went back to sorrow. "You know I couldn't have, Sarah."

The mood once again went into an awkward silence, Clara's hand in his grasp being the only thing that eased away the sadness in his face. Sarah Jane took this opportunity to make a joke against him. This time however, she knew Clara would like it. "It wasn't Croydon." The Doctor blinked at her. "Where you dropped me off, it wasn't Croydon."

"Where was it?"

"Aberdeen." Clara sniggered at that, making Sarah Jane smile. The Doctor just stared in puzzlement.

"Right. That's next to Croydon, isn't it?" The Doctor asked. Clara and Sarah Jane just shook their heads at him. To his own luck, he managed to get K-9 online, a whirring noise sounding from within his machinery causing the Doctor and Sarah Jane to grin. "Oh, hey! Now we're in business!" He exclaimed with glee, patting the table a few times as they stood up, Rose and Mickey moving over to join them.

_"Master."_  A somewhat light male voice sounded from within K-9, his red eye pad lighting up on his words.

"He recognizes me!" The Doctor squeals.

_"Affirmative."_

"Rose, the oil." The Doctor held out a hand and Rose put the small bottle of liquid into his grasp.

"Oh, I wouldn't touch it." Rose quickly said as he opened the lid. "That dinner lady got all scorched."

"I'm no dinner lady…and I don't often say that." He quickly added with a smirk, making Clara laugh. He dipped his finger into the oil and rubbed it onto a small sensor that K-9 withdrew from his head. Then, he placed the lid back on the bottle and placed it aside on the table, going to lick the oil off his fingers but Clara grasped his hand and wiped it off with a napkin. "Clara." He whined.

"No." She said, pointing a finger at him. He went to protest again but she repeated, "No."

"But-"

"No."

He slouched his shoulders dejectedly. "Yes ma'am."

_"Oil. Ex-ex-ex-extract. Ana-ana-analysing."_  K-9 stuttered.

Mickey giggled. "Listen to him, man. That's a voice!"

"Careful. That's my dog." Sarah Jane warned, and Mickey quickly wiped the smile off his face.

_"Confirmation of analysis. Substance is Krillitane oil."_

The Doctor slowly nodded in realization. "They're Krillitanes."

"Is that bad?" Rose asked.

"Very. Think how terrible things could possibly be and add another suitcase full of bad."

"And what are Krillitanes?" Sarah Jane asked.

"They're a composite race, just like your culture is a mixture of traditions from all sorts of countries, people you've invaded or have been invaded by. You've got bits of Viking, bits of France, bits of whatever. The Krillitanes are the same, an amalgam of the races they've conquered. But, they take physical aspects as well. They cherry-pick the best bits from the people they destroy." He shook his head in self-disbelief. "That's why I didn't recognize them. The last time I saw Krillitanes, they looked just like us except they had really long necks." Finch's eyebrows raised at his knowledge.  _Fascinating. Who is this man who knows my kind so well?_

"Doctor, what exactly do they want?" Clara asked.

That he couldn't answer. "I don't know. All I can guess is that it involves the children." Nobody carried on that sentence, not even Clara, to his confusion. He looked over at her, seeing her face welling up in sorrow. "Clara?" She didn't respond, instead moving to the other side of café. "Clara?" She still didn't answer, and he sighed, moving to follow after her.

Rose and Mickey exchanged an awkward glance before Rose stammered out sheepishly, "Sarah, d-do you m-mind if we-"

"Sure." She nodded hastily, and they helped to carry K-9 back into the boot of Sarah Jane's car. They felt relieved as they did, considering his deceptively heavy weight, looking back through the café window to see the Doctor and Clara still inside, an obvious silent tension growing between the two. Their silence once again grew awkward before Mickey perked up with a smile.

"So, what's the deal with the tin dog?"

Sarah Jane shrugged. "The Doctor likes traveling with an entourage. Sometimes they're Humans, sometimes they're aliens, and sometimes they're tin dogs. What about you two?"

Rose answered first. "I was a store clerk at Henrik's."

Sarah Jane's eyebrows raised. "Really? The same shop?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Then there were some Autons, the Doctor came along and…blew it up."

Sarah Jane rolled her eyes. "Typical." They shared a small chuckle at that. "And what about you?" She asked Mickey. "Where do you fit in the picture?"

"Me? I'm their man in Havana. I'm the technical support. I'm…" He stopped as both Rose and Sarah Jane raised their eyebrows at him, causing his face to fall in realization. "Oh my god, I'm the tin dog." He sat down in the boot beside Sarah Jane and Rose walked up to him.

"Mickey, I…" Rose trailed off, not liking what that sentence could've led to. "You don't have to be the tin dog if you don't want to. You can always come with us. You just need to ask them."

His eyes lit up with a small spark of hope. "Really?"

"Yeah." She nodded. The sound of the café door opening drew their attention again and Rose's face fell back into awkwardness. "Well…maybe not right now."

"How long are we going to not talk?" The Doctor asked as him and Clara stood in the middle of the street, a few paces away from Sarah Jane's car. His own voice sounded strained, almost irritated.

"Because there's no need." Clara responded emotionlessly.

"Clara-"

"Be quiet." She growled.

"Clara-"

"I said be quiet!"

"Clara why aren't you talking to me?!" The Doctor exclaimed, and the trio watching were taken aback by the anger in his voice.

"Does it matter?!" Clara retorted.

"Yes it does!"

She scoffed. "Whatever."

He clenched his jaw at her words. "All right give me your arm." He reached for her arm, but she withdrew.

"Get off!"

"Just give me your arm." He reached again, successfully grasping her arm as she tried to wrench it out again.

"Don't touch me!"

"Shut up!" He roared. That made Clara's eyes widen in fear and shock. "For once in your fucking life, Clara, just shut up!" He reached his other hand into his pocket, taking out his sonic.

"Doctor." She whimpered in protest. He ignored her, placing his sonic over her arm and scanning her DNA. "Doctor, please." She whimpered again, involuntarily feeling tears prickle her eyes. "Don't do this."

He finished scanning her, letting go of her arm to check the readings. It was exactly the same as when he scanned her on Christmas, so he scanned and rechecked her again. This time, it brought up a new reading, one that instantly quelled his anger into sadness.  _She can't have children?_  "Clara…why didn't you tell me?" He asked, his tone now soft yet full of sadness as he pocketed the sonic away.

She sniffed, and he cupped her face in his hands. "I…I didn't want…" She whimpered, already feeling the inevitable sobs coming up her throat. "I didn't want you to worry." She finally said, choking out a sob.

"But I did anyway."

She choked out another sob, still trying to hold them back. "I thought that…if I told you…you would leave me."

He blinked at that. "Why?"

Clara's eyes widened, and she choked out another sob. "I…"

"Clara, I would never leave you." He said earnestly.

She shook her head with a sniff. "But wouldn't you have wanted another chance to…"

"Clara, you already gave me another chance at everything else. Do you really think I'd give it all up because you couldn't give me one more?"

"I was…I was scared." She admitted. "I didn't know how you would react."

"No, you didn't. But that doesn't mean to not say anything." She sniffed, and he sighed. "Come here."

She broke down into a torrent of sobs at his own two words. "I'm sorry!" She cried, and he wrapped her in a hug. "I didn't mean to-"

"I know." He whispered gently, stroking her hair, and kissing her head.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" She cried into his chest. "Don't leave me! Please!"

"I'm not going anywhere." He reassured. He held her for a few more moments, allowing her to calm down despite the torrent of tears, before he pulled back slightly to cup her face in one hand. "Clara, I need you to know that if somethings troubling you, I can't help if you don't let me in. Please remember that."

"I will-"

"No, promise it." He interrupted. "You need to promise it this time, please."

She blinked, choking out another sob before nodding. "Yes, Doctor, I promise." He used his thumb to stroke her cheek, smudging away her tears which just made her sob again. "I'm sorry."

He smiled sadly. "I'm still unbelievably pissed off with you, Clara."

She nodded hastily. "I know. I know."

"And you can't do that ever again, you hear me?"

"Yes.  _*Sniffs*_ I hear you."

"But I still love you, no matter what." He kissed her hard, which she melted into, but she also didn't break down again and he drew her into another hug as they parted. "I love you, Clara, no matter what happens." He repeated. "You hear me?"

"Yes. I love you too, and I'm so sorry." She choked, sniffing at her drying tears while he held her until she calmed down enough, the only sounds coming from her being a few sniffs, her crying now long gone. "I really didn't want to admit it because I didn't want you to feel alone again." She admitted.

"Even with you, I still feel alone." He also admitted, parting their hug as she stared up at him in love laced adoration.

"What do you mean?"

"Why do you think I don't like going back to the people I knew or why I don't like goodbyes? It's because I don't age, I just regenerate. But Humans decay. All of them wither and die. To you, it will feel like only one day, but when it's over, they're dead. Imagine watching that happen to someone that you love, Clara."

"You don't have to feel alone, Doctor. I'm here." She reassured.

He smiled sadly. "I know, Clara, and I don't want you to leave. But everyone else should in the end. They can spend the rest of their lives with us, but we can't spend the rest of our lives with them. We have to live on, alone. It what's it's like being immortal, Clara. And that's what it's like when I'm me, the last of the Time Lords."

"Time Lord." Their eyes widened, and they turned around, gazing up at the roof of the nearby building, seeing Mr. Finch perched there as he gazed at them in realization. Then, he gave a smile, his teeth no longer Human but changed into large, filed fangs and he transformed into his natural Krillitane form and took off into the night sky. They didn't need to turn around as they heard the hurrying footsteps of Rose, Mickey, and Sarah Jane, which made them blink as they actually forgot that they were there.

"Was that a Krillitane?" Sarah Jane asked.

"That was the headmaster." Rose deducted. "He didn't even go for any of us, he just took off. What did he do that for?"

"I guess he wants us for something." The Doctor said, but it was more to him and Clara.

An awkward silence fell for a few moments until Rose perked up. "You two all right?" She asked, Mickey and Sarah Jane looking at them with worried eyes.

The Doctor just glanced down at Clara with the same look. "Clara?"

Clara, once again bringing back her wide eyed, love filled gaze, nodded with a smile. "Yeah, we're all right."

He smiled at her and placed another kiss on her lips. "Good, Clara." They all returned their gaze back up to the night sky where Finch had flown off to. "I better guess that we get ready for tomorrow. We might get a welcoming party by a member of their staff." He muttered ominously, and they shivered at that.

9:00am

Sunlight had fallen on the brand-new day, but none of them felt more relieved at the inevitable confrontation ahead. Moving Sarah Jane's car into the school's packed carpark, they exited, standing out in the open and surrounded by the billowing, chattering students, all ignorant of what's to come.

"Rose and Sarah, you go to the maths room and crack open those computers. We'll need to see the hardware inside. Here, you might need this." He handed his sonic to Sarah Jane. "Mickey, surveillance. I want you outside."

"Just stand outside?" Mickey asked in bewilderment.

"Once the Krillitanes know we're here, they might put the school on lockdown. If that's the case, you're the only one who can get us out." Clara explained for him. Mickey blinked a few times, but he subsequently nodded.

"Here, take these." Sarah gave him the car keys. "You can keep K-9 company."

"Don't forget to leave the window open a crack." The Doctor called as they walked towards the school doors.

"But he's metal!" Mickey called back.

"I didn't mean for him!" Clara elbowed his ribs. "Ow! That hurt!"

"It was meant to hurt. Stop being so rude." Clara admonished.

"Yes, ma'am."

"What are you two going to do?" Rose asked.

The Doctor and Clara exchanged a look. "It's time we had a word with Mr. Finch."

* * *

Finch walked along the busy corridors, staring around every corner in confusion.  _If those two were interested in the goings on here, they would be here by no-_  With a stop, he turned on his heel, looking up at the next floor beneath the staircase, seeing the Doctor and Clara glaring down at him. He almost smiled in relief.  _There they are._  He quickly glanced around, mentally checking off each room.  _We just need somewhere where we can't be disturbed._  His gaze landed on the pool entrance and he smiled. No one would be in there for the next session. At that, he moved inside, standing at the far wall beside the pool and waited. Waited until the thundering noise of the students in the corridors ceased to a deafening silence, filled only by the closing of the door and he smiled, already knowing who followed him in.

"Who are you?" The Doctor asked.

"My name is Brother Lassar." He introduced with a slight nod. "And you two?"

"The Doctor."

"Clara."

"Since when did Krillitanes have wings?"

Finch gave a small smile of fondness as he slowly walked up the pool towards them. "It's been our form for nearly ten generations now. Our ancestors invaded Bessan and the people there had some rather lovely wings." He gave a small grin. "They made a million widows in one day, just imagine."

"And now you're shaped Human." Clara inputted. "Disguise or…"

He smiled a bit at her wit. "It's a personal favourite, that's all."

"And the others?'

"My brothers and sisters remain bat form. What you see is a simple morphic illusion. Scratch the surface and the true Krillitane lies beneath." They slowly nodded in understanding as he stopped walking to stand opposite them. "And what of the Time Lords?" For a brief second, the Doctor's eyes glowed with tired sorrow which he immediately restrained but Finch noticed. "I always thought of you as such a pompous race, all ancient, dusty senators so frightened of change…and chaos. But, of course, they're all but extinct. Only you, the last."

"This plan of yours, what is it?" The Doctor asked.

He blinked in surprise. "You don't know?"

"That's why I'm asking."

"Well, show me how clever you are. Work it out."

"If we don't like it, then it will stop."

Finch gave a ghost of cocking one eyebrow up at his words. "Fascinating. Your people were peaceful to the point of indolence. You seem to be something new. And you…" He glanced at Clara. "Your…very different from the rest of your kind. Would the two of you declare war on us?"

"Clara's different because she's Clara. But she's still Human in every way." The Doctor defended. Clara gave a small smile in his direction before she returned to her glaring. "As for me…I'm so old now. I used to have so much mercy. You have Clara to thank for me retaining even a small scrap of it. You get one warning. That was it." They turned and began to walk towards the door.

"But we're not even enemies. Soon, you will embrace us." They both stopped, turning back to look at him incredulously. "The next time we meet…you will join with me. I promise you." Finch then walked around them and out the door, leaving them puzzled at his words.

* * *

Mickey rolled down the window as he sat in the car, K-9's head hovering over his shoulder, who sat in the back seat. ""Surveillance". You ask me, it's just another way of saying "Go sit at the back of the class with the safety scissors and glitter"." He glanced at the inactive K-9. "That'll be me talking to a metal dog then." He gave a sigh at that. "Maybe it was better for me to sit in here. What else could I offer in there? Stand around and do nothing?" He asked himself. "Maybe I am better served to wait."

* * *

Sarah Jane knelt at the hard drive of one of the many computers in the maths room, groaning as she tried and failed to get the sonic to work. "Ugh, it's not working."

"Here." Rose gently reached out a hand and Sarah Jane gave it over.

"It used to work first time in my day." She muttered.

"To be fair, the Doctor has been tinkering a lot with his sonic over the years."

Sarah Jane shrugged at that. "Rose…can I just ask, how come you're okay with…" She trailed off, not really sure how to finish that.

Rose blinked a few times in confusion. "With…you already having been with him?" She offered.

"Something like that."

Rose stood up and gave a sigh. "Well, when we first met, he had already met Clara, and he's…what, 900 years old at least? And Clara already knew about you so it's just natural that he'd have met many friends before." She shrugged.

"And the awkwardness you greeted me with?" Sarah Jane asked bluntly.

"That was because they didn't tell me about you. I was honestly just bloody confused."

"How come they didn't tell you?"

"You remember earlier how they were arguing and made up and they literally forgot that we were even there?" She asked, and Sarah Jane nodded. "They do that all the bloody time." She growled lightly. "If it wasn't so damn cute, it would be bloody annoying."

Sarah Jane gave a small smirk. "How bad can it get?"

Rose thought for a few moments before she bit her lip. "Okay, we went to this planet called "New Earth", and yes, it really was called "New Earth"." She interrupted Sarah Jane, who was about to scoff. "And it also really had a city called "New New York"." That bewildered Sarah Jane even more. "Anyway, we helped save a potential disease outbreak at a hospital, got back to the TARDIS and I went to my room for the night. Come back to the console room later on and it reeked." She droned.

Sarah Jane blinked. "How do you mean "Reeked"?"

"You know how a room can smell when a couple goes at it-"

"Okay, please stop." Sarah Jane interrupted, running a hand over her face. "I don't want any mental images of that."

Rose nodded with a small snort. "All the same, I did ask the TARDIS to keep them in their room from now on." They smiled a bit at that, falling into a comfortable silence for a few moments. "With you…did he do that thing where he'd explain something at like ninety miles per hour and you'd go "What?" and he'd look at you like you'd just dribbled on your shirt?"

"All the time." Sarah Jane nodded hastily, and Rose smirked. "Does Clara do that?"

"Most of the time Clara's the one correcting him." Rose admitted, and Sarah Jane snorted.

"Does she protest if he strokes bits of the TARDIS?"

"Yes! Yes, she does!" They laughed at that.

"What does the TARDIS do back?"

"Conjures up a hologram of Michael Myers behind her back and she literally jumps into his arms, screaming her head off!" The two of them started holding onto their knees as they tried to breathe through their laughter.

At that, the doors to the room opened and the pair in question stepped inside. "How's it going? Have you found out what's programmed inside these?" The Doctor asked. The pair just continued laughing, making them look utterly bewildered.

"What's caught up your alley?" Clara asked with furrowed eyebrows. The both of them just pointed their fingers at the pair, still laughing their heads off, which just made them uncomfortable. "Why're you pointing at us?"

"To be fair…" Rose snorted as she tried to control her breathing, turning back to Sarah Jane. "It's not like Clara doesn't blush like a schoolgirl when he goes Scottish."

"Oh, bloody hell!" Sarah Jane quipped, and they started laughing again.

"I do not!" Clara protested, and they laughed as she blushed at them.

"Come on, Clara, I'm sure they're having a bit of fun…" The Doctor tried to explain.

"And you're not better!" Rose exclaimed, pointing to him now. "Getting all wimpy and afraid when she goes all teacher on you!"

"That's not true!" The Doctor blushed but they just kept laughing. "Stop it!"

* * *

All the teachers, well…the Krillitane teachers, sat inside Finch's office, all eating their own lunch. Be it an assortment of meat, flesh and…

"Rat?" Jackson offered to Wagner.

"No thanks. I'm trying to cut down on processed stuff. I've gone organic." He opened a small paper bag, hearing the muffled flittering of a birds wings.

Jackson shrugged, putting the rat bag inside a large red tin box. "Don't blame you. I'm getting sick of these." She sat down at the table before getting a wide-eyed look of someone who got a brilliant idea. "Is there any of that kid left from yesterday?"

"No." Her face fell at that. Wagner thought for a moment. "Check the fridge, I think there's a bit of that inspector behind my Yakult." Jackson was about to leave the table for the fridge, but the door opened, Finch standing behind it as he stared at all of them.

"Brothers, sisters." He greeted. "I apologise for interrupting your meal, but it is time. We must initiate the final phase." Any sulking looks they had borne were quickly replaced by ones of gleeful excitement. "Get the children inside and seal the school. Our time has come, my brothers and sisters. Today, we shall become gods." They quickly stood up and moved out of the room, Finch staring directly at Jackson. "Initiate the first step." He ordered before leaving. Jackson quickly walked over to the intercom on Finch's desk and pressed the alarm buzzer before holding a hand down on the intercom button. "All pupils to class immediately. And would all members of staff please congregate in the staff room? Thank you." Following that, she immediately hurried back down the corridors towards the staff room, joining back up with her brethren as they faced the Human teachers.

"What is it now, Mr. Finch?" Parsons asked with irritation.

"Slight change in the timetable. We're having an early lunch." With a hand behind his back, he motioned a finger to Wagner, who turned back to the door and closed it shut. Wagner and all the Krillitanes grinned at each other before they changed into their true form, the horrific screams of the teachers agony filled the room as they were devoured alive.

* * *

The Doctor and Clara were hurrying about the room, using their sonics on the computers and hard drives in an attempt to get them open. The doors suddenly opened as a rush of kids came through, and Rose quickly moved over to them.

"No! No!" Rose ordered, and the kids froze. "This classroom's out of bounds! You've all got to go to the south hall!" All of them groaned and whined but they did as they were bade. "Off you go, south hall!" Rose quickly ushered them out of the room, then shut the door behind them.

"Good thinking, Rose." The Doctor complimented.

"Ugh." Clara growled, letting a piece of the hard drive drop back onto the desk. "I can't open it, let alone shift it."

"No, neither can I." The Doctor agreed.

"I thought a sonic screwdriver could open anything." Sarah Jane reminded, still a bit surprised at Clara having one.

"Anything except a deadlock seal." Clara explained.

"Which means there's got to be something important inside here." The Doctor deducted. "What are they teaching those kids?"

* * *

Finch walked back into his office, rolling a tooth pick between his teeth, getting rid of any remaining traces of his last meal before sitting down at his desk. Turning on his computer and going into one of his many personal programs, he opened up the security system of the school installed by his brethren. "Close the school." He muttered and clacked a few keys. The computer flared with an alarm, bright red letters saying "Security override" appeared over a green schematic of the school. At that, he had to fight down a belch coming up from his stomach. "Blimey, that's going to haunt me for a while." He quipped dryly to himself before he turned the computer over to the security cameras. Flicking through many of them, he could see each of his brethren sitting all the children down as they activated the program. The kids began typing away furiously at the computers, all transfixed by the program on screen like hypnosis. Finch, with a small smile, flicked through the cameras again, trying to find that strange pair of people. And there he saw them, standing in the maths department with the program flickering in front of them.

_"You wanted the program. There it is."_  Sarah Jane motioned for the Doctor and Clara. They turned to the large screen at the front of the room to see the program properly. All they could see was a blinding array of alien letters in green cubes, spinning and darting around at an incredibly fast rate that even the Doctor couldn't keep up with it.

_"Doctor, what is it?"_  Clara asked. He didn't answer. They turned to look at him, seeing his eyes widening in realization…and horror.

_"No."_  He muttered in disbelief.  _"No, they can't be."_

_"Doctor, what is it?"_ Clara repeated.

_"It's the Skasis Paradigm."_  He answered grimly.  _"They're trying to crack the Skasis Paradigm."_

Finch let a wide, smug smile cross his face. "And now you know." He said to himself, standing up out of his chair, making sure his suit was buttoned up properly like he was expecting someone and then, he left the room.

* * *

Mickey jumped as he heard the thundering roar of the school doors and windows slamming shut. "What the hell?" He muttered, getting out of the car, and rushing over to the school. Looking in through the windows, he could see many of the classes were empty, except for one class room. This one, filed to the brim with computers at every desk, was occupied by all the kids, who were typing flat out at their keyboards, their faces bathed in an eerie green light. Mickey quickly moved to the front doors and tried to wrench them open to no avail. Thinking quickly, he rushed back over to the car, swinging open the door and leaning in, looking straight at K-9. "Come on, I need some help." He pleaded, pressing all the buttons on K-9's back to no avail. Frustrated, he smacked K-9's head with his fist, but still, nothing happened. He gave a groan of irritation, hanging his head down.

_"System restarting."_  K-9 suddenly said, and his head flung up again, now with a sigh of relief. "All primary drives functioning."

"You're working. Okay, no time to explain. We need to get inside the school. Do you have like…I don't know…a lock picking device?"

_"We are in a car."_

Mickey tried again. "Maybe a drill attachment?"

_"We are in a car."_

Mickey groaned. "Oh, fat lot of good you are."

_"We are in a car."_

Mickey blinked. "No…you're right. We're in a car." He got his head out and slammed the door shut.

* * *

"Doctor, what is the Skasis Paradigm?" Clara asked with a slight growl of irritation.

He blinked for a few moments, trying to find the right words. "The god maker…the universal theory. Crack that equation, you've got control of the building blocks of the universe." Their eyes widened in shock. "Time and space and matter, yours to control."

"What, and the kids are like a giant computer?" Rose asked.

"Yes." That's where he started to pace to another desk, nodding hastily. "And their learning power is being accelerated by the oil." He deducted, leaning his hands onto the desk. "That oil from the kitchens, it works as a…as a conducting agent, making the kids cleverer."

"But that oil's on the chips. I've been eating them." Rose pointed out.

"What's 59 times 35?" Clara asked.

"2065." Rose answered at once. Clara shrugged, and Rose's eyes widened. "Oh my god." She muttered in shock.

"But why use children?" Sarah Jane asked. "Can't they use adults?"

"Imagination. Is that right? It needs imagination, not just cleverness." Clara deducted.

He nodded. "Yes. So, they're not just using the children's brains to break the code. They're using their souls." The Doctor said grimly.

"Let the lesson begin." Finch said from the door, drawing their attention to him, specifically the Doctor and Clara, who glared fires at him. "Think of it, Doctor and Clara, with the paradigm solved, reality becomes clay in our hands. We can shape the universe and improve it." He implored, stepping forth to stand before them as he spoke.

"Oh yeah? The whole of creation with the face of Mr. Finch?" Clara retorted dryly. "Sounds a bit daft."

The Doctor nodded. "Call us old fashioned but we quite like things as they are."

"You both act like such radicals and yet all you want to do is preserve the old order? Think of the changes that could be made if this power was used for good."

"What, by someone like you?"

"No. Someone like you. The both of you." That made the pair of them blink. "The paradigm gives us power, but you could give us wisdom. Become gods at my side." He pleaded. "Imagine what you could do. Think of the civilizations you could save, Perganon, Ascinta, your own people, Doctor, standing tall. The Time Lords…reborn."

The Doctor was actually beginning to contemplate that reasoning, and Clara, to her own protest, was beginning to fall for it. "Doctor don't listen…" She tried but Finch interrupted.

"Do you think it's unnoticeable what's happened to you?" Finch asked to Clara. "He has two heartbeats, and they…" He nodded to Rose and Sarah Jane. "Have one. But you have nothing. Does it not drive you mad, hearing nothing in your own head?" He asked.

Clara blinked at that. "It does, yes." She admitted quietly.

"But you could do more than that." Finch carried on. "You will always meet new friends, every day, some of them will stay with you and some of them won't. But you could let them stay for all eternity. Young, fresh, never wither, never age, never die. Their lives are so fleeting with so many goodbyes. Have you ever truly thought about how lonely you two might become if you carry down this path?" Finch asked.

Clara shook her head, trying to deny it. "Loneliness isn't just about friends."

"No, it's about family." Finch argued, and Clara's breath hitched, which he noticed. "You've lost somebody, haven't you? Or maybe somebodies? Was it your parents?" Clara blinked a few times and the Doctor immediately grasped her hand. "All by your own will, you can bring them back as if they never left. Or even a family of your own? Practically the whole street could hear you last night, how it pained you that you can't have that." He looked at the Doctor. "You wished it too, didn't you? Not just for your sake, but for her." Finch deducted.

The Doctor briefly gazed down at the floor in sadness before he lifted his gaze to Clara. "You would've made a marvellous mother." He said softly and earnestly, which made Clara melt.

"And she can still be." Finch concluded. "Join us. That's all you have to do."

"I could save everyone." The Doctor muttered.

"Yes." Finch nodded with a gentle smile.

"I could stop the war. Susan." His tone went truly sorrowful. "I could bring Susan back."

"You could." Clara agreed, cupping his face in one hand, which he reciprocated with hers. "I could get rid of…her. I don't have to have her inside my head anymore." His gaze started to blend with concerned worry at her words.

"No." Sarah Jane interrupted at last. "The universe has to move forward. Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love. Whether it's a world, a family, a relationship, your friends…everything has its time, and everything ends." The Doctor and Clara didn't look at her, they just listened to her words. They didn't even need to look at Rose to know she was silently echoing Sarah Jane. So, they just stared at each other, silently contemplating, and weighing the answers, drawing out the tension in the room until it was thicker than a wool jacket. And then, without saying a word, they smiled. Not beaming, bright grins, but warm, sweet, and loving smiles of content.

"She's brilliant, isn't she?" Clara whispered.

"That she is." He agreed.

Clara leaned forward and placed a small kiss on his lips before parting with a cheeky grin. "Let's get them, tiger."

The Doctor nodded as they let each other go, before he grabbed a nearby chair, rushed past Finch, Rose and Sarah Jane and threw it at the large screen, the glass shattering upon impact and flying all over the room. "Out! Out!" He yelled and the three with him rushed past a seething Finch and out of the room. Running through the corridors towards the stairwell near the entrance of the school, they jumped in surprise as a loud crash was heard of shattering glass and a car halting to a screeching stop. Then, a rush of footsteps from a worried Mickey came towards them.

"What the hell is going on?!" Mickey yelled as they blinked at him in surprise.

"Di-did you j-just…" The Doctor stammered out.

"Yeah." Mickey shrugged. No more time for chatting they found as they could hear Finch screeching nearby, the high piercing of his cry making them wince and cup their ears for protection as it was quickly echoed by his brethren.

"Cafeteria. Now!" The Doctor yelled, and they quickly sprinted down the corridors as the distant flapping of Krillitane wings drew closer and closer on each corner they rounded. Bursting through into their desired room, they rushed to the other end, but found that door locked and bolted shut. Before either the Doctor or Clara could get out their sonics, Finch quickly stepped into the room, followed by the twelve other Krillitanes as they entered.

"We need the Doctor and Clara alive. As for the others…you can feast." Finch ordered. The group all improvised, arming themselves with chairs, not that it would do them much good. The Krillitanes descended, screeching, and growling with joy at their latest meal that was within their reach. As Finch watched, eight of the Krillitanes descended upon Rose, Mickey, and Sarah Jane while the remaining four went for the Doctor and Clara. The main duo were rather quick on their feet, calculating each swing of the chair to keep the Krillitanes away, standing back to back as their eyes darted around at them frantically. The remaining trio however, weren't doing very well. The Krillitanes easily baited them into swinging themselves out of balance, Rose and Sarah Jane quickly losing grip on the chairs while Mickey was swept off his feet by a dashing Krillitane, which used his built momentum against him. One Krillitane hovered above a defenceless Sarah Jane but just before it could descend upon her, a bright red laser beam shot out of nowhere and struck the Krillitane dead in the head, sending it flying across the room and crashing into a table and a handful of chairs. The Krillitane didn't get injured in the process, it was just dazed but she was grateful. Looking to the source of the laser, she saw K-9 sitting there, staring straight at her.

"K-9!" Sarah Jane exclaimed in joy and relief.

_"Suggest you engage running mode, mistress."_  K-9 inputted before he began to fire, each shot began to daze and down the Krillitanes, earning screeches from the creatures and an irritated, enraged roar from Finch.

"Come on! Get up!" Clara yelled, her and the Doctor helping the three to their feet as they rushed out the way they came.

"K-9, hold them back!" The Doctor ordered.

_"Affirmative, master. Maximum defence mode engaged."_

They quickly left the room, hearing the distant screeches and blasts from the cafeteria as they rushed back down the corridors. "Physics room, quick!" The Doctor yelled, the trio behind him and Clara rushing up the first flight of stairs and into said classroom, where the Doctor locked the door behind them.

* * *

_"Cannot maintain defence mode. Power supply failing."_  K-9 said, his pace slowing down and his rate of fire halting down to a point where the now active Krillitanes could dodge the laser blasts with ease.

"Forget the shooty dog thing, you morons." Finch growled in irritation. "Get after them!" He rushed from the room, the Krillitanes quickly following after.

* * *

"Wait, Rose." Clara clicked her fingers at said person. "What did you say about that dinner lady getting scorched?"

"One of…um…the bat people?" Rose said, earning a few puzzled looks. "Whatever, one of them, the dinner lady was drenched in the oil and she got burnt up. It didn't kill her or anything, but it created some nasty burn marks on her."

The Doctor's eyes widened at that. "That's it, it's the oil! They've changed their physiology so often, even their own oil is toxic to them! How much was there in the kitchens?" He quickly asked.

"Barrels of it." Once she spoke, the screeches of the Krillitanes came closer until one of them thumped against the door. Then, the ear-piercing scratching of the Krillitanes claws against wood could be heard, the faint marks of their actions was starting to come through the door as they tore and splintered it apart.

"Okay, we need to get to the kitchens." Clara quickly said, taking charge. "Mickey, get all the children unplugged and out of the school."

He quickly nodded. "Sure thing."

"Now, bats." Clara muttered, the group still flinching at each scratch at the door. "How do we fight bats?"

Now, it was the Doctor's turn to blink incredulously. "You serious?"

Clara glared at him. "Yeah, thanks for helping."

"Bats are blind…" He trailed off, hoping Clara would figure it out.

Clara shrugged. "As bats. So?"

"And they have amazing hearing…" The Doctor muttered, starting to get a bit irritated. Clara shook her head and he groaned. "Oh, for goodness sake." He moved to the door and smashed his elbow against the fire alarm switch, which immediately blared through the school, and the Krillitanes began to screech and cry in agony at the loud noise.

Clara looked down a bit, sheepishly biting her lip. "Right." She muttered.

The Doctor unlocked the door and flung it wide open again. "Kitchens! Quick!" He ordered, and the group rushed past the howling Krillitanes and a screaming Finch, all of which were clutching their heads to fruitlessly block out the noise. Moving through the corridors, they jumped their way down the stairwell, rushing past an open door where K-9 was emerging from.

_"Master. Mistress."_  The Doctor and Clara looked back with a small smile.

"Come on, boy! Good boy!" The Doctor encouraged, K-9 following them right into the messy kitchens. The Doctor took out his sonic and used it on the lids of the oil cans, but nothing happened. "They've been deadlock sealed." He moved over to another, and still nothing happened. "Finch must've done it. I can't open them."

_"The vats would not withstand a direct hit from my laser, but my batteries are failing."_

The Doctor contemplated for a moment, before he quickly pocketed his sonic away. "Right, Rose, Sarah, get out the back door. Clara, give me a hand. K-9, stay with us." Rose and Sarah Jane rushed from the room at once, while Clara helped the Doctor move the large barrels to form a clustered group.

* * *

Mickey rushed into the packed classroom in the south hall, but the kids didn't acknowledge his presence. "Okay, listen everyone, we've got to get out of here!" Nobody responded, they just kept typing away. He moved over to one of the kids, Melissa, and clicked his hands in front of her face, but she did nothing. She didn't even blink. He glanced around the room, trying to find one computer that wasn't being used, but all of them were occupied, except for the teacher's computer. However, it too was playing the Paradigm and Mickey went to run his hand over his face until… "What?" He muttered. Out of the teacher's computer was an abnormally large amount of black wires which funnelled under the desk and into a socket in the wall. He followed a long black and yellow warning line as it travelled up the wall, across the ceiling into a fork in the roof. Each one led to different joints in the walls, leading to terminals across the room that were linked to every computer. But there was one that went different. That line was smaller than the others and it went to the front of the room and came out as a singular wire, with a plug. Mickey blinked a few times, rechecking what he had observed but found he was indeed correct. "Huh." He shrugged, kneeling down to unplug the cord. The teacher's computer sparked and flared from the sudden power loss, which, in a domino effect, powered down every single computer in the room. After a few moments, the children stared around the room in bewilderment, standing up and removing their headsets. "Everyone get out!" They just blinked at him. "Now!" He yelled, and the kids ran from the room with fright despite their ever-present confusion. "Come on, move! Let's go! Let's go!" He clapped his hands in rhythm with his words, making them sprint even faster.

* * *

_"Capacity for only one shot, master and mistress."_  K-9 informed as they finished moving the barrels.  _"For maximum impact, I must be stationed directly beside the vats."_

"No, you'll be trapped inside." The Doctor protested, him and Clara moving to kneel in front of K-9.

_"That is correct."_

"We can't let you do that."

_"No alternative possible, master."_

"Are you sure there isn't another way?" Clara asked. "Please, there must be."

_"I am sorry, mistress."_

The Doctor and Clara looked up with worry as the alarm suddenly stopped.  _"The kitchens! They're in the kitchens!"_  They heard Finch say over the intercom. They both sighed, for they had no more time.

With a small glance at each other, they turned back to K-9 with a sad smile. "Goodbye, old friend." The Doctor said, petting K-9's cheek gently.

_"Goodbye, master. Goodbye, mistress."_

Clara kissed K-9's head. "You're a clever dog."

_"Affirmative."_  The pair of them stood up, moving to leave the room.  _"Please give my apologies to mistress."_

"We will." Clara affirmed before they left the room, moving through the back exit and closing the door, Clara quickly locking it shut as they found Sarah Jane waiting.

"Where's K-9?" She asked with concern.

"We need to run." The Doctor said, taking her hand.

"Where is he? What've you done?!" She exclaimed but neither of them answered as they led her away.

* * *

Finch finally made it to his office, still clenching his ears in pain which he felt began to bleed. Moving to the main hub of the fire alarm, he punched a hole in the wall and ripped out the red wires from within, short circuiting and instantly quieting the alarm, letting relief briefly flow through him, but it was quickly replaced with rage. Moving to his desk, he quickly browsed through the security cameras, and saw the backs of the Doctor and Clara in the kitchens as they knelt before something, but he couldn't see what. At that, he slammed his hand down on the intercom button. "The kitchens! They're in the kitchens!" He roared. Once he took his hand off, he immediately left the room and sprinted down the corridors towards the kitchen doors, being joined by the hastily transforming Krillitanes, who merged back into their Human selves. "When you find them, eat them if you must but bring me their brains." He growled, his rage making them shiver before they quickly moved into the kitchens, searching every corner until they found the pilled barrels of their oil and sitting beside them was that disgusting metal dog. Finch growled. "The little dog with the nasty bite. Not so powerful now, are you?" He taunted. K-9 said nothing, aiming his tiny blaster at the barrels, and fired. The blast destroyed the adjoined barrels, all of which sprayed their contents throughout the room, drenching all of his brethren to the bone in their oil. They all screamed in agony, clawing at themselves to fruitlessly remove any trace of the oil.

"Argh! Burning!" Jackson screamed.

Finch clenched his jaw, the oncoming pain of the oil sparking a fire that consumed his entire body, feeling every nerve and muscle within shooting up and bursting apart, his body collapsing from the inside. "You bad dog!" He growled.

_"Affirmative."_  K-9 taunted back.

* * *

The kitchens in the school exploded, fire and brimstone shattering that entire side of the building into pieces, leaving only fire, smoke, and ash in its wake. The kids began cheering at the spectacle, jumping around, and hugging each other with joy. The Doctor and Clara exchanged a confused look.

"Why-why are they acting like that?" The Doctor asked.

Clara shrugged. "Some kids just don't like school." They both shook their heads at that before they sighed, turning to Sarah Jane, who just gazed at the school in barely restrained sadness.

"I'm sorry." The Doctor said.

Sarah Jane shook her head, but when she spoke, her voice was breaking. "It's all right. He was just a  _*Chuckles*_ a daft metal dog. It's fine, really."

"Sarah, he wanted to tell you that he was sorry." Clara interjected. Sarah Jane cried at that and the pair of them hugged her, stroking her back and shoulders softly in comfort. They parted when Sarah Jane calmed down, still rubbing her shoulders in reassurance. "Are you okay?"

Sarah Jane wiped the few tears from her eyes and nodded. "Yeah, I'll be okay."

They nodded, seeing Rose and Mickey move over to them. Then, the Doctor groaned. "Oh, blimey, we left the TARDIS in the school." Clara rolled her eyes at him. "Hey, it's not like you gave a better place to park." The Doctor reprimanded, earning a half glare in return. "Okay, we'll be two minutes."

"Wait, where are you moving it too?" Rose asked as the pair started to move away.

"There's a small park down the road from here. That's where we'll be." The Doctor said before he and Clara ran back into the empty school, through the corridors, into the gym and back inside the TARDIS. "All right, that was an eventful day, wasn't it?" The Doctor asked as he and Clara piloted the TARDIS, to her surprise, into the Time Vortex.

"If you could call being chased by bats eventful, then sure, it was." Clara poked.

"Well, it definitely was."

"Doctor, what're we doing?"

"Making Sarah a surprise." Clara blinked for a few moments before it sunk in and she grinned. He turned a few more switches, spawning the necessary components and a small work area in the console room. "Come on." They moved over to the work area, spending over an hour working and quipping jokes as they sat in the spawned chairs. As they came closer to the end of the job, an awkward silence grew between them, Clara finding herself getting nervous, which the Doctor noticed. "Clara?"

"Did you mean it, when you said that I could've been a good mother?" Clara asked.

The Doctor quickly finished his work, pocketing the sonic as he moved to the console and pressed a few buttons to make the workspace disappear and motioned Clara over. She got up and he made the chairs disappear as she walked over, and he took her hands in his. "Clara, I didn't say you would've been a good mother, I said that you would've been marvellous." Clara blinked, smiling sadly as she glanced down at their hands. "Clara, you're not going to repeat all of that again, are you?" He asked with a small hint of humour. Clara shook her head and he smiled. "Good." He pulled her in close and kissed her. "I'll let you know, Clara, you're much more beautiful when you smile." He whispered.

She could barely restrained herself from raising her eyebrows at him, moving to wrap her arms around his neck as his encircled her waist. "Is that why you do all those awful jokes? Just to see me smile?"

"I would've thought it obvious, Clara." He said as he kissed her again, purring at the feel of her soft lips between his. "Besides…" He muttered, moving to kiss down her neck. "You've never complained."

"I…" She involuntarily let out a moan, tilting her head back to grant him more access. "I just…oh god." She moaned, clutching his head and neck in her hands.

"You approve, don't you?" He whispered smugly, kissing up neck to her ear. "Say it."

"No." She moaned.

"Just say it."

She shook her head, but he held her close again, moving back to her lips. She tried to kiss him, but he kept just enough distance for her to mewl. "Yes." She relented, and he smirked, which made her shiver. "Please, boss." She whispered, and he dived in, pressing another hungry kiss on her lips, swallowing the moan in her throat. "Doctor."

"You're bloody gorgeous." He whispered huskily.

* * *

Sarah Jane parked her car in the sunny green park, her, Rose, and Mickey exiting to move to the TARDIS.

"Hey, you, what's 47 times 369?" Sarah Jane asked.

Rose shrugged. "No idea. It's gone now. The oil's faded."

"But you're still clever. More than a match for the two of them."

"You and me both." Rose winked, and they smirked. Rose opened the door and they immediately cringed, seeing the Doctor and Clara snogging to their hearts content. "Oh, bloody hell."

"That's disgusting." Mickey quipped with a scrunched face.

"Give me a moment." Rose said. Creeping on her toes, she moved silently into the TARDIS and grabbed the console mallet. The TARDIS, with as little of a noise as possible, spawned a small steel plate on a vacant part of the console. Rose raised the mallet and smacked down hard on the steel, the ringing sound made the pair jump and shriek with burning faces. "You two finished?" Rose growled.

"We…we were just…" They stammered in unison.

"I know what you were doing but please, get a goddamn room." Rose admonished.

The Doctor didn't get that. "But we do have a room-"

"We know." Sarah Jane and Mickey called from the door. Rose rolled her eyes and motioned the pair inside.

"Don't worry. They're not carrying a disease or anything. They're just-"

"Children." Sarah Jane interrupted. "That's a bit obvious." Rose mouthed a grateful "Thank you" to Sarah Jane, while the Doctor and Clara rearranged themselves, grasping their hands together. They all turned to Sarah Jane, who finally took a moment to gaze around the console room with a small smile of approval. "You've redecorated."

"Do you like it?" The Doctor asked.

"Oh, I-I do, yeah." Sarah Jane briefly blinked in nostalgia. "I preferred it as it was, but, uh…it'll do."

"I love it." Clara grinned, patting the console affectionately. Then, Clara nudged the Doctor, who looked at Sarah Jane nervously. "Ask her." She whispered.

He straightened himself up. "Um…we're about to head off, but…you could come with us." He offered.

Sarah Jane glanced between them and her answer came in a small smile with a sigh, shaking her head. "I can't do this anymore." Their faces fell with disappointment. "Come on, you don't need me. Judging by your actions earlier, your doing pretty well by yourselves." They cowered a bit with a blush and Sarah Jane chuckled. "Besides, I've got a much bigger adventure ahead. It's time I stopped waiting for you and found a life of my own."

Despite their disappointment, they both nodded. "Fair enough." The Doctor said.

"Can I come?" Mickey perked up, earning puzzled looks from the duo. "Not with you," He motioned to Sarah Jane, who was also blinking in puzzlement. "I mean, with you two. Because, I'm not the tin dog and I want to see what's out there." The duo cocked their eyebrows at each other.

"Come on." Rose implored. "He'd love it out there, and you'd love him on board too." They still stared at each other in contemplation.

"Oh, go on, you two." Sarah Jane sighed. "Sarah Jane Smith…" She motioned to herself. "Mickey Smith." She motioned again. "You need a Smith on board."

They both smirked at that. "Okay then. We could do with a laugh." The Doctor quipped. Mickey whooped a bit, making them roll their eyes with a smirk.

"Well…I'd better go." Sarah Jane perked up. "Take care of yourselves, all right?" Rose and Mickey gave a small salute which Sarah Jane returned as she went to exit the TARDIS, the Doctor and Clara following her to step outside. "It's daft, but I haven't ever thanked you for that time and like I said, I wouldn't have missed it for the world."

"Something to tell the grandkids?" Clara remarked.

Sarah Jane sighed. "Oh, I think it'll be someone else's grandkids now."

"Right." The Doctor nodded. "Yes, sorry. I didn't get a chance to ask. You haven't…there hasn't been anyone…you know?" He stammered out.

"Have you found someone?" Clara clarified, and he gave a grateful nod.

"Well…there was this one guy. I travelled with him for a while, but he was a tough act to follow. Besides, in the end, he moved on and found someone who's definitely more than a match for him." Sarah Jane said earnestly. They both blinked at that and she smiled. "Goodbye, Doctor."

"Oh, it's not goodbye-"

"Say it, please." Sarah Jane interrupted him. "This time say it."

"Goodbye…" He beamed at her. "My Sarah Jane." At that, he wrapped her in a hug, almost literally hauling her off her feet before letting her relax back onto the ground.

Sarah Jane turned to Clara and wrapped her in a hug. "Goodbye, Clara."

"Goodbye, Sarah Jane." Clara returned as they parted.

"Find me, if you two need to one day. Come find me." Sarah Jane said.

"Where do you live now?" The Doctor asked.

"13 Bannerman Road." They blinked at her.

"And…where is that?"

"Ealing."

"Ealing?" The Doctor remarked. She nodded, and he shrugged. "Okay, you do you." They moved to the doors of the TARDIS and stepped inside. "See you around." The Doctor winked. Sarah Jane, who closed her eyes to take a small breath, missed the Doctor and Clara sharing a wolfish grin as they closed the doors and piloted the TARDIS away.

Sarah Jane sighed, watching with a soft smile as the TARDIS dematerialised, the groaning sound of its engines rustling around, wind billowing and blowing the leaves on the pavement. Sarah Jane however started to blink. As the TARDIS left, it seemed to be leaving something behind. Something small. When the TARDIS disappeared completely, it became clear and Sarah Jane beamed with joy. "K-9!"

A newer and much improved K-9 rolled over to Sarah Jane.  _"Mistress."_

"But you were blown up." Sarah Jane said as she knelt in front of K-9, petting his head affectionately.

_"The master and mistress rebuilt me. My systems are much improved with new undetectable hyperlink facilities."_

Sarah Jane shook her head, grinning as she did. "Oh, they replaced you with a brand-new model."

_"Affirmative."_

"Yeah. He did that a lot. But I guess that might have changed now. Clara might be sticking around for good." Sarah Jane quickly placed a kiss on K-9's head before she stood up. "Come on, you. Home. We've got work to do." And with that, they turned and walked away, leaving the park towards her car, to begin their new life.

**AN: Whew, that was a bit of a rollercoaster. Well…it's not like the next one will be any better. ;) I must say, I didn't expect to have so much fun writing Mr. Finch, but he was an utter blast. Anyway, as always, thank you for reading and please leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	32. The Girl in the Fireplace

**AN: This was a very difficult chapter to figure out, considering the relationship between Reinette and the Doctor in the show and now with the addition of Clara, it made things a bit complicated with me for a while. I do hope, with what I produced, that you enjoy and that it made some form of sense and was realistic enough to believe. Anyway, on with the chapter.**

**The Girl in the Fireplace**

**Versailles**  
1759

Reinette looked at the broken clock on the fireplace mantle with a shaky breath, but she closed her eyes and fought it down to calm herself. The monsters from her childhood had returned and all she could do, right now, was wait.  _Don't worry, Reinette. They will be coming. They promised. Oh please, let them come back. Let me see them again._

"We are under attack!" A man, her lover, King Louis XV, called to Reinette as he entered the room, sweat on his forehead and fear in his voice but neither could distract them from the terrified screams of everyone inside the building, which flooded every room and hallway. "There are creatures storming this building! I don't even think they're Human. We can't stop them!"

"The clock is broken." She said, still staring at the clock on the mantle. "They are coming."

"Did you hear what I said?!" Louis exclaimed, walking up to stand by Reinette, who turned to look at him.

"Listen to me. There are two people, a man and a woman coming to Versailles. They have watched over me my whole life and they will not desert me tonight."

"What are you talking about?! What man, and what woman?!"

"The only people…that I have truly loved." Louis gave her a scorching, accusing look but she interrupted sternly, "No, don't look like that, there's no time!" She admonished, and he blinked. "You have your duties. I am your mistress. Go to your Queen." Quickly ignoring any look he may have given her, she quickly knelt before the lit fire, gazing through but she couldn't see anything.  _There must be something wrong with this link. There must be._  "Are you there?! Can you hear me?!" She called but she received no answer, making her anxiety start to rise to the surface. "I need you now, you promised! The clock on the mantel is broken! It is time!" Still no answer. "Doctor?! Clara?! Doctor?!"

51st Century

The TARDIS materialised at their new destination and the group exited one by one. The room they found themselves in had a dark colour scheme, complete with black, greys and even a small bit of dark green. It didn't help that the room was not only barely lit but also a complete mess. Chock full of strewn wires, repair equipment, broken circuits, so forth. Beside the group was the main console, and it too, despite it running on proper power, was covered in repair work, which made the Doctor and even Clara blink in puzzlement. Rose however gave a "Okay" expression at the interior while Mickey's eyes widened.

"It's a spaceship." He marvelled. "Brilliant! I got a spaceship on my first go!" He squealed in childish excitement.

"Looks kind of abandoned." Clara mused. "Where is everyone? Are they even on board?"

"Nah, nothing here. Well…nothing dangerous. Well…not that dangerous." Clara raised her eyebrows at the Doctor and he cleared his throat. "You know what? I'll just do a quick scan…in case there's anything dangerous." He moved over to the console as Clara rolled her eyes.

"So, what's the date?" Rose asked, leaning back against the TARDIS. "How far we gone?"

"About three thousand years into your future, give or take." The Doctor answered. Inspecting the console, he saw a small round open pod with a lever. Taking fate, he took hold of the lever, lifted it, and twisted it to its side. It caused a bright blue light to radiate from the capsule within. This action caused the ship to spur into life, the room lighting up with white lights and the ceiling above opened, revealing thick glass that allowed them to stare into the brilliance of space. "51st Century…" The Doctor stared at the blue, orange, and red star cluster above them while Clara, Rose and especially Mickey, stared in amazement. "The Dagmar Cluster, you're a long way from home, Mickey. A full two and a half galaxies."

"Mickey Smith meet the universe." Rose grinned as Mickey went to a window to stare out into space. "See anything you like?"

Mickey beamed. "It's so realistic."

Clara leaned into the Doctor. "That's two words you don't wanna take out of context." The both of them giggled, making the other pair blink.

"What are you laughing at?" Rose asked.

"Nothing." They squeaked in unison.

Before Rose could poke them further, the Doctor began picking up the repair equipment off the main console, inspecting every piece with furrowed eyebrows. "Dear me, had some cowboys in here. Got a ton of repair work going on." He tossed the equipment aside while Clara scanned the computer with the sonic. It brought up a blue schematic of the ship, radiating a red circle that went from the south end to the north.

"What?" Clara muttered. The Doctor was also intrigued, taking out his "Brainy Specs" to gaze at the monitor.

"That's odd." The Doctor mused, their curious tones making the other pair come to join them. "All the warp engines are going. And…full capacity?" The Doctor questioned as he stared back up at the ship around them. "There's enough power running through this ship to punch a hole in the universe…and we're not moving. Where's all that power going?" He muttered.

"Better yet, where are the crew?" Clara asked again, flicking more switches on the console but getting nothing. "There's no life readings on board, nothing."

"Well, we're in deep space." Rose reminded. "They didn't just nip out for a quick fag."

"I'm not going to mention that the smoking pods are empty." Clara grumbled, earning a snort from Rose.

"Wait." The Doctor interrupted, and he started to sniff. "Can you smell that?"

Everyone started to echo his actions and they blinked. It smelled a bit like a barbecue, or a roast. "Yeah, someone's cooking." Rose nodded.

"Sunday roast, definitely." Mickey inputted.

Clara shook her head slightly. "It's a bad idea to leave a roast going unmonitored." She muttered.

The Doctor didn't input into their conversation, instead he flicked a large lever, opening a large door by the TARDIS, sliding away with a loud grinding like metal on metal. The group turned to gaze through, seeing another cramped room with the exception of the far wall. That wall was clean, but it was…French. A properly authentic 18th Century French fireplace, complete with deep, dark red, gold, and brown, with unlit candelabras and a broken golden clock. "Well…there's something you don't see in your average spaceship." The Doctor mused, and the group moved through, staring with wide eyed curiosity at the fireplace. "18th Century. French." He took out his sonic to scan the wood with Clara moving up to his side.

"Nice mantel." Clara awed, stroking a hand along it. Rose and Mickey moved to a small window by the fireplace, staring out into the deep vastness of space.

The Doctor nodded in agreement before he finished scanning and pocketed the sonic again. "Not a hologram. Not even a reproduction. This actually IS an 18th Century French fireplace."

"Someone's definitely got a hobby. Or a fascination." Clara mused as she knelt in front of the fireplace. Looking through past the lit orange fire, she could see a dark bedroom. "It's double sided. There's another room through here." Clara said, making the Doctor blink in puzzlement.

"There can't be. That's the outer hull of the ship. Look." Rose pointed out.

"Oh, hello." Clara said suddenly. Moving to sit in front of the fire opposite her was a young girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a white nightdress. The Doctor knelt beside Clara and he blinked in puzzlement too.

"Hello." He echoed.

"Hello." The girl responded.

They stared at the girl in amazement for a moment and the Doctor took Clara's hand.  _"Well, she's obviously French."_  The Doctor spoke telepathically.

_"And she's pretty."_

He nodded.  _"Very pretty. Could grow up to be someone beautiful."_  Clara, to his own surprise, nodded at that. To avoid further confusion, they looked back at the girl. "What's your name?"

"Reinette." The girl responded, confusion on her face but she also bore a beaming smile of awe.

"Reinette?" The Doctor and Clara slowly grinned. "That's a lovely name."

"Can you tell us where you are at the moment, Reinette?" Clara asked as Rose and Mickey knelt behind them to gaze through.

Reinette blinked, looking around in confusion at her words. "In my bedroom." She said obviously.

Clara cleared her throat slightly to avoid self-embarrassment. "And…where's your bedroom? Where do you live, Reinette?"

Reinette shrugged. "Paris, of course."

"Paris, right." The Doctor nodded. Both him and Clara were starting to feel really stupid right now.

"Oh, I love Paris." Clara grinned, earning another beaming smile from Reinette. Then, her face quickly morphed into puzzlement.

"Monsieur, madame, what are you doing in my fireplace?"

"Oh, it's just a routine…fire check." The Doctor stuttered out, earning more blinks from Reinette.

"Wait, what does madame mean again?" Clara asked.

"Aren't you two married?" Reinette asked back.

The pair shook their heads fervently with burning faces. "Wha-no." They said in unison.

"But you act like you are." Reinette pointed out.

The Doctor and Clara didn't know what to say to that, so Clara quickly stammered out, "Can you tell us what year it is?"

Reinette had to hold back a light scoff. "Of course I can. 1727."

"Right, lovely. One of my favourites." The Doctor quickly said. His face quickly grew into distant seriousness for a second. "August is rubbish though." Reinette's face now became completely bewildered. "Stay indoors."

"What's wrong with August?" Reinette asked.

Clara sighed, and the Doctor gulped. "Snow." Clara answered simply. "There'll be lots of it." Reinette slowly nodded despite her new-found puzzlement.

"Okay, that's all for now." The Doctor squeaked. "Thanks for your help. Hope you enjoy the rest of the fire. Night-night." He quickly pulled a blinking Clara back up to her feet, Rose and Mickey following suit.

"Goodnight monsieur, mademoiselle." Reinette called.

"You said this was the 51st Century." Mickey pointed out, him and Rose bearing fading smiles from the interaction they just watched.

"I also said this ship was generating enough power to punch a hole in the universe. I think we just found the hole." The pair pulled "Oooh" faces at that. "Must be a spatiotemporal hyperlink."

"What's that?" Mickey asked.

"He doesn't know." Clara informed.

"Well, I didn't want to say, "Magic door"." He defended with a small whine.

"In all fairness…" Clara started honestly, then she grinned wolfishly. "It's better than "Anti-plastic"."

"Stop it." He warned playfully, and Clara just waggled her eyebrows at him in retaliation.

"Back to the point." Rose growled, and they shuddered.

"Sorry." They said in unison.

"So, on the other side of the "Magic door"," Rose said dramatically, "is France in 1727?"

"Well, she was speaking French." The Doctor shrugged. "Right period French, too." The Doctor quickly took off his overcoat and threw it back onto the main console of the ship as he re-joined Clara, who was investigating the fireplace closer.

"She was speaking English. I heard her." Mickey pointed out.

"That's the TARDIS. Translates for you." Rose quickly answered.

Mickey's eyes widened even more. "Even French?"

"Yep."

"Okay, technically, the TARDIS only translates languages you don't know." The Doctor pointed out. "I mean…what's the point of translating English when you already know English?" That made them slowly nod and shrug to themselves.

"Ooh." Clara said like a kid getting their first pocket money. "What's this do?" She gasped a large lever hidden beside the fireplace and wrenched it up. Said action caused the fireplace to spin around on the spot, taking the Doctor and Clara with it and leaving the others behind.

"Doctor!"

"Clara!" They heard the pair yell but too late. The fireplace revolved completely, finding themselves in Reinette's bedroom. Said girl was fast asleep in her small, single bed, her head lying on her two cushions, one pink and one green, wrapped in light blue sheets. Her breathing was the only sound in the room other than the clock on the mantle ticking away. It was rather loud, they noted. The Doctor and Clara shot each other an awkward look and they decided to sigh a bit of the tension out. Gazing around, they could actually see the room now as opposed to before. Beside the fireplace was an empty dollhouse, the doors, and walls still open. In front of the fireplace was a couple of steps that led to the bed, along with a bedside table that had a family picture, a small watch, and a single unlit candlestick. Opposite the bed was a table and a chair, with a large mirror framed in silver that sat opposite to it. There was only one other entrance besides their "Magic door" and that being a proper door at the far end of the room. Moving to the window beside the table, they gazed out through the sheer white curtain, seeing the snow-covered city of Paris gleaming in the moonlight.

"That's beautiful." Clara said in awe and the Doctor smiled at her.

"Clara Oswald, welcome to Paris." The two moved back from the window, their movements making the floorboards creak under their feet. The sound caused Reinette to gasp, shooting up out of the bed and looking at them with a frightened face.

"Hey, hey, it's okay." Clara quickly reassured. "It's okay, don't scream." Reinette still looked frightened at them. "It's us. It's the fireplace duo. Look." She quickly took out her sonic and used it light the candle, allowing Reinette to see their faces properly. "We were talking, just a moment ago. We were in your fireplace."

Reinette somewhat relaxed visibly but she was still a bit frightened. "Mademoiselle, that was weeks ago. That was months."

They both blinked at that. "Really?" The Doctor asked, turning back to the fireplace. "Must be a loose connection." He tapped a few times, hearing the hollow knocking from the room beyond. "Need to get a man in." He quipped lightly.

"How did you get here?" Reinette asked.

They both found themselves gulping at that. "Through your…fireplace." The Doctor stuttered.

Reinette briefly had a look of awe that went back into trepidation. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"I'm Clara." She greeted. "Clara Oswald."

Before she could introduce him, the Doctor quickly drew a shaky breath.  _How had I just realised that now?_  Clara and Reinette looked at him in confusion. He was staring at the broken clock on the mantle in fear.

Clara gazed back and forth between them, the only sound being the loud ticking.  _Wait._  That sound made her shiver. She glanced around quickly, but the only clock in the room was the broken one on the mantle. "Okay, that's scary." She quickly added.

"You're both scared of a broken clock?" Reinette asked in puzzlement.

"Just a bit scared, yeah." The Doctor nodded. "Just a little tiny bit. Cause, you see, if this clock's broken…" He quickly gazed around the room. "And it's the only clock in the room…" They let a bit of silence slide in to focus on the ticking. As they did, they felt themselves shiver as they listened to it, the ticking almost growing louder as they focused on just that and they turned to Reinette. "Then what's that?" Reinette gazed back at them in a new-found fear, which they noticed was slowly turning into terror. "Cause, you see, that's not a clock. You can tell by the resonance. Too big." The Doctor paused, listening carefully to the ticking with furrowed eyebrows. "Six feet, I'd say. Size of a man."

"What is it?" Reinette asked fearfully.

"Now, let's think." The Doctor said as he paced about the room, checking every nook and cranny for an unwanted presence. "If you were a thing that ticked, and you were hiding in someone's bedroom, first thing you do: Break the clock. No one notices the sound of one clock ticking but two?" They both gazed at each other, giving a knowing nod as they slowly turned to look at Reinette's bed. More specifically, the underside of her bed. "You might start to wonder if you're really alone." Reinette followed their gaze, her terror growing even more as she shifted in the bed.

Clara gave her a soft look. "Reinette, it's okay to be afraid."

Reinette gave a shaky breath. "Why?"

Clara smiled. "Fear is a superpower." Reinette blinked at that, and her look went soft for a brief moment.

"Will you be all right?" Reinette asked. They both blinked at her worry, but they just beamed.

"We're always all right." The Doctor said cheekily. Reinette gave a small smile of relief at that, but it quickly faded as Clara approached the bed and knelt beside it.

"Stay on the bed, right in the middle." Clara said. "Don't put your hands or feet over the edge." Reinette gave a quick nod at that.

"Be careful, Clara." The Doctor quickly said. Clara just winked at him and he somewhat relaxed.

Clara drew back the sheets and blanket off the bed, showing her the darkness beneath. Clara squinted but she still couldn't see anything, except maybe a glowing bit of hair floating in the darkness. But whatever the source was, it was here, for the ticking got even louder. Taking out her sonic, she tentatively reached out and pressed the button. For a second, she saw a pale face with hollow eyes but whatever it was, it lashed out at her and Clara recoiled, stumbling away from the bedside on the floor. The Doctor quickly went to her side but just as he grasped her shoulders, they stopped. The source of the ticking was now standing up on the other side of Reinette's bed and was staring straight at them. It was indeed 6ft tale, but it bore a pale white mask, eyes completely hollow and black with a plastered smile made of red lipstick and black painted on, fiery eyebrows. Its mop of black hair was a completely mess and obviously a wig. The clothes were time and region accurate to a tee, completely with frill, colourful button vest, white stockings, and shoes. _"It must be a droid from the ship."_  Clara said in her mind.

_"Explains the ticking."_  The Doctor returned, and they quickly glanced at Reinette, who was staring at them with wide eyes. "Reinette…don't look round." Her eyes grew even wider at that and they slowly stood up, staring straight at the droid. "You stay exactly where you are." The Doctor warned. The droid didn't respond, still staring at them. They found themselves confused at its silence, exchanging furrowed eyebrows. The Doctor contemplated for a moment and his gaze began to flicker between the droid and Reinette.  _"If the droid's still here, then it must want something with Reinette."_  He said to Clara, who nodded at his words. Letting go of Clara's shoulders, he knelt at the bedside by Reinette. "Hold still for a moment." He said gently, reaching out and taking a soft grasp of Reinette's head in his hands. She blinked repeatedly, still staring at him with terrified eyes. The Doctor searched the surface of her mind, finding it completely fine but the very tip of the surface had a strange ebb and flow to it, like someone took a comb and gently smoothed out a very thin part of her brain. He let go of her face with a completely bewildered look and stared straight back at the droid. "You've been scanning her brain." He said, the words making both Clara and Reinette exchange confused looks. "What, you crossed two galaxies and thousands of years just to scan a child's brain? What could there be in a little girl's mind worth blowing a hole in the universe?"

"I don't understand." Reinette perked up, making the TARDIS pair stare at her. "It wants me?" For a split second, amongst the fear in her eyes, they saw a spark of…defiance? They both blinked again in surprise as Reinette turned her head to stare straight at the droid, her expression never changing. "You want me?"

Adding to their surprise, the droid responded. It clicked its head to look at her, even the smallest of movements created ratcheting noises like gears and socket wrenches that grinded together. Another gear slowly started up and it said in a deep and monotone male voice,  **"Not yet. You are incomplete."** The gear slowed back to a stop and they summarised that it was the speaking gear.

""Incomplete"?" The Doctor repeated. "What does that mean, incomplete?" The droid didn't answer, and he clenched his jaw, but Clara was the one that responded.

"You can answer her, then you can answer us. What do you mean, incomplete?!" She demanded, standing up and raising her sonic towards the droid. The droid turned its head, quickly walked around the bed to stand in front of Clara, who was joined by a quickly moving Doctor. The droid raised out its arm and a blade stylized in gears and clockwork mechanics extended out of its hand, finishing barely inches from their faces.

"Monsieur, mademoiselle, be careful!" Reinette quickly said in worry. They sent reassuring looks her way before focusing back on the droid.

"Don't worry about us, it's just a nightmare, Reinette. Everyone has nightmares." The Doctor reassured. The droid advanced on them and began to swing its arm, making them dash back, pressing their backs against the fireplace mantle. "Even monsters from under the bed have nightmares, don't you monster?" The Doctor taunted cheekily as they let it approach. The droid raised its arm above its head and brought it down, the pair darting out of the way, letting the sharp blade dig deep into the mantle. The droid started to pull its arm back, trying to wrench its blade out, but only caused the it to dig in deeper.

"What do monsters have nightmares about?" Reinette asked as she sat up on the bed, watching them with a beaming grin as the droid got stuck.

"Us! Ha!" They said in unison as Clara wrenched up the lever, causing the fireplace to rotate around, bringing them back into the ship and towards the concerned looks of Rose and Mickey.

"Doctor!"

"Clara!" They both exclaimed.

"We'll be all right!" The Doctor quickly said as he rushed over to the wall and grabbed off it one of the large guns that were suspended on racks. He then turned to the droid as Clara dodged away and he fired, spewing a hazy, white mist that completely covered the resisting droid. He kept firing, waiting, and waiting as the droid's movements started to slow completely to a halt, ending with a good wrench that freed its blade from the now scratched mantle. However, it didn't move, completely covered in frozen ice flakes, the mist from the gun still steaming off its mask and clothes.

"Excellent. Ice gun." Mickey said with a smile.

"Fire extinguisher." The Doctor corrected as he tossed the gun to Rose, who caught it with a few confused blinks.

"Where did that thing come from?" Rose asked.

"Here."

"So, why is it dressed like…that?" Mickey asked.

"Camouflage." Clara answered.

The Doctor nodded. "It was on a field trip to France. Nice needlework." He gave a quick compliment to the clothes. "Shame about the face." Moving over, he grasped the chin of the mask and pulled it off, taking the wig with it. Underneath was a small glass dome with a small hole at the top, that protected a series of gears and golden machinery, all constructed to work together and creating a harmony of ticking, like a clock. The ticks began to restart, but they were slow, and the droid's movements echoed it, so the droid just stood still. If it could, its expression would've been a shadow of curiosity. Said expression was echoed by everyone…except for the Doctor, whose jaw dropped, and he beamed at it. "Oh, you are beautiful!" The head slowly began to tilt on its side, as if it was staring straight at the Doctor in puzzlement. Said man took out his "Brainy Specs" and leaned in, still beaming. "No, really, you are! You're gorgeous!" He quickly sent everyone a childish look. "Look at that! Space age clockwork, I love it! I've got chills!"

"Down boy." Clara interrupted sternly.

"Sorry." The Doctor responded with a small cough. "Listen, seriously, I mean this from the heart, and by the way count those." He indicated to his two hearts. "It would be a crime, it would be an act of vandalism to disassemble you…" He quickly took out his sonic and held it up. "But that won't stop me." They filled in the blanks, guessing that if the droid had eyes, it would be flickering its gaze between the Doctor and his sonic. Then, without warning, the droid's head slowly turned around to stare at the group before it turned back to the Doctor and it raised its arm straight up, the clockwork machinery within restarting to its normal, loud pace. This time, the blade disappeared, and it pressed the fingers of its left hand into its right wrist. The action created a loud clicking noise before the droid disappeared in a hazy flash before their eyes. Everyone quickly looked about for any sign, but there wasn't any, so the Doctor and Clara both made sure their sonics were pocketed safely again. "Short range teleport." The Doctor informed. "Can't have got far. Could still be on board. Or…" He trailed off, him and Clara sharing worried looks that made them rush back up to the fireplace.

"What is it?" Rose asked.

"It's a clockwork droid." The Doctor answered before he raised his finger at them. "Don't go looking for it." He ordered.

"Where are you two going?" Rose asked with blinking eyes.

"We'll be back in a sec." Clara answered, and she wrenched the lever again, causing the two to disappear out of sight from Rose and Mickey.

Rose shrugged, briefly running her gaze over the large fire extinguisher in her hands. "They said not to look for it." Mickey quickly said, guessing her intention by her actions.

"Yeah, they did." Rose responded but she didn't nod. Mickey blinked a few times in bewilderment at her words before he slowly smiled. He then rushed over and grabbed the other remaining extinguisher and Rose grinned. "Now you're getting it. Come on." With that, they quickly rushed out of the room to search the ship.

* * *

The Doctor and Clara stood in Reinette's room, looking around in confusion. Unlike their previous visit from only mere minutes ago, the room was now bathed in the light of the bright, warm yellow sun that streamed through the windows, uncovered by the curtains. The bed was tidy and the table opposite it bore candelabras, a small vase, and a blue purse. However, the doll house was gone and in its place was a large golden harp. Even the clock on the fireplace mantle was fixed and ticking away, filling the silence of the room with its almost soft melody. The Doctor and Clara shot each other confused looks as they took a few steps away from the fireplace. "Reinette?" The Doctor called but he received no answer.

"Reinette? We're just checking if you're okay. Reinette?" Clara called but she also received no answer. Clara gave a small sigh and turned to the Doctor, who was standing in front of the harp. "Go on." Clara urged with a smile. "Try it."

The Doctor tentatively reached out a hand and started strumming on the strings for a few seconds. Clara blinked as he played, for the song was achingly familiar. When he finished, he turned back to her with a smirk. "Know the song?"

Clara blinked a few times then furrowed her eyebrows. "Uhhhhh…d…Demons?"

He beamed at her. "Yeah. You got it."

"You know you can't play that song in public in this period?" Clara admonished playfully.

"Well, Clara…we're not in public." He winked, and Clara bit her lip to hold back a grin. "Come on, give it a try." He urged.

Clara's eyes widened in nervousness. "Oh no, no, no, no." She squeaked. "I don't think I can-"

"Nonsense!" He drew her over to the harp and placed her in front of it, standing right behind her and grasping her shoulders. "Go on. Give it a try."

Clara tentatively reached out and stringed a small tune but they both winced at it. "I tried to tell you, I can't play musical instruments." She tried to excuse.

"Oh, we've got all the time in the universe for that."

"What, like you've played an instrument before?" Clara poked.

He nodded, taking the quip seriously. "Yeah. 2nd face had a flute. And let me tell you, my 8th face loved to sing in his spare time."

Clara relaxed her shoulders and leant back into him, allowing him to hug her from behind. "Can you sing now?"

"Ehhhh." He said simply, and she giggled. "Could be better, but I could be worse."

" _*Clears Throat*_ "

They both jumped at the sudden sound, turning to see a woman in an embroidered, golden dress, her blonde hair tied up in a bun behind her head. She had her hands clasped in front of her in patience, but her eyes gleamed mischievousness. They felt like she was familiar somewhere, but they couldn't place it.  _Beautiful._  They both thought at the same time and inwardly cursed 18th Century French fashion for having dresses showing a distracting amount of collarbone and cleavage. They had to blame it on the fashion and not her beauty, surely. Still, her eyes bore into the both of them and they found themselves getting a bit nervous.

"Oh, sorry!" Clara quickly said, the Doctor pocketing his "Brainy Specs". "Hello." The lady nodded in greeting.

"We…um…we were just looking for Reinette." The Doctor tried to explain. "Uh…t-this is still her room, isn't it? It's just…we've been away, not sure how long."

The pair both felt like the woman was trying her hardest not to beam but they couldn't explain-  _"Reinette!"_  The voice of an older woman sounded from the front doors of the home.  _"We're ready to go!"_

The lady now beamed brightly at them. "Go to the carriage, mother, I will join you there!" Silence followed that as the pair felt their eyes widen as they truly saw her. It was Reinette, all grown up. Well…judging by her youthful nature, she had only turned 18. Still, they found themselves slowly returning her smile, despite their nervousness. "It is customary, I think, to have imaginary friends only during one's childhood. The both of you should be congratulated on your persistence."

"Reinette?" Clara muttered. She smiled at them. The Doctor and Clara both nodded, almost shyly gazing up and down her figure quickly to take it in. "Well…goodness how've you grown." Clara finally said and Reinette's look turned playfully admonishing.

"And the both of you do not appear to have aged a single day." Reinette said as she walked up to stand before them. "That is tremendously impolite of you."

"Right, yes." Clara blinked. "Sorry."

Reinette glanced at the Doctor, who found himself stuttering for a moment. "Um…uhh…listen, lovely to catch up, but uh, better be off, eh? Don't want your mother finding you up here with a couple of strange people, do we?"

Reinette blinked at that, furrowing her eyebrows. "Strange? How could you be strangers to me? I've known the both of you since I was 7 years old."

The Doctor smiled nervously. "Yeah, I suppose you have." He gave a small chuckle at that. "We came the quick route."

"That you did." Reinette returned, but her gaze turned scrutinising, not in accusation but more in curiosity. She reached out and placed a hand on the Doctor's cheek, said man staring at her with wide eyes as she surveyed his face. Then, she turned to Clara, reaching a hand out to stroke her cheek while Clara echoed the Doctor's expression. Reinette was actually looking at them, in the same manner the Doctor taught Clara on Christmas. She was seeing them, and they felt their nerves rise, as they both inwardly and playfully damned the woman for blossoming into a beauty. Reinette gave a small sigh, taking her hand away, noticing that Clara's eyes were almost pleading for it back. "Well, you both seem to be flesh and blood at any rate, but this is absurd. Reason tells me that the both of you cannot be real."

"Oh, pfft, you never want to listen to reason." The Doctor said with a smirk.

Reinette glanced between them and she beamed. _"Mademoiselle!"_  A servant called who had entered the house and Reinette almost groaned.  _"Your mother grows impatient!"_

"A moment!" Reinette called back and the servant walked back out of the house, but the front door didn't close. Reinette glanced back at them with wide eyes and…was her breath hitching up? "So many questions, so little time." Reinette said and then, she smirked. "So, who goes first?"

They both blinked. "Goes first on what-" Reinette interrupted Clara by grasping her shoulders and pulling her into a passionate kiss, Clara's eyes widening as her body shot up in shock for a few moments. She glanced at the Doctor out of the corner of her eyes, who just shrugged at her, almost allowing Clara to relax into and return the kiss until Reinette mercilessly pulled away. Then, without a word, she turned, grasped the Doctor's suit, and pulled him into a kiss, even going as far as to push him up against the fireplace mantle. He too shot up in shock, and Clara blinked at the sight as the Doctor also willed himself to relax and return the kiss.

_"Mademoiselle Poisson!"_  The servant called, who they could hear was moving into the house, his footsteps getting closer. Reinette pulled away, rushed over to grab her purse, and moved to the door, shooting them both a warm grin before she disappeared.

They both leaned against the fireplace and onto each other's shoulders, sharing a bewildered yet breath taken look. "What was that?" Clara asked as she regained breath.

"No idea." The Doctor returned.

Then, Clara's eyebrows furrowed. "Wait." At that moment, the servant, a middle-aged man in a brown vest walked into the room, staring at them with bewildered, wide eyes. "Reinette Poisson?"

The servant blinked at her words, but the Doctor caught on and his eyes widened in childish glee. "No! No, no, no, no, no way! Reinette Poisson?!" He exclaimed, rushing up to the servant. "Later Madame d'Etiolles?! Later still, mistress of Louis XV, uncrowned Queen of France?!" He turned to pace back up to Clara and the fireplace. "Actress, artist, musician, dancer, courtesan. Fantastic gardener!" At that, him and Clara started to laugh heartfully.

"Who the hell are you two?!" The servant demanded.

"I'm Clara Oswald." Clara introduced through her giggles.

"And I'm the Doctor, and we just snogged Madame de Pompadour!" Clara lifted the lever up again and the fireplace revolved back into the ship with the giggling pair. They quickly moved away from the fireplace, their laughter slowly subsiding as they found no sign of Rose or Mickey. "Rose?" The Doctor called.

"Mickey? Rickey?!" Clara called.

"Ugh, every time." The Doctor groaned as they moved out of the room into the main console room. "Every time! It's rule one: Don't wander off. I tell them, I do, rule one! Even you told them, Clara, rule one!"

They moved into a forked hallway and took the foremost right path. "There could be anything on this…ship." Clara trailed off. Standing there, in the middle of the hallway, was a white horse. The horse glanced at them and neighed in greeting, then sniffed, shook its hair about, and looked at them in expectation. "Where did you come from?" Clara asked. Of course, the horse didn't respond, except for a small neigh.

"It's not our fault that the ship is a mess." The Doctor retorted. Clara blinked, turning to look at him incredulously.

"What?"

"He just blamed us for trashing the ship."

Clara blinked again. "How-"

"I speak horse." He said dryly.

_*Neigh*_

"His name is Arthur."

Clara rolled her eyes a bit. "Of course you can speak horse."

* * *

Mickey raced through the corridors, holding his gun tight as if he were playing a first-person shooter.  _Do a barrel roll!_  He moved to a pair of stairs and rolled over it, crouching on his right knee and looking around, pretending to pant. Of course, nothing was actually happening, and he was alone, so he took a moment to roll his shoulders a bit and click his neck. Then, he gazed about the hallway he found himself in, seeing the floor before him clean and clear but the walls were strewn with wires and even faint marks like scratches. For a split second, he thought he could hear a heartbeat, but chalked it up to his own heart beating away. Up near the ceiling was a bronze camera with a blue eye, staring down and blinking at him. "Are you looking at me?" Mickey asked in faint toughness. The camera dove out of its spot on a long wire and descended down, hanging mere inches from his face. Mickey flinched with a small squeak at the motion, but the camera did nothing, still staring at him. Mickey quickly blinked as he stared, for the eye was a proper, actual, Human eye. Hesitant footsteps came up from behind him and he didn't need to glance back to know that it was Rose. "Look at this." He ushered, and Rose moved to stand beside him. "That's an eye in there. That's a real eye." The camera, having found them both to be of ill consequence, slithered back into its socket and continued its surveillance of the room. Rose blinked at that, looking around the room as she heard the faint sound of a heartbeat, and it wasn't hers or Mickey's. Looking down at the pipes before them, she saw a small grate over a vent duct and a little bit of steam coming out. Kneeling down and reaching out tentatively, she grasped a few fingers around the grate. She winced a bit at the sudden heat and decided to wrench it out quickly, feeling her fingers burning for only a few seconds until it became numb. Both her and Mickey looked inside, seeing a real Human heart within that was plugged into wires and machinery, beating, and throbbing away. "What is that?" Mickey asked as he squinted to look properly. "What's that in the middle there? Looks like it's wired in."

"It's a heart, Mickey." Rose said with a small hint of bitterness. "It's a Human heart."

* * *

"Rose?" Clara called as her and the Doctor walked through the ship, the hallways now lit green and, to their slight annoyance, still followed by Arthur.

"Mickey?" The Doctor called but they both received no answer. They came to a stop by a pair of white doors, which made them blink. Any contemplation they had was interrupted when Arthur nudged his head against their arms. "Will you stop following us? We're not your parents." He whined. Arthur snorted, and he rolled his eyes. "Yes, we're not your parents. Completely different species." Arthur sniffed, and the Doctor's eyes widened. "You can't call Humans that. Not all of them are that thick."

"What?" Clara asked.

The Doctor breathed out slightly. "He just called your kind "Pudding brains"."

Clara's jaw dropped incredulously, and she gave a small glare to Arthur, holding up her finger in warning. Arthur did nothing, and she just shook her head, deciding to move to the door. "So then, Arthur, is this where you came from?" Walking through the door, Clara found herself at a small stone wall with potted plants strewn all over it. Past the wall was a massive garden and an equally big house, complete with green grass, long ponds and even a bright, warm, and yellow sun to accompany it.

"Well now…" The Doctor started as he walked past the doors to join her. "This is a nice sight." Clara nodded as they surveyed the garden. There was a small handful of people wandering about except for a pair of women, isolated and walking alone. From their backs, the pair could tell that one was a dark-skinned woman while the other had blonde hair and the pair of girls were laughing away, their arms linked.

"Oh, Katherine, you are too wicked." A familiar voice giggled. They both smiled as they recognised her, even with her face turned and the pair bearing cream coloured sun umbrellas. Reinette quickly turned her head and the pair had to duck behind the wall to make sure she wouldn't see her. After a few moments, they stood slowly back up again, knowing she had turned back.

"Oh, speaking of wicked, I hear Madame De Chateauroux is ill and close to death." Katherine said.

"Yes. I am devastated." Reinette said in fake sorrow.

"Oh, indeed." Katherine retorted and Reinette giggled again. "I myself am frequently inconsolable." Katherine said in mocking haughtiness, making them giggle harder. "The King will therefore be requiring a new mistress. You love the King, of course?"

Reinette smiled. "Maybe not in a truly romantic sense, but definitely in a love sense."

Katherine huffed. "That makes no sense."

"I'm afraid not. It sometimes happen when your heart is taken by…" Reinette blinked, stopping her confession and she turned around to look back at the wall, briefly missing the blur of the TARDIS duo ducking behind it again.  _Are they there?_  She thought of that mad, childish duo she adored.  _Are they watching?_

"Is something wrong, my dear?" Katherine asked as they stopped walking.

Reinette gave a small glowing smile. "Not wrong, no." She shook her head, getting rid of a faint blush as they continued to walk.

"Whose on your mind?" Katherine teased.

Reinette bit a lip. "More like a pair of people that I-" She stopped, looking at Katherine who grinned like a cat that got the canary. "Katherine!" Katherine laughed at her and Reinette shook her head. "Besides, it's not like I can marry them. I may be taken by the King."

"Well then, every woman in Paris knows your ambitions." Katherine said, and they returned to their calm walk.

"Every woman in Paris shares them, for he is the King and we love him with all our hearts. And even then, I am looking forward to meeting him."

"You know of course that the King is to attend the Yew Tree Ball?"

"As am I." Reinette nodded.

The Doctor and Clara just watched Reinette's back as she moved away, her conversation with Katherine drowning out. "Well then, this is going to make things a bit…weird." Clara commented.

"You don't sound like your against the idea of her with us." The Doctor retorted playfully.

Clara huffed. "It's not my fault she got so pretty." The Doctor just rolled his eyes at her. "Besides, it won't be the first time."

The Doctor blinked incredulously. "First time in a three-"

"No." Clara growled. "First time I had a girlfriend."

His eyebrows raised at that. "Really?"

"Name was Rory."

He frowned. "Rory?"

"Actually, she was called Nina. We were both going through a phase at the time."

"When was this?"

Clara sighed. "After Danny."

The Doctor nodded slowly. "Riiight." Then, he frowned again. "So…what was her phase?"

Clara bit her lip to hide a blush. "She liked to play…well…" The Doctor put it together and his jaw dropped, making Clara blush furiously. "Shut up." She squeaked, and he laughed.

"Have you seen a horse?!" A new presence demanded from behind, making them jump. They turned, seeing a black-haired manservant with a 5 o'clock shadow, dressed in a black and unkempt coat, and carrying a threaded straight whip.

They both blinked as they remembered his words after standing there gawking dumbly for a few moments. "Well…um…" The Doctor started.

"I think there was…uhh…" Clara tried but she too couldn't get past their shock of his sudden presence.

"Damned animal!" The manservant growled, interrupting them. "I'll whip it within an inch of its life as soon as I find it!" He informed before stomping away.

The pair exchanged a look as Clara glared at the back of his head. "I wish he hadn't said that." The Doctor muttered.

"Why?" Clara growled.

"Because we have to babysit another person now." The Doctor said simply. Clara blinked a few times at that and then sighed, letting her glaring melt away as they walked back to the white doors, closing them as they re-entered the ship. They found Arthur still there, looking at him in expectation, blinking his large brown eyes. The Doctor glanced back and forth between Clara and Arthur for a few moments before he cleared his throat. "Okay, rule one: Don't wander off."

_*Neighs*_  "Sure thing, boss."

The Doctor cocked one eyebrow at that. "That's right. I am the boss."

"What?" Clara snapped.

"He said I'm the boss." The Doctor grinned smugly.

Clara clenched her jaw. "You bloody smug foxy bastard." She growled.

"And you love it." The Doctor winked. Clara rolled her eyes, but the ghost of a smile flickered across her lips.

* * *

"Maybe it wasn't a real heart." Mickey tried to argue as he and Rose continued walking through the lonely ship.

"Course it was a real heart." Rose argued.

"Is this, like, normal for you? Is this an average day?"

"Life with the Doctor and Clara, Mickey, no more average days. Just watching a pair of children going to work." She said simply before clenching her jaw. "Not like that." She growled, knowing Mickey was grinning.

"Sorry." He muttered but he was still smirking. They came to a stop by a full-bodied mirror, framed and intersected into squares by white gold. Through the mirror, they could see an empty room, with its candles lit and the doors closed. "It's France again! We can see France." Mickey said.

"I think we're looking through a mirror." Rose informed. As she spoke, a black-haired man with a freshly shaven face and dressed in a royal white vest came strolling into the room, followed by two servants, both wearing frill coats and white wigs. They rushed to catch up with the King, but he stopped them with an arm raised and motioned them out of the room while he walked up to the mirror to rearrange his outfit.

"Blimey, look at this guy. Who does he think he is?" Mickey asked sarcastically.

"King of France." The Doctor answered, the pair jumping as he and Clara came up from around a corner to join them.

"Oh, here's trouble." Rose said playfully, her tongue between her teeth. "What've you been up to?"

"Oh, this and that." The Doctor shrugged. "Became the imaginary friends for a future French aristocrat, picked a fight with a clockwork man."

_*Neighs*_  "Wait up!"

"Oh, and we met a horse." Clara finished for him as Rose and Mickey looked at Arthur, who just rounded the corner to join them with wide eyes.

"What's a horse doing on a spaceship?" Mickey asked.

"Mickey, what's pre-revolutionary France doing on a spaceship? Get a little perspective." The Doctor poked.

"Doctor." Clara warned.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Sorry, Rickey." He apologised sarcastically, and Clara punched his back. "Ow!"

"You asked for it." Clara retorted.

"Children." Rose growled.

"Sorry." They said in unison.

"You need to teach me how to do that." Mickey muttered, and Rose winked at him.

"See these?" The Doctor tapped on the mirror, quickly moving on from their playful banter. "They're all over the place, on every deck. Gateways to history. But not just any old history. Hers." He pointed to King Louis's new intruder, a person by the name of Reinette, who curtsied for the King before walking up to engage in conversation. "Time windows deliberately arranged along the life of one particular woman."

"That sounds wrong." Clara muttered with furrowed eyebrows. "A spaceship from the 51st Century is stalking a woman from the 18th."

"Yeah, but why? They needed something from her, they were scanning her brain, but what can she give them that they need?"

"How come we can't hear what they're saying?" Clara asked as they couldn't hear a single word that is being spoken in Reinette and Louis' conversation.

"Probably something to do with the audio link." The Doctor shrugged. "I did say that this ship has had some cowboys in it. You never know what could've been damaged."

"Who is she?" Rose asked, still staring at Reinette.

"Clara, you can have a go. You did recognise her name." The Doctor whispered in Clara's ear and she swooned playfully into him.

"Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson." Clara informed, going into "Teacher" mode. "Also known to her friends as "Reinette" and one of the most accomplished women who ever lived."

"So, has she got plans for being the Queen, then?" Rose asked.

Clara shook her head. "No, he's already got a Queen. She's got plans on being his mistress."

Rose slowly nodded. "Ohhh, I get it." Clara cocked an eyebrow. "Camilla." Rose said playfully, and they shared a chuckle.

"I think this is the night they met, the night of the Yew Tree Ball." The Doctor continued. "In no time flat, she'll get herself established as his official mistress, with her own rooms at the palace, even her own title: Madame De Pompadour." The conversation had apparently finished on a warm note as Louis left the room with a smile while Reinette moved to the mirror to check her own look.

"Queen must've loved her." Rose commented.

"Oh, she did." The Doctor responded, making them blink. "They got on very well."

"The King's wife and the King's girlfriend?" Mickey quipped.

The Doctor shrugged. "France. Different planet."

"What's that relationship called again?" Rose asked.

"A poly…polya…p-poly…polymorph." Clara stuttered.

"Polyamory." The Doctor corrected.

"Polyamory, sorry."

He shrugged. "Eh, you were getting there."

* * *

For Reinette, she simply finished fixing whatever fault she found in her look with a smile, glancing at the reflection of the broken grandfather clock at the corner of the room.  _Let's hope the King will be impressed. Shame though, I wish they were here._  She fought off a blush, thinking of her favourite duo.  _Stop it, Reinette! You're acting like a schoolgirl. It's not their fault that you fell for them-_  Reinette blinked in sudden shock, gazing back at her reflection.  _The clock!_  She turned around to gaze at it, seeing the glass broken and standing in the very edge of the corner of the room was a silent figure with their back turned, dressed in a red frock dress. But they were ticking. Incredibly loudly and it made Reinette shiver in fear. "How long have you been standing there?" She demanded but the figure didn't respond. "Show yourself!" The figure turned, and it was wearing another pale mask with painted makeup as it stared at Reinette. Reinette flinched, moving back to the mirror, but found that it was revolving, and it nudged her shoulder. She glanced back, seeing Clara there holding a large, strange weapon in her hands while the Doctor followed, joined closely by a girl and a boy in very strange clothing.

"Hello Reinette. Hasn't time flown?" Clara greeted as she walked towards the advancing droid.

"Clara! Fireplace man!" Reinette beamed at their sudden entrance. Clara then sprayed the fire extinguisher at the droid, smothering it in ice flakes until it was completely frozen, its joints creaking and cracking from the sudden temperature drop, its clockwork heart ticking very slowly, at least one tick every five seconds. She then tossed the extinguisher back to the empty-handed Mickey, who caught despite a blink of his eyes. The droid's head was filled with the audible sound of gears clacking away as it slowly tilted its head at everyone.

"What's it doing?" Mickey asked.

"Switching back on." The Doctor answered as he stepped up to the droid. "Melting the ice."

"And then what?"

"Then it kills everyone in the room." The droid raised out its fist and the Doctor recoiled, him and Clara taking their hands in a grasp as they moved away from the droid. "Focuses the mind, doesn't it?" He quipped lightly.

"Well, you were the one that approached it." Clara poked.

"So did you." The Doctor retorted, and Clara huffed. "Who are you?" The Doctor demanded, refocusing their attention to the droid. "Identify yourself." The droid just tilted its head, as if it couldn't comprehend his order.

Clara rolled her eyes and looked at Reinette. "Order it to answer us."

Reinette looked at her incredulously. "Why should it listen to me?"

"I don't know, but it did when you were a child. Let's see if you've still got it." Clara whispered and Reinette nodded slowly.

"Answer their question." Reinette ordered. The droid did nothing, but they guessed that it would've been blinking at them. "Answer any and all questions put to you." Reinette ordered again.

For a moment, it looked as if it was fruitless, then the droid tilted its head back straight again. Followed with a loud grinding that made them wince, it slowly lowered its arm and responded in a feminine yet monotone voice,  **"I am repair droid seven."**

"What happened to the ship, then?" The Doctor asked. "There was a lot of damage."

**"Ion storm. 82% systems failure."**

"That ship hasn't moved in over a year. What's taking you so long?"

**"We did not have the parts."**

Mickey sniggered. "Always comes down to that, doesn't it? The parts."

"What's happened to the crew? Where are they?" The Doctor continued.

**"We did not have the parts."**

"There should've been over fifty people on your ship. Where did they go?" The Doctor continued in irritation.

**"We did not have the parts."**

"Fifty people don't just disappear. Where-" Then, he stopped. His shoulders slouched, and he sighed, suddenly gaining a tired look. "Oh. You didn't have the parts, so you used the crew."

"The crew?" Clara asked, her voice low, making the Doctor glance at her. "What do you mean?"

They heard Rose clear her throat and they glanced over at her, who suddenly had an incredibly nervous look. "We…we found a camera with an eye in it. And…there was a heart…wired in to machinery."

Clara got a sad and disgusted look at that, making the Doctor grasp her hand tighter. "It was only doing what it was programmed to. Repair the ship any way it can with whatever it can find. No one ever told it that the crew weren't on the menu."

Clara gave a small sigh and glanced a weary look at Rose. "What did you say that the flight deck smelt of?"

Rose blinked, her and Mickey getting downtrodden looks. "Someone cooking."

"Flesh plus heat…barbecue." The Doctor said grimly and even Reinette had to breath a sigh to control the disgust boiling in her stomach. "So, what're you doing here?" The Doctor continued, everyone refocusing on the silent droid. "You've opened up time windows. That takes colossal energy. Why come here? You could've…gone to your repair yard, instead you've come to 18th Century France. Why?" The Doctor asked.

**"One more part is required."**  The droid tilted its head to the right and everyone could tell that it was staring at Reinette, who gained a shocked look at its words.

"So…why haven't you taken it?" Clara asked, regaining control over her own self.

**"She is incomplete."**

Clara furrowed her eyebrows. "What, so, that's the plan, then? Just keep playing time window roulette, scanning her brain to check and see if she's done yet?" She asked sarcastically.

"Why her?" Rose perked up. She blinked a bit as everyone stared at her. "You've got all of history to choose from. Why specifically her?"

**"We are the same."**

Reinette gained a profoundly offended and insulted look of rage. "We are not the same. We are in no sense the same!"

**"We are the same."**

"Get out of here!" She growled, and the droid tilted its head back again. "Get out of here this instant!"

"Reinette, no-" The Doctor was cut off as the droid touched its fingers to its wrist and teleport away in a flash. "It's back on the ship. Rose, take Mickey and Arthur. Get after it and follow it. Don't approach, just watch what it does."

Rose blinked. "Arthur?"

"The name of the horse." Clara interjected.

"No, you two are not keeping the horse." Rose protested.

"We let you keep Mickey." The Doctor retorted. "Now go, go, go!" He ushered them back through the window then closed it behind them and turned back to Reinette. "Reinette, you're going to have to trust me. We need to find out what they're looking for and there's only one way I can do that."

"What way?" Reinette asked.

Clara quickly moved behind Reinette and placed her hands on her shoulders. "It won't hurt a bit." Clara reassured. Reinette slowly relaxed with a sigh and gave a small nod. The Doctor then placed his fingers at her temple and closed his eyes.

Her eyes closed instantly in a flash with a slight recoil of shock. "Fireplace man. You are inside my mind." She muttered.

"Oh dear me. Clara, she's had some cowboys in here." The Doctor quipped, and Clara bit her lip to hold back a snigger.

* * *

"So, those two clowns, eh?" Mickey smirked as he and Rose walked alone in the empty corridors of the ship.

"What are you talking about?" Rose asked.

"Well, they hooked up again after their little episode with Sarah Jane, and I couldn't sleep on the TARDIS last night, thank you very much." He growled lightly at Rose.

"I did warn you to sound proof your room." She muttered.

"And now, they're wanting to add Reinette into the mix." Rose blinked at that in bewilderment. "Seriously, Rose, you notice how they've been worried sick about her? And don't even get me started on those longing, glowing looks Reinette sends the both of them."

"Reinette and those two?" Rose asked properly.

Mickey grinned. "I'll tell you when you're older."

Unknown to Mickey, a clockwork droid in a white vest snuck up behind him with its arm raised. "Mickey!" Rose exclaimed but too late. The droid, with its raised arm, grasped Mickey by the neck and hauled him to his knees. Rose quickly moved to aim her gun at the droid but another in a black and white vest snuck up behind her, grasping an arm around her neck and hauling her back into it, causing her to lose grip on her gun. The two droids then raised their unused arms above their heads and emerged a pair of drug injectors, then pressed the needles against the pairs heads and submitted the drug into their system, sending them spiralling into forced unconsciousness, their tensed limbs flapping down as their bodies dropped to the floor.

* * *

"Clara, he's in my memories. He walks among them." Reinette gasped as the Doctor searched through her mind.

"Don't ask how he can. It's…it's a long story." Clara said.

"If there's anything you don't want me to see, just imagine a door and close it. I won't look." After a moment, the Doctor began to show surprise on his closed face. "Ooh, actually, there's a door just there. You might want to clo-ooh. Actually, several."

Clara craned her head around, and could see that Reinette was smirking wolfishly, quickly sending Clara a playful wink. "Reinette!" Clara mouthed in mocking offense and Reinette bit her lip to hold a snigger.

"To walk among the memories of another living soul. Do you ever get used to this?" Reinette asked.

"I don't make a habit of it." The Doctor responded.

"How can you resist?"

The Doctor smirked. "Clara's the one that should be asking me that."

"Shh." Clara warned.

"What age are you?" The Doctor asked Reinette.

Reinette's eyebrows flew up in surprise. "So impertinent a question so early in the conversation. How promising." She flirted a bit.

"Now THAT is something he makes a habit out of." Clara whispered and Reinette couldn't help the snigger.

"It's not my question, it's theirs." The Doctor responded to the two. "Reinette, you're 23 and for some reason, that means you're not old enough. Maybe it's to do with the age of the ship." He muttered to himself. "How old is that ship anyway?" Before anybody could continue with that, Reinette flinched suddenly and her breathing hitched. "Sorry, you might find old memories reawakening. Side effect." He quickly reassured.

Reinette however had walked through one of the doors into his mind and suddenly found herself not in the palace, but instead in an old wooden barn at night, where a boy lay crying in bed. "Oh, such a lonely childhood." She lamented.

"It'll pass." The Doctor reassured. "Stay with me."

"Oh, Doctor. So lonely. So very, very alone."

"What do you mean, "Alone"?" Clara asked. "Reinette, you've never been alone in your life-" She stopped herself, realising Reinette's words while the Doctor's eyes opened to look at her.

"When did you start calling me "Doctor"?"

"Such a lonely little boy." She lamented. Then, back in the barn, she felt a warm, comforting presence surround her just as she realised that the boy had stopped crying. She saw a figure on the bed, whose hand was stroking the boy's hair. She couldn't see the figure properly in the darkness but the voice…

_"Fear is like…a companion. A constant companion, always there. But that's ok. Because fear can bring us together. Fear can bring you home."_  Clara reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, unarmed toy soldier. _"I'm going to leave you something, just so you'll always remember. Fear makes companions of us all."_  She said, slipping it into his hand and placing a kiss on his forehead.

Reinette left the memory, sniffing at the sudden realisation of tears prickling her eyes as she gazed at the Doctor. "She's done so much for you." She choked.

"What did you do?" He recoiled with a sad face. "What did you see?"

""Fear can make you kind"." Reinette quoted.

Clara stepped around, as she echoed the Doctor's shocked expression. "How did you do that?" She asked.

"A door, once opened, may be stepped through in either direction." Reinette simply said. Clara closed her eyes to fight back a small hitch in her breath, making Reinette take her hand. "Oh, Clara. The impossible girl." She smiled gently at her. "You've both done so much for each other."

The Doctor walked up to take Clara's other hand. "You know it's rude to intrude in someone's mind without asking." He muttered.

"I could say the same to you, for you didn't truly ask." Reinette returned. The Doctor just smiled sadly. "Oh, Doctor. You and her, so lonely, yet always together. It's more than just a secret, isn't it?" She asked. "It's a promise."

The Doctor blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Your name." Reinette quickly put up a hand. "No, I didn't go that far." She said before the Doctor could interrupt. "But is that it? Why you don't say your actual name?" The Doctor sighed and just simply nodded while Reinette was given a small smile from Clara. Reinette thought for a few moments as to what to do now, and then, she smiled…quite mischievously. "Dance with me."

That did the job, making their sad expressions melt away into shyness. "No, we-we-" Clara protested.

"No, we can't." The Doctor finished.

" _Dance_ with me." Reinette flirted.

"This is the night you dance with the King." The Doctor reminded.

"And I don't think they'd be up with you dancing with another woman." Clara inputted.

"Then first, I shall make the King jealous. And the court can't say who I dance with, only I can." Reinette said stubbornly.

"We can't." The Doctor protested.

"Then you both shall dance while I watch."

"Why are you so eager for us to dance?" Clara asked.

"There always comes a time, Time Lord," she nodded to him, "and his impossible girl," she nodded to Clara, "that every lonely little boy and girl must dance with each other." Then, without earning anymore protests from the pair, she took their hands and led them out of the room.

* * *

Rose groaned loudly in her throat, failing to roll over in her sleep as she slowly blinked away the blurring vision in her eyes and the ringing in her head. As it slowly faded away, she saw, staring down at her, was a clockwork droid. The same one that the Doctor and Clara first encountered much earlier. Rose flinched as she tried to move away, but found as she looked down at herself, her wrists and ankles were restrained in iron clasps on the raised bed. Looking over to her right, just out of the corner of her eyes, she could see the struggling form of Mickey, who too was restrained to another bed. "What's…what's going on? What's going on?! Doctor?! Clara?!" She exclaimed.

"Rose?" Mickey called. They both now realised the ticking of all the droids present, which amounted to eight, as they all stared at the pair. "They're gonna chop us up. Just like the crew, they're gonna chop us up and stick us all over their stupid spaceship!" Mickey whimpered. Rose couldn't exactly fault him for being afraid, as she was too. "And where's the Doctor and Clara? Where are they now?! They've been gone for flipping hours, that's where they are!"

The droid beside Rose stepped properly into her line of sight, still staring down at her.  **"You are compatible."**

Rose gulped slightly. "Well, y-you-you might want to think about that. You really, really might because, me and Mickey, we didn't come here alone, oh no. And trust me, you wouldn't want to mess with our designated drivers." The droid clicked its head to the side but also craned its neck, as if it was insulted by her comment. It responded by raising its right arm and sending out a blade to hover only inches from Rose's face, one of the clockwork wheels on the blade spinning as if to taunt her. Rose flinched when the blade appeared, not taking her eyes off the blade as she gulped.  _Bloody hell, that looks sharp._  She glanced back up at the unmoving, unemotional droid and tried again. "Ever…you ever heard of the Daleks? Remember them?" The droid didn't answer, and Rose guessed that it was waiting for her to continue. "They had…they had a name for one of our friends. They had myths about him and a name. They called him the-"

What cut her off was the sound of items falling down outside in the hallway, crashing, and smashing to the ground, which made the droids slowly turn their heads to the door, as if they were as equally bewildered as Rose and Mickey. Then, the voices of the pair in question came rolling through into the room. To Rose and Mickey, they noted that their voices sounded slurred and giggly, which started to make Rose tremble in anger. "Not for all the jewels in the crown! I could've danced all night!" They sung horrifically in unison.

"They c-c-they called him the-" Rose stopped herself as the pair entered the room.

Clara was holding a large glass and their arms linked. The Doctor had a ridiculous pair of small, rounded glasses on, almost like something a poor man's Elton John would wear. Clara, to their ever-increasing bewilderment, had the Doctor's tie wrapped over one of her eyes and his "Brainy Specs" on top of the tie. Even though she could tell where she was going, she was still leaning onto the Doctor, her steps stumbling more so than his. "And still have begged for more! I could've spread my wings and done a thousand things!"

"Oh, hello there!" The Doctor stopped, beaming brightly as he looked at everyone in the room. "Have any of you dudes and dudettes met the French?!" Mickey shot Rose his new found look of disbelief while Rose clenched her jaw. "My…GOD, they know how to party!"

"Oh, look at what the cat dragged in: The Oncoming Storm." Rose growled.

"Wait! Jackie?! Is that you?!" Clara called, turning around until she spotted Rose, giving an exaggerated look of disappointment on her face. "Oh, never mind! It's Jackie's little girl!" Clara giggled in her failed imitation of Jackie's voice.

Rose quickly took notice of the blade still in her face and she glared. "Oh, piss off with that." She growled at the droid, which just ticked its head to the side again in curious bemusement. "What have you two been doing?! Where the hell have you been?!" She demanded.

"Well," The Doctor started, sitting onto the console with Clara in his lap, "among other things, which may or may not have included accidently stealing the spotlight at a dance party, I think I just invented the banana daiquiri a couple of centuries early." Rose huffed, placing her head back flat onto the bed. "Do you know, they've never even seen a banana before." The Doctor inputted, getting up off the console to waddle over to Rose, somehow still hugging a giggling Clara from behind.

"Always take a banana to a party, Rose." Clara inputted. "Goddamn, bananas are good."

"Oh-ho ho ho ho, brilliant!" The Doctor beamed, staring at the droid who still had his blade out in Rose's personal space. "It's you!"

"Who?!" Clara asked.

"Him!" The Doctor pointed to the lead droid. "He's our favourite, that you are! You are the best! Do you know why?! Cause you're…so thick!" The droid still said nothing to that. "You, my good sir, are Mr. Thick Thick Thickety Thickface from Thicktown, Thickania!" He went to move away, then stopped and leaned back over to the droid. "And so's your Dad!" He then walked with Clara to the other side of the main console.

"Hey, Rose!" Clara called, turning to look over at Mickey. "Wait, nope. Uhh…" She kept turning until Rose was in her line of sight. "Ah, there you are. Do you know what they were scanning Reinette's brain for?! Her milometer!" Rose and Mickey scrunched their faces ever so slightly in puzzlement. "They want to know how old she is. Know why? Because, this ship is 37 years old." She indicated upwards to the ship around them, spinning around and stumbling just a tiny bit on her feet as she did. "And they think when Reinette is 37, when she's "Complete"," she said with quotation marks on her free hand, "then her brain will be compatible. Cause that's what you're missing, eh?" Clara asked, moving to walk around the group, earning the attention of all the droids and the pair restrained on the beds. "Command circuit, your computer. Your ship needs a brain, and for some reason, god knows what, only the brain of Madame De Pompadour will do." Then, Clara giggled, walking up the droid that, to Rose's final ounce of bewilderment, was STILL holding out its blade to Rose as a threat. "Listen to this. All said by the girl who on her first trip in the old girl, couldn't understand how to connect to the Wi-Fi."

**"The brain is compatible."**  The lead droid interrupted.

"Compatible?!" Clara exclaimed, getting up close to the droid. Then, she cleared her throat, straightened her posture, and took off the droid's wig and face. "If you believe that, then you'll believe that this is a glass of wine." Clara said, her drunken attitude suddenly evaporated as she reached the glass up and poured the red contents through the hole in the droid's glass head, the liquid rolling down through every circuit in its head, causing the droid to stutter and jerk before it doubled over, bending at the waist completely still, not even making a single ticking sound.

"Wait, wha-"

"Multigrade Anti-oil." The Doctor explained, interrupting Rose. Both her and Mickey realised that the Doctor had been using the sonic on the main console and now had his hand on a large lever. "If it moves…" He pulled the lever down, causing the rest of the droids in the room to stutter and shake before they mimicked the position of their leader, doubling over and their clockwork hearts came to a stop. "It doesn't." The Doctor finished with a grin.

"Right, you two, that's enough lying about. It's time we got the rest of the ship turned off." Clara said, pulling out her sonic and using it to free Rose and Mickey from their shackles. "Besides, it's actually really pissing me off having only one working eye right now." She then pocketed her sonic away and gave back to the Doctor his "Brainy Specs" and tie.

The Doctor immediately put them back on, tossing his other glasses to the side, which shattered somewhere in the room. "Hated those bloody things." He muttered to himself.

"Are those things safe?" Mickey asked, him and Rose moving to join the Doctor and Clara, rubbing their aching wrists as they did.

"Yep, safe. Safe and thick, way we like 'em. Okay, all the time windows are controlled from here. We just need to close them all down."

"Zeus plugs." Clara held out a hand. The Doctor's eyes widened as he began searching his "Bigger on the inside" pockets, but not finding said items. "Doctor, where are the zeus plug?" Clara growled.

"I'm sure I had them a minute ago. I was using them as castanets." The Doctor groaned childishly while Clara rolled her eyes. "Left them back in the ballroom. Ah well, we'll have to do this by hand." So, him and Clara took out their sonics and began to fiddle around with the console's computer.

"Why didn't they just open a time window to when she was 37?" Rose asked.

The Doctor scoffed. "Amount of damage to these circuits, they'd do well to hit the right century. Trial and error after that."

"Doctor." Clara interrupted, who was flicking one switch back and forth to no avail. "The windows aren't closing."

"They should be." The Doctor said.

_*Ding*_

They all jumped at the light sound from the console. The Doctor used his sonic to scan the computer and brought his sonic up to eye level. ""Subject is complete"." The Doctor read. At that, his and Clara's eyes slowly widened in realisation. "One of them must still be out there with Reinette. That's why we can't close the windows, there's an override."

"Doctor!" Clara exclaimed. He turned to see the lead droid standing up, staring straight at him. Before the Doctor could say anything, the droid pointed its right arm to the floor, the clockwork tickings in the droid sending out the Anti-oil through a small hole in its glove, the liquid streaming onto the floor, creating a small red puddle.

"Well…that was a bit clever." The Doctor muttered. The droid ticked its head to the side and then moved slowly up to stand beside the Doctor. It then grasped the lever and raised it back up to full height, allowing the remaining droids to return to life. Then, the lead droid brought out its sharp blade and used it, right as the Doctor recoiled away, to slash the lever at the hilt, causing sparks to fly from the console and causing the group to flinch in shock. Then, as it was still staring at the Doctor, it tossed the useless metal rod aside, creating a loud clanging sound as it bounced on the floor and then rolled away. "Right." The Doctor gulped. "Many things about this are not good." The dinging sound in the console returned, but this time, it was higher pitched and on a repeat. "Message from one of your little friends? Anything interesting?"

**"She is complete. It begins."**  The lead droid then pressed its fingers against its wrist and teleported away, the remaining droids quickly following its example, leaving the TARDIS group alone in the room.

"What's happening?" Rose asked.

"One of them found the right time window." Clara answered. "Now it's time to send in the troops. And this time, they're bringing back her head." She finished grimly.

"We need to find the right time window before they can kill her." The Doctor informed, him and Clara rushing to work. "Rose, we're going to need you to deliver a message."

"What kind of message?" Rose asked.

"A warning."

* * *

Reinette, having changed into a new look of a dark red dress, with a matching necklace and flower in her hair, stood alone in her room, the pale light of the moon gleaming in through the windows, overshadowing even the brightest candle. Reinette however wasn't looking at the moon, she was looking at the stars surrounding it.  _Such beauty and yet, so very far away._  Reinette almost smirked at her unconscious comparison to her favourite duo. She gave a small relieved sigh, the only sounds in the room being her own breathing, the soft ticking of a working clock on the table beside her and the footsteps of a figure approaching the room.  _Wait._  Reinette flared up in alarm, turning around to see a young blonde girl in rather strange clothing, quite like the angelic duo.

"Madame De Pompadour." Rose said, and she quickly held up a hand to stop her from doing anything rash. "Please, don't scream or anything. We haven't got a lot of time."

Reinette gave a small hitched breath at the sudden presence. "Who are you?" She asked.

"Rose. Rose Tyler. I…um…I travel with the Doctor and Clara."

Reinette couldn't exactly help the sudden flare of jealousy in her. "In what-"

"Not like that." Rose quickly interrupted. "That's a rather disgusting image, if you were going to suggest…that."

Reinette blinked a bit, but mainly from relief. "Oh. Sorry."

Rose smiled. "It's all right."

Reinette nodded. "So, why are you here?"

"Can I first just ask, how old are you right now?"

Reinette frowned a bit. "32."

Rose gave a small nod of approval, then her tone went serious in an instant. "I've come to warn you that they'll be here in five years."

"Five years?"

"Sometime after your 37th birthday. I…um…I can't give you an exact date, it's a bit random, but they're coming. It's going to happen. In a way, for us, it's already happening." Reinette blinked at that, which made Rose sigh. "I'm sorry, it's…hard to explain. The Doctor and Clara do this better."

"Then be exact and I will be attentive." Reinette simply said.

"There isn't time." Rose informed.

"There are five years." Reinette said, slight irritation in her voice.

"For you, yes. But I haven't got five minutes."

"Then also be concise." Reinette grabbed her hand and led her to sit down with her at the two chairs in the room, Rose giving a slight worried glance back to the door she had entered through.

Rose gulped, really finding it hard to explain it properly. "Um…there's a, um…a-a vessel. A ship. A sort of sky ship. And it's full of…" Reinette raised her eyebrows in a motion for her to continue. "Well…you. Different bits of your life in different rooms all jumbled up." Reinette's look slowly turned into shock and realisation at her words while Rose ran her hands over her face. "I told you it was complicated. Sorry." She muttered.

Reinette swallowed slightly and gave a small breath. "There is a vessel in your world…where the days of my life are pressed together like the chapters of a book so that they may step from one to the other without increase of age, while I, weary traveller, must always take the slower path?"

Rose gave a small, fond smile. "They were right about you."

Reinette returned the smile but only for a moment. "So, in five years, these creatures will return. What can be done?"

"They both said to keep them talking. They're kind of programmed to respond to you now. You won't be able to stop them, but you might be able to delay them a bit."

"Until?"

"Until they can get there."

Reinette felt some hopeful excitement glimmer up inside her. "They're coming, then?"

Rose nodded. "They promised."

"But they cannot…make their promises in person?" Reinette concluded.

"They will be there when you need them. That's the way it's got to be."

Reinette gave a sad smile. "It's the way it's always been. The monsters and that…mad, childish and…lovely, adorable, wonderful, char-" Reinette cut herself off at that, Rose spotting a small blush on her face. "It seems you cannot have one without the other." Reinette finished.

Rose gave a small smile at that and then she went serious again. "The thing is, you weren't supposed to have either." Reinette blinked. "Those creatures are messing with history. None of this was ever supposed to happen to you."

Reinette's look quickly became offended. ""Supposed to happen", what does that mean?" Rose gave a small sigh, but it was more in self-defeat. "Rose, it happened, and I would not have it any other way. One may tolerate a world of demons for the sake of an angel. In this case, a pair of them." Reinette stood up and took a few paces away from Rose to calm herself.

Rose decided to let the truth out and moved to stand up to join Reinette. "Reinette…" Rose started, earning a stern look from her but she continued. "What I really meant was, they didn't want it to happen to you…because those things want to kill you." Reinette blinked again. "They want something from your body and to get it, it will kill you. They didn't want…that to happen, especially not to you."

Reinette's look softened. "Why?"

"Because they care too much." Rose simply said. Reinette choked out a breath, having to close her eyes to stop herself from melting too much. Rose decided not to say anything, just so she can calm down.

"Rose?" Mickey called, drawing their attention. "Rose!" Rose moved back through the door into the hallway, where a large drawn tapestry stood, Mickey quite literally poking his head through it to look for her. "Rose, the time window where she's 37. We found it right under our noses."

"Okay." Rose quickly said but too late. Reinette was watching and she rushed past them, moving through a backing off Mickey and past the tapestry. "No, you can't go in there!" Rose protested. "They will both go mad!"

Reinette ignored Rose, stepping through and into the grey, dark bowels of the ship. Reinette kept glancing around at her new surroundings, both in awe and in fear. "So, this is their world." She deducted in a small voice. Rose couldn't carry on with that, due to the figurative chorus of loud screeches coming from one of the time windows from a large group of people, men, and women alike. Reinette simply gazed around with wide eyes and then turned back to Rose and Mickey. "What was that?" She asked fearfully.

"The time window. The Doctor fixed the audio link." Mickey explained.

"Those screams…" Reinette swallowed. "Is that my future?"

"Yeah." Rose nodded sadly. "I'm sorry."

"Then I must take the slower path." Reinette concluded dejectedly.

_"Are you there?!"_  Reinette glanced up with wide eyes, now of disbelief. That was her own voice, calling out in the same fear she felt right now.  _"Can you hear me?! I need you now, you both promised! The clock on the mantel is broken! It is time!"_

"Th-that's my voice." Reinette stuttered out.

"Rose, come on, we've got to go." Mickey quickly motioned. "There's-there's a problem-"

"Give me a moment." Rose interjected before she moved up to Reinette. "Are you okay?" She asked gently.

"No." Reinette admitted. "I am very afraid. But you and I know, don't we, Rose?" Rose blinked. "In our own ways, the Doctor and Clara are worth the monsters." Rose gave a small nod, which Reinette returned as she quietly returned to her world.

_"Doctor?! Doctor?!"_

* * *

Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock. Screaming. Endless screaming in these halls. Why do these Humans scream? And they run. Why do they run? It's pointless. But it doesn't matter. The leader had already teleported through into the Versailles with its company, all searching out to corner everyone into the ballroom.

**"No sign of the target."**  A fellow droid called through mobile communication.

**"Contain all the Humans into the ballroom. I will find the target."**  The leader said. The leader stopped moving in an empty hallway and scanned the building for the girl. There she was. In a bedroom, standing alone and a man was walking to the door. The leader sheathed its blade, for the girl was too weak to fight them, and it moved swiftly through the building, approaching the door.  _Scanning additional occupant._  The leader gazed straight at the man's head, his brainwaves full of…worry? Yes, worry, for his…mistress and…Queen?  _Additional occupant: King Louis XV. Occupant must be left alive, for it does not perish until 1774. Cause of death: Smallpox._  It then pressed its fingers to its throat.  **"Two to extract Louis into the ballroom and restrain him. Warning: Do not kill. Only the target shall be killed."**  It said, and two more droids came quickly up to the door as the girl yelled and screamed into the fireplace.  _Fireplace was original but has been moved. As a result, it is disabled. The man with two hearts and the girl with none will not be able to come through there._  Then, once the droids paired up behind the leader, they walked through the door, the alarming sound of their ticking hearts quickly alerting the pair in the room. Louis simply stared at them in horror while Reinette stared back in a mixture of fear...and defiance.  **"You are complete. You will come."**  The leader stated. The two quickly moved and seized the protesting yet fearful Louis by his arms and hauled him out of the room while the leader moved up to Reinette, seizing her right arm and moved to lead her out of the room. When Reinette tried to struggle, the leader clicked its head towards her as if it was burning daggers into her skull, which made her shakily submit and he led her out.

"Where are we going?" Reinette demanded.

**"The teleport has limited range. We must have proximity to the time portal."**  The leader answered.

"Your words mean nothing." Reinette growled despite its tight grasp on her arm. "You are nothing."

* * *

"You found it, then?" Rose asked as she and Mickey rushed back into the main console room, where the Doctor and Clara were working frantically. At the very front was a large glass panel, playing a live surveillance video of its mirrored time window in the ball room of Versailles, large and spacious and filled with a warm, golden light.

"They knew we were coming. They've blocked it off." The Doctor answered, Rose and Mickey having to stand back as the two of them rushed around the room.

"I don't get it. How come they got in there?" Rose asked.

"They teleported, you saw them. As long as the ship and the ballroom are linked, their short-range teleports will do the trick."

"So, we'll go in the TARDIS." Rose suggested.

"We can't use the TARDIS." The Doctor groaned. "We're part of events now."

"Can't we just smash through?" Mickey interjected.

"Hyperplex this side, plate glass the other. We'd need a truck."

"We don't have a truck-"

"We know we don't have a truck!" Clara roared, making Rose and Mickey flinch. "Now shut up!"

_"Could everyone just calm down?!"_  Reinette ordered above the commotion, everyone in both rooms turning their attention to the girl who stood alone in the centre of the ballroom.  _"Please. Such a commotion, such distressing noise! Kindly remember that this is Versailles! This is the royal court and we are French!"_

While Rose and Mickey were focused on the commotion, Clara grasped the Doctor's arm and led him aside. "You lied, right? That glass is just glass." She whispered.

"Yes, but if we smash through, they'll be trapped here."

"And if we don't go through, Reinette will die." Clara argued.

The Doctor went to argue further, but he noticed she didn't have her sonic. "Clara-" Clara just put her finger to her lips and mouthed "Just like last time". The Doctor slowly nodded in realization and then he clasped her hand. "Together?" He whispered.

Clara smiled. "Or not at all."

* * *

Reinette stared at the leader, straight into its empty black eyes, feeling both fearful anxiety and hateful defiance in her heart. She listened to the latter. "I have made a decision. And my decision…is no. I shall not be going with you today." The leader just stared at her and readied its arm. "I have seen your world and I have no desire to set foot there again."

**"We do not require your feet."** The leader said. On that, two droids moved up to Reinette, placed a tight grasp on her shoulders and forced her to kneel. The leader then unsheathed its sharp blade and placed it at Reinette's head.

Reinette just gazed up, still staring straight into the leader's eyes. "You think I fear you. But I was taught by two people I love very much that it is always okay to be afraid. But everyone has something to be afraid of. You are my childhood nightmare, the monster from under my bed. But if my nightmare can return to plague me, then rest assured, so will yours." Reinette taunted, only answered by a horse neighing.  _Wait, what?_  Reinette blinked and she gazed away, realizing that everyone also heard it, including the droids, who began tilting their heads up to the time window. What followed was the quickening sound of horse hoofs, getting closer and closer with each passing second. Then, without warning to the shrieking occupants of the room, the time window shattered, and a horse dove out and into the room. And, to Reinette's relieved, beaming smile, thanks in no small part to the droids who had released her shoulders, it was obvious who was mounted on the horse. The Doctor and Clara, who led the horse around a large space in the ballroom and their eyes quickly fixed onto Reinette and sent her a playful wink.  _Come on, Reinette, now's not the time. Don't blush. Don't blush!_  She mentally reprimanded, letting only a small slip of said blush escape before she reigned it into control, hoping the TARDIS duo didn't notice. They quickly reigned the horse back into calm control before the Doctor slid off and then grasped Clara's waist to help her off and onto her feet beside him.

"Madame De Pompadour." The Doctor started, beaming at Reinette.

"You look younger every day." Clara finished and Reinette felt her face burning.

_Damn those two idiots. They DID notice!_

"Your majesty." Clara curtsied to Louis, who's arms had been released by the droids.

"Sorry about the interruption." The Doctor finished, and they moved up to the leader of the droids. "We're just came to fix a clock." The Doctor grasped the wig and mask of the droid and pulled it off. The leader raised its blade up to their faces, but they didn't even flinch, just sending it exhausted looks. "Forget it. It's over."

"For all of us." Clara sighed. "Talk about seven years bad luck. Try three thousand." She nodded up to the wall. The droid looked up to the wall and then, utter silence fell through the room, only filled with the unified ticking of the droids hearts. The leader, twice, turned its head back to the duo and up towards the wall. Then, it pressed its fingers to its wrist, but nothing happened. It tried over and over again, but still, nothing happened, and it looked back to the duo.

"The link with the ship is broken. No way back." The Doctor informed. The droid just stared at them, almost in defeated sadness. "How many ticks left in that clockwork heart, huh? A day? An hour? It's over. You don't have the parts. Accept that." The droid still didn't do anything, other than continuing to stare.

"For once, and we mean this wholeheartedly, we're not winding you up." Clara inputted. The droid, after a few more moments, sheathed its blade and slouched. Then, the ticking within its own body began to slow down, right to a silent, echoing halt. It was now just…off. Just off. The other droids in the room followed this last order and switched themselves off. One of the droids was rather unfortunate, for as it switched off, its dead body lost balance and fell to the floor with a smash, causing the people in the room to shriek as pieces of glass and clockwork mechanics strewn about the floor around its broken head. Clara felt a hand on her waist and she smiled, looking at the Doctor before they moved over to Reinette and the Doctor held out a hand to help her up.

"You okay?" He asked, Clara's eyes echoing his question.

"Yeah. I am now." Reinette stood up beside them, gazing in puzzlement at the droids. "What's happened to them?"

"They've stopped." The Doctor said simply. "They have no purpose now."

* * *

"What happened?" Mickey asked as him and Rose stood alone in the console room, looking at the broken, vacant space where the time window was, now only filled with wiring and smashed glass. "Where did the time window go? How are they going to get back?" Mickey continued, anxiety in his voice as Rose just stared.

"I don't know." Rose said simply, putting her hands in her pockets. At that, she blinked. Grasping onto the object, she pulled out a small rod wrapped in a thin bit of paper. Unwrapping the paper away, she found that it was Clara's sonic, bearing the command "Emergency Program One". The paper also bore a message saying…

_Use this if we don't get back._

_Love, Clara, and the Doctor_

Rose blinked a bit, needing to close her eyes just to remain calm. "We'll wait."

"What do you mean, we'll wait?" Mickey asked. "We can't fly the TARDIS without them."

"There's always a way out." Rose simply said. "Maybe they will get back. If they can, then we'll wait." Mickey sighed, moving to distract himself at the console while Rose looked up through the glass roof, staring into the empty beauty of space.

* * *

The Doctor and Clara stood alone in Reinette's personal room at a window, wrapped in a loose hug as they stared up at the stars.

"Do you regret it?" He asked.

She just leant her head back into his chest. "A bit. We might not see Rose or Mickey again. Or even the TARDIS." She said as they heard Reinette enter the room, her reflection in the window showing her carrying a tray with three glasses filled with champagne.

"Oh, you never know. London is only a small step away." He quipped lightly, and Clara smiled.

Reinette placed the tray on the table near them, grabbed two glasses and walked up to them. She gave one to the Doctor, while she held out the other glass for Clara. "Champagne?" She offered.

Clara held an indecisive expression. "I-I've never-"

"Champagne doesn't kill you." Reinette reassured. "It's just a drink."

"Well, it can-"

"Quiet." Reinette admonished. "You're ruining the mood."

"Sorry." The Doctor breathed, making Clara snigger a bit. Reinette gave them a smile as she handed the glass to Clara. The Doctor took a decent gulp, enjoying the taste of the drink while Clara stared at it apprehensively. She swirled the drink around a tiny bit and then took a small sip. She let the taste savour in her mouth before swallowing and gave an impressed shrug. "Oh dear." The Doctor muttered. "That's another thing Victoria liked." He quipped.

"Are you done with Victoria references?" Clara asked with a fake growl.

He beamed. "I've got no idea." Clara just rolled her eyes before beaming, letting a small snigger pass her lips as she reclined back into him.

Reinette just smiled at them as she moved back to the tray to take the final glass in her grasp and stood beside the pair, staring up at the stars. "You know all their names, don't you?" She asked. They glanced over at Reinette who just smiled. "I saw that in your mind." She nodded to him. "The name of every star."

"What's in a name?" The Doctor asked rhetorically. "Names are just titles. Titles don't tell you anything."

Reinette cocked an eyebrow. "But sometimes, a name is a promise." She returned. "Just like "The Doctor"."

"Like "Madame De Pompadour"." The Doctor quipped, the three sharing a small chuckle.

"I have often wished to see those stars a little closer, just as you two did, I think." Then, she sighed and stared back at the two. "In saving me, you trapped yourselves. Did you know that would happen?"

"Pretty much." Clara said simply.

"Yet still you came."

"Yeah, we did, didn't we?" The Doctor said, looking back down at Clara, who just gazed back up at him. "Catch us doing that again."

"There were many doors between my world and yours. Can you not use one of the others?"

The Doctor shook his head. "When the mirror broke, the shock would've severed all the links with the ship. There'll be a few more…broken mirrors and torn tapestries around here, I'm afraid, wherever there was a time window."

"And we'll…pay for any damages." Clara quickly inputted, making Reinette giggle.

"Oh blimey." The Doctor said, as if he just let it sink in. "That's a thought…we're going to need money. I've always been vague about money. Clara, where do you get money?" He asked.

Clara bit her lip to hide a smug grin. "You work."

His expression turned into horror. "No. No-no, I-I-I-I can't." The two girls laughed at him. "Oh, blimey, I'm gonna have to, aren't I?" He muttered to himself as the girls calmed down.

"So here you two are." Reinette mused sadly. "My lonely angels stuck on the slow path with me."

"Yep." The Doctor said, popping the "P" playfully. "The slow path."

Clara smirked, shaking her head and raised her glass. "Here's to the slow path." They quickly clinked their glasses together and took a good drink from them.

Then, her expression turned sad, and they couldn't understand why. "It's a pity. I think I would've enjoyed the slow path."

"Well, we're not going anywhere."

"Oh, aren't you?" Reinette retorted and for a split second, they could hear her voice break before she breathed out shakily, placed her glass down on the windowsill and reached out her hands. "Follow me." At that, when they quickly placed their glasses down, they followed her out of the room, into the hallway and entered Reinette's bedroom. It was, to their noted playfulness, almost romantic in the lit candles, a large, comfy bed, and a lit fireplace. However what caught their eye really was the fireplace. "It's not a copy." Reinette explained. "It's the original." They blinked at her and she smiled softly, holding back her own sorrow. "I had it moved here and was exact in every detail."

"The fireplace." The Doctor muttered, him and Clara moving up slowly to the fireplace, not taking their eyes off it. "The fireplace from your bedroom. When did you do this?" He asked.

Reinette gave a distant smile as she walked up to follow them. "Many years ago…in the hope that a door, once opened, may someday open again. One never quite knows when one needs one's Doctor. Or even their carer."

""Carer"?" Clara repeated, and the Doctor had to contain his own smile. "I like that. Carer. Car-rer." She rolled it about and grinned. "Oh, I love that. The Carer."

"Well, that is what you are." The Doctor said earnestly, and she just stared up at him in adoration for a few moments.

"It appears undamaged." Reinette said, returning their attention back to the fireplace. "Do you think it will still work?"

"You broke the bond with the ship when you moved it, which means it was offline when the mirror broke. That's what saved it."

"But it's a physical link." Clara said, and she moved up to the fireplace. She went to take out her sonic and then she rolled her eyes, just remembering it wasn't with her.

"And it's still physically here." The Doctor continued. "Which might just mean, if we're lucky…" He knelt down and began tapping on the mantle with his ear pressed against the wood. "If we're very, very, very, very, very lucky…" He continued tapping until he got to the edge and then, it began echoing. He tapped three times, hearing the sound reverberate through the wood and into the ship on the other side. That made him laugh. "Aha!"

"What?" Clara asked in her own excitement.

"Loose connection. Need to get a man in." The Doctor echoed as he took out his sonic to re-activate the fireplace. Then, he smacked his hand down on the mantle top and the mechanical door whirred into life. Quickly pocketing his sonic, he took Clara's hand in his and placed his other hand on the lever. "Wish us luck." He said, and he lifted the lever.

"No." Reinette protested as the fireplace completely revolved.

However, they heard her, making them feel just a little bit of guilt. But they needed to make sure that the TARDIS was still there. And Rose and Mickey. But still, they couldn't help the tiniest bit of guilt in them. So, Clara knelt before the fireplace with the Doctor. "Madame De Pompadour!" Clara called and said girl knelt before the fireplace with a worried look. "Do you still want to see those stars?" She asked.

Reinette beamed. "More than anything."

The TARDIS pair beamed back with radiating smiles. "Give us two minutes. Pack a bag." The Doctor said.

Reinette's own grin grew warmer. "Am I going somewhere?"

"Go to the window." The Doctor said. "Pick a star, any star." At that, they stood up and raced for the main console room. "Mickey!"

"Rose!" They called. Rushing into the main console room, they saw a patient Rose and a dozing Mickey.

"Oh, finally, they come back." Rose said sarcastically, making Mickey draw up to his feet in full attention.

The pair blinked. "Sorry." They said in unison.

Rose quickly let it melt and they almost felt mad at her for faking her anger and she held out her hands. "Come here." She smiled. Clara quickly went up to Rose and wrapped her in a hug, the Doctor doing the same to Mickey before they switched over.

"How long did you wait?" Clara asked as they parted.

"Five and a half hours."

Clara blinked at that. "Oh. Sorry for that."

Rose waved them off. "It's fine. Although…" She pulled out Clara's sonic with a sly grin. "It was nice having this."

"Rose…" Clara squeaked.

"I can tell you're going to go back there." She said simply. They blinked in surprise at her and she rolled her eyes. "Fucking hell, I can hear you two from the other side of the TARDIS. This ship is no exception. Now, hurry up." She admonished.

"Yes mum." They said in unison as they rushed back to the fireplace. They knelt before it, but the room beyond was dark, lit only by moonlight. "Reinette?" The Doctor called but there was no answer. "You there, Reinette?" They moved up to the mantle and the Doctor pulled the lever, allowing them to revolve around into Reinette's room. To their surprise, the room was empty, the bed made, and the candles blown out. "Maybe its not proper night time yet." The Doctor whispered to Clara as they took each other's hands and moved out of the room.

"Reinette?" Clara called, and they rounded into a small sitting room, seeing King Louis standing by the window, looking out into the rain drenched Paris.

"Oh. Hello." The Doctor quickly greeted.

"Hi." Clara waved.

Louis nodded in greeting. "You just missed her. She'll be in Paris by 6."

"Ah." They quickly said. They allowed themselves to look at Louis, who was wearing a white-haired, curled wig and unlike the last time they met, he was now wearing a cream coloured, royal vest. Almost like a mirror, Louis mimicked their studying, turning to properly look at them with wide eyes.

"Good lord." He muttered. "She was right. She said neither of you ever looked a day older." The pair shrugged at that. "So many years since I saw you last, but not a day of it on your faces."

Silence fell, and with it, Clara's own expression of bliss, which now turned into sorrow. "What'd you mean, "She was right"?" She asked, and the Doctor's face began to fall, mimicking her own.

Louis didn't answer them. Instead, he walked over to a nearby drawer, opened it and pulled out a small folded letter. "She spoke of you two many times." He started in his own tone of sadness. "Often wished you'd visit again. Reinette always had lovers but none she adored quite like you two. I guess, even after all that time, she was still a one of a kind." He held out the letter and the Doctor took it slowly. It was blank, but they could tell it carried a message inside. They heard a whip crack, the whine of horses and the rolling wheels of a drawn carriage, moving away from the building. Louis went back to the window to look outside. "There she goes. Leaving Versailles for the last time. Only 43 when she died. Too young." He sighed shakily, needing to close his eyes. "Too young." He said, his own voice starting to break but he drew another breath to hold himself. "Illness took her in the end." He gave a small, fond smile. "She always did work too hard." At that, he turned around to look back at the pair. Clara, he saw, was struggling to contain her own sorrow, while the Doctor was simply wearing a mask but his eyes…his old, ancient eyes, their sorrow matched Clara's. The Doctor looked up at Louis and back to the letter, and then he slipped it inside a pocket within his suit. Louis nodded in silent respect. "Oh course. Quite right." He didn't need to say anything further and the TARDIS duo didn't say anything either. They just walked away and out of his life, letting him silently bid his loving farewell to Reinette.

* * *

The TARDIS duo just walked back inside their home and up to the console, Rose and Mickey were already waiting patiently for them.

"Why her?" Rose asked, and they looked up at them with their sad eyes. "Why did they think they could repair the ship with the head of Madame De Pompadour?"

The Doctor shrugged. "We'll probably never know. There was massive damage in the computer's memory banks. Probably got confused." The Doctor walked up the console and began to flick the levers at switches at the monitor, which was already showing the surveillance of the room outside. "The TARDIS can close down the time windows now the droids are gone. Should stop it causing any more trouble."

Rose's gaze flickered between the pair, the Doctor who worked absentmindedly on the console with Clara moving up to join him. Already she could feel the awkward tension, but it wasn't that of a fight. It was more of a unified sorrow that she didn't know of. Still, she had to ask, "Are you two okay?"

They gazed up at her, giving brief flashes of a fond smile. "We're always okay." The Doctor reassured. At that, they went back to their work, but the awkward silence fell once again. Rose decided another approach, pulling out Clara's sonic and placed it before said person.

"Thank you." Clara said grateful and she took it back and pocketed it again. And just like before, they returned to work, the room once again filling with the awkward silence.

Now, it was Mickey who took the initiative. "Come on, Rose. It's time you showed me around the rest of this place." He said. The pair quickly sent grateful looks in Mickey's direction as he led Rose out of the console room. Rose sent them another worried look, but they just gave her a reassuring smile as they left. Once they did, their sorrow returned, and they stopped working on the console, as the Doctor pulled out the letter. He drew Clara into a hug, said person already having their breathing hitched as they opened the letter.

_My dear Doctor and Clara._

_The path has never seemed slower, and yet I fear I am nearing its end. Reason tells me that you and I are unlikely to meet again, but I think I shall not listen to reason. I have seen the world inside your head, Doctor, and I have seen in even the briefest glimpses of how much you care for him, Clara, so I know that all things are possible, no matter how unlikely. Hurry though, my loves. My days grow shorter now and I am so very weak. Godspeed, my lonely angels._

_Love, your girl in the fireplace, Reinette._

They finished reading, the Doctor pocketing the letter and he turned his head to the monitor. Pressing a few keys on the keyboard, the fireplace on the monitor flickered and died away. Then, he brought Clara back into their hug again.

"Is this what it's like?" She whispered with a broken voice. "To watch someone you love die before your eyes?"

"Yes." He answered simply. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way, Clara."

Clara breathed out harshly and she sniffed, making him draw her in tighter. "I really liked her." She whimpered.

"I know."

"I really did."

"So did I." He whispered as he stroked her hair. Clara just let it out, beginning to silently sob into his chest as he kissed her head. Glancing out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the TARDIS produce the name of the ship they had landed in. "SS Madame De Pompadour". That made him sigh. Now it all made sense. Reaching a hand back to the console, he pulled the dematerialisation lever, the TARDIS leaving the ship to forever drift away in space, empty, lifeless, and alone.

**AN: Blimey, that was rough. If you were in anyway wondering why I did the relationship between the three like that, it's basically an outline, test run blueprint for me, so I know what I would be able to do when we get to…well…spoilers. XD Anyway, as always, thank you for reading and leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	33. The Lazy Library

**AN: I'm going to be completely honest with you, I have no idea where this came from XD. I just randomly felt like making a quick scene with the Doctor and Clara just being…well…adorable idiots.**

**The Lazy Library**

"Ah ha!" The Doctor suddenly yelled from his work area.

Clara, not really expecting it as she had been reading one of the books she collected, yelped out a small shock and dropped the book out of her hands to the floor. She couldn't really remember what it was about. Something to do with newlyweds losing their infant child or something. _I don't know._ Clara shrugged mentally. _I kind of got lost on page one._ "Doctor." Clara called, moving out of her little cubby area in the library to a desk, where the Doctor had shot up from.

"I've done it!" He exclaimed with glee, quickly pocketing his "Brain Specs". Carefully grasping something on the desk, he turned around, showing off his newest creation like some mad, childish scientist. What it was made Clara both swoon in awe and blink repeatedly in bewilderment. It was a squirrel, chittering and scratching away, made completely out of mechanics and metal. Yet it ran on clocks. A clockwork squirrel, its own heart ticking away as it stared around in curiosity before darting out of the Doctor's grasp and pouncing around the room, its metal feet pattering away, twitching its nose at the multitude of books. Then, it darted up a nearby bookshelf and with surprising care, it grasped a novel and took it out, placing it on a nearby desk and opened it, starting to read. "Okay, I wasn't expecting that." The Doctor muttered as he and Clara walked over. The squirrel chirped to them, almost like it was proud of its findings before it returned to its reading. The Doctor took the front part of the book and lifted it to see the title. ""The House with a Clock in its"-" He was cut off when the squirrel snarled at him and he breathed out, letting go off the book, which made the squirrel chirp again and it returned to reading. "Sorry." He grumbled.

"Doctor, how did you make…" Clara let it trail off as she turned to gaze at the desk, which was strewn with the remains of…a radio. "Doctor." She groaned. "You could've used something else to make that instead of the radio."

"Well, I couldn't find anything that would fit!" He whined.

"And…why a clockwork squirrel?" She asked.

He blinked at that. "Well, I, umm…uh…"

Clara giggled, just resorting to shaking her head. "Anyway, if you're bored, there is something else to occupy your time."

His eyebrows raised. "Oh really? What's that?" She simply cocked one of her own, but he blinked again. "I'm still not getting it."

She just grasped his tie and proceeded to tug him out of the room.

A Few Minutes Later…

Sitting on a sofa inside their own private living room, the Doctor lay on his side, his left elbow propped up while Clara lay beside him, her own head by his elbow as the pair gazed at the TV and their newfound game.

 _"Hello, good hunter."_ A female voice of a porcelain doll girl said in a pale dreamlike world.

"Hello." They said in unison.

_"I am a doll."_

"We know."

_"Here in this dream to look after you."_

"Tad bit creepy." The Doctor commented as he wrung both arms around Clara.

_"Honourable hunter, pursue the echoes of blood, and I will channel them into your strength."_

"Why did they make the bonfires so…pale?" Clara asked.

"Why are they so obsessed with blood?" The Doctor retorted, and Clara bit her lip to fight back a smile. However, the Doctor noticed. "You smiled."

"Nope."

"Clara don't hold back those smiles for me." He warned playfully.

"Nope." She retorted.

He smirked, sliding a hand down to her hips and started tickling her. "Clara." He purred, and Clara squealed, relenting with a beaming smile as he stopped. "There you go." He said, placing a kiss on her cheek, which just made her draw closer to him.

"Please don't do that." She whispered.

"What?" He asked innocently, and started tickling her sides again, which made her shriek. "Clara, you've got to tell me."

"No!" She squealed.

"Clara." He purred again, rolling just enough to be right over her and pausing his assault. "You've got to say it."

"No." She said playfully, wagging her eyebrows.

"Clara-"

"Doctor," She interrupted with a warm smile, "just kiss me, you bastard."

He grinned wolfishly at her. "Yes boss." Before he did, he took out his "Brainy Specs" and put them back on, to Clara's amusement.

"Doctor." Clara whispered with an adoring look in her eyes.

"Not my fault you like it." He winked, drawing in close as she giggled again and kissed her deeply, running a hand up to cup her face and stroke her hair. "We just left another game alone…again." He said as Clara took off his tie, and put it around her own neck, earning a devilish glare from the Doctor.

"We'll get back to it later." She whispered, tugging him back down to resume their kissing. The TARDIS did them a favour and locked the doors, sound proofing the room. "Show-off." Clara whispered out into the room, the Doctor smiling with her before they continued again, now with no interruptions.

 **AN: Well, that was fun. I may do more of these in the future, but I just need to figure out ideas that would work and, obviously, when. Anyway, just a quick request answer for "Daises1005118", since you wanted to know the timeline dude/dudette. All I've done is taken some of the Season 7 episodes, specifically most of the Clara episodes, and jumbled them up so Clara can meet the Doctor during his 9** **th** **incarnation. (Okay, it's technically his 10** **th** **but you get what I mean.) Basically…**

 **Prologue: Scene from "The Name of the Doctor" where 1** st **Doctor meets Gallifreyan Clara, just extended. Obviously.**

 **Asylum of the Daleks: Swapped out Amy and Rory, the 11** th **Doctor for the War Doctor and set it right before, for War's perspective, "The Day of the Doctor".**

 **The Snowmen: Instead of 11** **grieving for Amy and Rory, it's 9 post Time War but before he meets Rose.**

**The Bells of Saint John – Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS: 9's first adventures with Clara.**

**Rose – The Long Game: 9 and Clara meet Rose and start the Series 1 adventures.**

**Listen: Swapped out 12 for 9, changed Orson to Alternate Danny, threw in Rose, and threw out the Danny dating stuff, since Danny in this fic is dead and for Clara is pre-Doctor, just like Angie and Artie. Well…they aren't dead, they are pre-Doctor and have no relevance to this story.**

**Father's Day – The Doctor Dances: Rose gets the courage to see Pete after Clara told the story of how Danny died. Of course, we all know how that turned out. Then they go back to meet Captain Jack during the London Blitz.**

**Nightmare in Silver: 11, once again, swapped out for 9, Angie and Artie "Technically" swapped out with Rose and Jack. Clara and the Doctor swap places for the "Cyber" personality.**

**Last Christmas: Santa pretty much smacks 9 and Clara on the head and makes them "Dance" FINALLY. (Seriously, that was so reliving for me to write. :))**

**The Crimson Horror: Rose and Jack meet the Paternoster Gang after 9 and Clara quite literally fail their "Actual" first date.**

**Boom Town: TARDIS gang, with Mickey, meet Margaret/Blon Fel Fotch again.**

**Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways: The last adventure, also Clara's last, with 9, where he becomes 10 after saving Rose from being "Bad Wolf".**

**The Christmas Invasion: 10 is in the "Doctor Sleep" and needs to nap. Clara's got a rare issue of "Immortality Migraine", leaving Rose, Mickey, and Jackie to fend for themselves. Later, the Doctor and Clara have their first proper talk, and everything ends up being okay. Ish.**

**New Earth/Tooth and Claw: Clara and Rose have their first adventure with 10. If it isn't obvious by now, Rose won't fall in love with either of them, just remain purely friends.**

**Attack of the Graske: 10 gives Clara her first sonic and is immediately visited by a "Mwhahahaha"ing Cyber Clara, who gives her the "Good News?".**

**School Reunion: TARDIS group meet Sarah Jane, Mickey properly joins up, they stop Mr. Finch and the bat people, Clara reveals the news, the Doctor comforts her and by the end everyone's all good.**

**The Girl in the Fireplace: 10 and Clara meet Reinette aka Madame De Pompadour, whose relationship with them kind of acts as a test run for everyone's favourite big haired time traveling archaeologist with a gun. Since Reinette has known them for her whole life, she falls in love with the TARDIS pair. However, since they only know her for a day, they get the equivalent of an intense crush on her, which ends when they come back after she had died.**

**This one-shot. Just two besotted idiots doing their own hobbies.**

**Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel: The TARDIS gang fall into an alternate reality where Pete Tyler is still alive, and an old, dying man, who is pretty much insane, is creating that reality first Cybermen.**

**I won't reveal anymore past this for the sake of spoilers, but hopefully you get the timeline. The jumbled 11 adventures instead have 9 pre-Rose, which lead into Rose and then into 10's adventures, with a few extra goodies along the way. Now, I can promise you that in a week's time, you'll get "Rise of the Cybermen". I just need to finish the 2** nd **half of the episode. XD Hope you guys/gals enjoyed and do say if you want to see more of these goodie, flavoury nuggets later.**


	34. Rise of the Cybermen

**Rise of the Cybermen**

**John Lumic's Airship  
** February 1st, 2007

The old man sat, quite literally against his will, in his wheelchair within the shadows of the cramped, messy lab, watching as his worker, Dr. Kendrick, finished the final perfections of his masterpiece. The old man was John Lumic, who had short, greying hair, dark brown eyes, and a rather gaunt form for a body. He would've been 6ft tall if he wasn't condemned to this damned wheelchair, but he…needed it to live, for he was dying. The actual illness did not matter to him anymore. All that mattered was to cure it, no matter the cost. That made public opinion on the CEO of Cybus Industries rather divisive, but it was all irrelevant to him. What was relevant, was for his work to be completed. _Finally, my children could live. And, against all odds, and whatever the public has said, so can I._ At that, Dr. Kendrick finished his job with a flick of a switch, causing their own, but really Lumic's own creation, to come to life with a loud crackling of electricity. There it stood, the large figure of silver steel and metal, staring down at them with blank, black eyes and with the Cybus logo engraved into its chest. _My child. A Cyberman. It is done._

"The prototype has passed every test, sir. It's working!" Kendrick said with relieved glee.

Lumic blinked at his choice of words. "I hardly think "Working" is the correct word." Pushing his finger down on his power wheelchair joystick, he moved it forward, moving up beside Kendrick to look closer at his child. "That would apply only to machines." He finished, clearly admonishing the man.

"I'm sorry." Kendrick quickly apologised. "I should say it's alive."

The child didn't speak, and Lumic almost felt his heart race in anxious panic. _Can it not speak?! Can it not hear me?! Did I do something wrong?!_ "Can it hear me?" He asked, keeping his voice calm.

"Might still be in shock." Kendrick reassured and Lumic almost sighed. "Bear in mind, the brain has been welded to the exoskeleton."

Lumic took the moment to truly gaze at his child in awe. It was simply magnificent. "Skin of metal, a heightened sense of power for its own brain, and a body that will never age or die. I…envy it." He said, almost wishing for himself to be in it, to be free of his confines, but now wasn't the time for that. He would wait until his last breath. Still, they both noticed that the child still didn't speak, and Lumic summarised that it might be waiting to be addressed directly. "Do you know me?" He asked, but he received no answer. He clenched his jaw and asked with clear irritation, "Answer: Do you know me?"

**"You are John Lumic."**

Lumic laughed heartfully. _By god, it had truly worked._ "Ahh, my child." He awed. "Mark this day, Dr. Kendrick. We are blessed."

Kendrick stepped in front of Lumic, which made his relieved joy evaporate in an instant. "Well, it's not quite over yet, sir. We need Geneva's approval."

Lumic nearly rolled his eyes. Geneva, always getting their hands in someone else's matters. _This is my own child here! He is my responsibility! They all will be!_

Kendrick continued, not getting clued into the man's inner thoughts. "Technically, this is a new form of life and that contravenes the bio-convention. They need to ratify this."

"And they will refuse me." Lumic said, already having deducted their decision.

"Nonetheless, we need to tell them."

Lumic narrowed his eyes in warning. "And if I don't?"

Kendrick blinked. "Well, I'm sorry, sir, but it's my duty. I shall have to inform them." He said earnestly.

"And how will you do that from beyond the grave?" Lumic remarked darkly.

Kendrick's gaze darted to the side and he chuckled nervously. "I don't quite understand."

Lumic's gaze steeled into a molten hot glare. "Kill him." He ordered. Kendrick's eyes widened, and he turned around, but was too late. The Cyberman reached out a hand and grasped Kendrick's neck, sending thousands of volts into the man's body, causing him to scream in agony and pain before he collapsed to the floor, his smoking corpse already starting to rot in the room.

Lumic just smiled at his child. _There's that problem out of the way. Now we can move on._ Reaching his hand over just enough to the computer attached to the right side of his chair, he tapped in a few keys to initiate communication with the desired contact. "Captain."

_"Yes, sir?"_

"Inform all staff: We have a new destination. Set sail…for Great Britain!"

**TARDIS**

The Doctor and Clara sat in the captain's chair, currently wrapped in a hug while Rose and Mickey stood at the console. The pair just watched as the Doctor pouted and whined while Clara grinned, shaking in her mad, giggling form.

"And then the voice of god was all like ""You are a skilled hunter. Adept, merciless, half cut with blood, as the best hunters are…which is why I must stop you."" The Doctor quoted, cupping an open hand over his mouth to create an echo. "Then he starts firing a bloody machine gun at me and I die. Lost all of my echoes again!"

"Hey, it was only 25,000. It's nothing." Clara giggled.

"My hard earned, 25,000 echoes and then-poof! It's all gone down the drain!" The Doctor exclaimed, quickly moving to pout.

"Aww." Clara cooed, leaning in to whisper. "I'm sure there's something else we can do to make up for it." She purred, softly biting his earlobe making him shiver.

Rose and Mickey were smiling, but they exchanged small confused glances as they couldn't hear what Clara had said, nor did they understand the topic. "Yeah. What was this?" Rose asked.

The Doctor blushed slightly as he and Clara calmed down, Clara moving back just a tad, biting her lip in bemusement. "Oh, it was on this…um…uh, this, uh, game from your…um, from your future." He blinked a bit at that. "Blame it on Clara. She wanted to play it."

Clara's jaw dropped incredulously. "Don't blame me! You were enjoying it. Even if you did die."

"It was that bastard's fault that I died!" The Doctor whined.

"You two are not making any sense." Rose quickly interrupted, making them blink.

"It's…it's a long story." The Doctor shrugged.

"Wait, Mickey." Clara said, looking properly at him, said man having one of his fingers on a small blue button on the console. "What're you doing that for?"

Mickey blinked. "Cause he told me to."

Clara looked with frowned eyebrows at the Doctor, who just gazed back in bewilderment. "When was that?" He asked.

"About half an hour ago."

The Doctor bit his lip to hide a sheepish snigger. "Um…you can let go now."

Mickey took his finger away with a small bleep. "Well, how long's it been since I could've stopped?"

The Doctor shrugged. "10 minutes? 20? 29?"

"You just forgot me!" Mickey accused.

"No, no, no! I was just…I was…I was calibrating. I was just…no, I know exactly what I'm doing." Suddenly, without any warning, the console exploded, causing all four to recoil with shrieks of terror, the room beginning to quickly fall into darkness as the TARDIS shook violently around them. The Doctor rushed back to the sparking, smoking console, which groaned and whined in pain.

"What's happening?!" Clara yelled.

"The Time Vortex is gone!" The Doctor answered. "It's impossible, but it's just gone!" The shaking grew more violent and everyone knew the outcome. "Brace yourselves! We're gonna crash!" At that, the TARDIS crashed, the room completely falling into darkness as the old girl grew silent around them. Oxygen masks fell from the ceiling on rope suspenders, but they had more important things to worry about. "Everyone all right?!" The Doctor called as he helped Clara off the floor with a groan. "Rose?! Mickey?!"

"I'm fine." Rose said as she and Mickey helped each other off the floor.

"I'm okay." Mickey also said. They all stood up to glance around at the damage, while Clara and the Doctor tried any switches and levers on the console to no avail.

"Old girl?! Are you okay?!" Clara called but she received no answer. "Old girl?!" She still received no answer, and they all felt themselves grow more terrified.

"She's dead." The Doctor deducted in sadness. "The TARDIS is dead."

"But you can fix her." Clara protested.

The Doctor shook his head. "There's nothing to fix. She's perished. The last TARDIS in the universe, extinct."

"We can get help, yeah?" Clara asked.

The Doctor blinked at her. "Where from, Clara?"

"Well…we've landed. We've got to be somewhere."

"Clara, we fell out of the vortex, through the void into nothingness." The Doctor snapped. Then, he gave a small sigh and opened his arms, Clara immediately going in for a hug. "I'm sorry, Clara." He said honestly.

"It's not your fault." She returned.

"But we can't fix her now. We're in some sort of no place. The silent realm. The lost dimension."

"Otherwise known as London." Mickey called with a chuckle from the open door, where sunlight was streaming through onto his face. That made Rose immediately move over to follow while the Doctor and Clara blinked.

"Alternate reality?" Clara asked.

"Most likely." The Doctor said as they parted and moved to follow, with the Doctor putting on his brown overcoat. Stepping outside, it truly was London, high into the day with the warm sun beaming down upon them. The Doctor and Clara just glanced around, looking for any differences but they didn't have to look for long. They just had to look up.

"London, England, Earth." Mickey said proudly and then he spotted a newspaper in a nearby trashcan. "Hold on." He quickly moved over and took the paper out, glancing at the date. "1st of February, this year. Not exactly far-flung, is it?"

Rose quickly moved over to glance at the paper while the Doctor and Clara simply moved up to stand beside them, still looking up at the sky. "So, this is London?" The Doctor asked.

"Yep."

"Your city?"

"That's the one."

"Just as we left it?"

"Bang on."

"And that includes the zeppelins?" Clara interjected. Rose and Mickey blinked, following their gaze to the sky. And they were right, for there were zeppelins. Lots of them. Just sitting in the sky, floating about, and casting their shadows onto the ground.

"What the hell?" Mickey muttered.

"That's beautiful." Rose awed.

Mickey shook his head, turning back to the main duo. "Okay, so this is London with a big international zeppelin festival."

"No." The Doctor shook his head as they started to walk away down a path. "This is not your world."

"But if the date's the same…" His eyes widened in realising glee. "It's parallel, right? A parallel Earth where they've got zeppelins. Am I right? I'm right aren't I?"

"Must be." The Doctor agreed.

"So, a parallel world where-"

"Oh, come on." Mickey interrupted Rose. "You've seen it on films, like an alternative to our world where everything's the same but a little bit different, like, I don't know…traffic lights are blue…Tony Blair never got elected…"

"And he's still alive." Rose interrupted with a weak voice. The three followed her gaze to a nearby advertisement. It had Peter Tyler on it, alive and well, but he was dressed in a suit with a red tie, holding a weird looking fruit drink and odd, silver pods in his ears. The advertisement was for Vitex, as presented by said man. It even had a quote, "Trust me on this". "A parallel world, and my Dad's still alive." Rose continued, still staring at the advertisement.

"Rose." Clara warned as she began to walk up to the ad. "Don't look at it, don't even think about it. This is not your world."

"But he's my Dad and…" Rose reached out to place a hand on the ad.

_"Trust me on this."_ Peter's voice said, making Rose flinch a bit in surprise.

"Oh. That's weird." The ad turned to life, like a painting at Hogwarts, and Peter gave a thumbs up with a glowing smile and a wink. "But he's real."

_"Trust me on this."_ Peter repeated.

"He's a success!" Rose beamed. "He was always planning these daft little schemes, health-food drinks and stuff. Everyone said they were useless, but he did it."

"Rose!" Clara growled, moving to stand in front of her, said person flinching at Clara's tone. "If you ever trusted me, then listen to me now. Stop looking at him! Your father's dead!" Those words started to make Rose's smile fade into knowing sadness. "He died when you were 6 months old. That is not your Pete. That is A Pete. For all we know, he's got his own Jackie, his own Rose, his own daughter who is someone else, but not you. You can't see him, not ever."

"I know." Rose whispered, but her own eyes still flickered back to the ad, still longing for that kind of family.

**Tyler Residence**

_Oh blimey, I'm not looking forward to this._ Pete mused in his head as he pulled up to the massive and gorgeous residence of his wife. Well…soon to be ex, but that isn't important right now. It was her big day. Stepping out of the car, not before forgetting the yellow bouquet of flowers for his missus, he closed the car door and walked up to the front doors of the house, pressing the lock button on his car keys as he did, before stepping through the entrance. "Hello?!" He called. "Sweetheart?! It's only me!" Moving into the house, he came to the foot of the double forked stairs, which were currently being decorated with flowers and plants, a personal favourite of Jackie. And here came the lady in question, all blonde and as beautiful as ever, stepping down the stairs. Even with that scowl on her face, she could age like fine- _Wait. Oh, don't tell me. I've done something wrong._

"Oh, the bad penny." Jackie poked sarcastically, holding up the hems of her black dressing gown as she walked down the stairs to Peter. "Was this your idea? And don't deny it." She warned. "It's got your fingerprints all over it. "Trust me on this"." She mocked before returning to her scowl. "Oh, I can trust you, all right, trust you to cock it up."

"What've I done now?" Peter sighed.

"Have a look." Jackie led him into the spaced living room, where the carpet mats had been rolled up and the tables moved to the side to clear the room for the guests tonight. Jackie pointed up to the ceiling, just below the chandelier, where the banner for her event was being hung up. "Happy 40th Birthday", it said but apparently, she wasn't happy with it.

"What's wrong with that?" He asked.

Her face fell into almost childish pouting. "40! It says 40!"

He blinked at her. "You ARE 40."

"Well, I don't want the whole world telling, do I?"

"You're having a party tonight." He said obviously.

"My 39th." She said, now back into proper Jackie mode. "My official biography says I was born on the same day as Cuba Gooding Jr., and that makes me 39, thank you very much." She sassed before moving from the room. "Rose!" She called, and Pete rolled his eyes, both at her words, since she really is 40, but also at who she was calling.

"She barely ever listens. It's almost like she's pulling Jackie's sleeves with this." He muttered under his breath.

"Come here! Rose!" Jackie continued calling as he followed her back to the foot of the stairwell.

"These are from the girls in the office. Happy birthday." He said, holding up the yellow bouquet of flowers for her.

Jackie raised her eyebrows at him. "I've got hand sculpted arrangements by Veronica of Reykjavik, and your secretary stopped off at the garage?" She tutted at him. "I don't think so."

Peter had to hold back a groan. _Seriously Jackie, sometimes a duffle coat is just a duffle coat._ But there really wasn't a point to go back down that rabbit hole again.

"And if you're giving out presents, where's my zeppelin? Everyone else has got one." Peter gave a small sigh and placed the flowers into a small loop in the bottom of the stairs handle. "Rose!" Jackie called again. "Come on, Rose!" Jackie turned back to Peter and tilted her head to the side. "Look. You didn't even notice, did you?"

Peter really did look now. She had Lumic's ear pods in her ears, but these were diamond encrusted. _They do look good on her._

"Special delivery." Jackie explained. "Got send round today. Birthday present from Mr. Lumic, the latest model. Diamond studded. I can pick up signals from Venezuela."

That made him look puzzled again. "Why would you want to pick up signals from Venezuela?"

Jackie waved her arms up above her head. "Well, I don't know, but now I can find out!" Jackie shook her head and turned back to the stairwell. "For god's sake, where is she? Rose!" She called again since Rose still hadn't come down the stairs yet. "Oh, she needs a good bath before tonight or she's going to be honking. Rose! Rose, come to mummy! Come on!" Now came the pitter patter of their favourite brown and black Yorkshire Terrier, moving down the steps to stare at Jackie, who beamed at her. "Ah, there you are, my darling!" Jackie cooed, earning a few joyful yaps from Rose. Jackie moved up a few steps as Rose bounded down to Jackie, who immediately picked her up to carry her up the stairs. "Good girl!" She continued to coo just as Pete got a call in his earpieces.

Pete pressed his hand to one of his ear pods to answer the call, getting in his mind, the I.D of- "Mr. Lumic!" Pete greeted. "Jackie was just saying thank you, that's very kind of you."

* * *

"Those ear pods are handmade." Lumic said into the microphone on his computer. "Tell her to take care."

_"Course I will."_ Peter's voice came in through his computer. _"Course I will. Uh, I don't suppose you'll be, uh, joining us tonight for the party? We'd be very honoured."_

Lumic just stared blankly ahead at his large monitor. "The world below can party. Some of us have work to do. My plans have advanced, Peter, for the President has promised a decision. I'm flying in now. We'll be at the airstrip by 5 o'clock."

_"Right."_ Peter said, his tone a bit awkward now. _"It's just that I promised I'd help the wife out tonight."_

Lumic nearly snorted. _If anyone looked at you two, they'd know that your marriage has already disintegrated._ "If the President of Great Britain can make this meeting, then so can you."

Peter huffed. _"I don't know. He's not married to Jackie, is he?"_

"5 o'clock, Mr. Tyler." Lumic repeated, making his tone final. "Famous day." At that, he pressed a key on his computer to hang up the call. A small alarm sounded on his computer, and he knew he would need to take another dosage of the drugs in his chair. _Not yet! Not yet!_ "Voiceprint access. John Lumic." The monitor produced his name in green letters as a form of welcome. "Initiate ear pod override. Subject…Jacqueline Tyler. Activate." The computer then brought up a live feed of said person, who was currently sitting at her makeup chair in her bedroom. When the override activated, the ear pods had brought out two rods of steel that curved over her head and joined together, forming a small arc of blue light and energy, leaving Jackie suspended in a form of stasis. "Download: Tyler Residence, February the 1st. Give me security arrangements for tonight. Passwords, encryption services." At that, his lungs began to burn, and he gave a small cry of pain, immediately bringing over his gas mask and breathed in, needing to close his eyes to help dull the pain, as the throbbing in his head increased tenfold. He waited for a few moments, just breathing in deeply, and letting the drugs fight away the pain in his body, and he let himself relax in relief. Pulling away the gas mask, he could see that the monitor had created a green schematic of the Tyler Residence and he smiled. "And restore." The live video cut off, as Jackie's ear pods returned to normal. Lumic already summarised that Jackie may have been confused for a few moments before she shrugged it off and returned to daily routine. "Thank you, Mrs. Tyler." Lumic said earnestly. At that, he pressed a few keys on his computer to save all the acquired data away. "Activate picture link." At that, it brought up a live feed of his old friend, Mr. Crane. He had brown hair that was already starting to bald, and obvious blue eyes underneath his reading glasses. He was apparently staring off into the distance, most likely daydreaming as he waited patiently. "Mr. Crane."

* * *

Crane blinked as he turned his head to his computer, sitting in the passenger seat of a black Cybus Industries truck, masked as a dummy company called "International Electromatics". Well…it belonged to Cybus, but it was masked that way, for special purposes. There, on the computer monitor, was his old friend, Mr. Lumic. At least, he would say "Old Friend", for he truly was, but his…current circumstance of living had brought him to, in the public eyes, to be labelled "Insane". But he didn't believe them, not really. He was just a man that didn't want to die. "Mr. Lumic?" Crane asked.

_"Events are moving faster than I anticipated. I need extra staff."_

Crane smiled knowingly. "Very good, sir. Then I shall go on a recruitment drive." He turned over to the driver and winked. "Back her up." The driver nodded without a word and proceeded to back the black truck out of its parking spot.

* * *

Mickey walked back into the silent, dark TARDIS, seeing the Doctor and Clara at the console, apparently in the mood of consoling each other. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Mickey asked.

They both turned around, furrowing their eyebrows. "Didn't I tell you to keep an eye on her?" Clara asked.

"She's all right." Mickey shrugged.

"And if she goes wandering off?" Clara retorted. "Parallel world, it's like a gingerbread house, with all those temptations calling her."

"Oh, so it's just Rose, then? Nothing out there to tempt me?"

Clara scoffed. "Don't be daft. Of course, there'd be. If we could just get her back up and running." Clara kicked the console and immediately regretted it, letting a cry of pain out over her throbbing toes. "Oww." She whimpered, going to sit down on the chair.

"Did that help?" The Doctor reprimanded as he moved in front of her and proceeded to massage her foot through her shoe.

"No." Clara said dejectedly.

"Did it fix anything?"

"No."

"Did it hurt?"

"Yes." Clara sighed, just letting the Doctor dull away the pain. "Sorry Mickey."

"Not your fault." Mickey muttered.

The Doctor just sighed, moving to sit beside Clara and drawing her legs over his lap, motioning Mickey to sit on her other side. "We're not meant to be here." The Doctor said. "The TARDIS draws its power from the universe but it's the wrong universe. It's like diesel in a petrol engine."

"But I've seen it in comics." Mickey tried. "People are hopping from one alternative world to another. It's easy."

The Doctor just sent him a dull look. "Not in the real world." At that, he caught himself and shrugged. "It used to be easy." Mickey shot him an intrigued look. "When the Time Lords kept their eye on everything, you could pop between realities, home in time for tea." He sighed. "Then they died and took it all with them. The walls of reality closed. The worlds were sealed. Everything became that bit less kind." Clara shot him a soft look and he smiled. "Well…not everything became less kind." He said fondly, and she smiled.

"Then how did we get here?" Mickey asked.

The Doctor just shrugged again. "I don't know. Accident? Should've been impossible but now we're trapped."

"Could it have been like Danny?" Clara asked.

The Doctor just stared ahead in contemplation for a moment and nodded. "That would make sense."

"Danny?" Mickey asked.

"My old boyfriend." Clara explained. "He died, rather a long time ago. We met a version of him from an alternate reality."

"He fell through a crack in the universe." The Doctor explained as well. "We could've done the same, fell through a crack without realising it, through the void and into this world."

"But where do they come from? The cracks?" Mickey asked.

"The ones I've encountered came from the Time War. That one with Danny…I'm still not sure. Still, we closed it anyway, but maybe a crack opened just enough to let us through. Maybe we could go back through if we could get the TARDIS running again." They just let themselves sink into a bit of silence for a moment. Then, the Doctor perked up, looking towards the floor. "What's that?" He muttered. It was small, incredibly tiny, but it was a light. A green light, like a dim star in the night sky.

"What?" Clara asked, trying to find where he was looking, Mickey doing the same.

"That, there." He pointed, moving up off the seat. "Is that a reflection?" He looked up, quickly scrutinising the ceiling for any green light, but there was none to be found. It made him beam and he marched over to the grate. "It's a light. Is it?" He double checked. "Is that a light?"

Clara knelt beside him to look at it. "I think that is a light." Clara pieced it together and she began to laugh.

"That's all we need." The Doctor grasped a panel of the grate flooring to pull it away. "We've got power! Clara, we've got power! Ha!" He dove into the hole in the floor and began wrenching out any mechanics and wires in the way. "It's alive!"

"Doctor, what is it?" Clara asked.

"It's nothing. It's tiny, one of those insignificant little power cells that no one ever bothers about, and it's clinging onto life. One little ounce of reality tucked away inside."

"Enough to get us home?" Mickey inputted.

The Doctor put a gentle hand around the cell, a small piece of white crystal encased in a golden ring around the middle and gleaming with green light. He hoped out of the hole and sat on the floor with them, holding it up into view. "Not yet. We need to charge it up."

"We could go outside and lash it up to the national grid." Mickey suggested.

The Doctor shook his head. "Wrong sort of energy. It's got to come from our universe."

"But we don't have anything."

He smiled. "There's me." He took a deep breath and sighed onto the crystal. The crystal's green light brightened until it bathed all three of their faces like a bright torch in the dark and the Doctor beamed.

"Doctor, what did you do?" Clara asked.

"I just gave away ten years of my life to get us home. Worth every second." Clara just shot him a sad, worried look and he softened, taking her hand. "I'll be fine, Clara. Okay?" She smiled and nodded, so he kissed her hand and put the crystal in hers, then moved up to sit beside her, wrapping an arm around her waist. "You look after it. I can trust you better than myself." He said, giving her a wink, making Clara snort.

"Tell me about it." She quipped. The crystal began to fade out, letting the room darkened again, before it brightened up. It repeated this process many times, making Clara and Mickey look puzzled. "Doctor is this okay?" Clara asked.

"It's just on a recharging cycle. It'll loop round, power back up and be ready to take us home in, ooh, 24 hours? At least now, we have a route home, eh?" He quickly pecked Clara's lips and she smiled.

"24 hours in a parallel world?" Clara asked. "Feels odd, doesn't it?"

"Shore leave!" The Docctor beamed. "As long as we don't go crazy out there and keep our heads down, easy, no problem."

"Let's find Rose, then." Clara said, and they hopped off the floor as she pocketed the crystal away. "We can tell her the good news."

* * *

Rose walked along the waterfront of the Thames, feeling a small chilly breeze from the low wind. She decided to sit down on a nearby bench and stared up at the zeppelins floating around in the sky above the world. It looked beautiful to her, but also striking in its difference to her world.

_*Beep Beep Beep Beep*_

A notification on her phone had gone off, so she unzipped one of her pockets to pull it out. The screen said "Cybus Network. Welcome! Free Trial Period". Intrigued, Rose accepted, and it started a live news feed of a brown-haired man wearing small silver ear pieces. He didn't say anything for a moment, and Rose quickly turned up the volume on her phone.

_"And it's good news for Great Britain as John Lumic returns to the country of his birth. Mr. Lumic, the creator of high content metal, has denied allegations of ill health."_

The feed switched to a man in a wheelchair, and a rather scorching look in his eyes. _"We're all flesh and blood, but the brain is what makes us Human. And my mind is more creative than ever."_

_"With shares in Cybus Industries doubling in price…"_

"Cybus." Rose muttered, staring up at the zeppelins in the sky. The ones she could see clearly, had the Cybus logo on them. "It's everywhere." She muttered.

_"In other news, the Torchwood institute has published a study claiming that-"_

Rose quickly turned the volume off and went out of the live feed. Then, she got an idea. _If I can connect to the network, maybe I can connect to the internet._ Going into the search engine of the Cybus Network, she inputted the words "Peter Tyler" and hit enter.

* * *

Crane had already hopped out of the truck, standing within one of London's many junkyards. Here he would find some people whose lives had been thrown away, rotting and starving in makeshift huts, huddling by fires. But all they need is a form of hope, given by a man with charming personality. Not to stroke his own pride, but he would absolutely deliver on that. Knocking on the truck's back door, he moved over to stand a small distance from a hut, where six homeless men, all wrapped in ruined clothes were staring at him in puzzlement. "Gentlemen! Gentlemen! I beg your attention! Christmas has come early, so come and get it!" Right on cue, the truck was opened by a team of four workers, who had already started the illusionistic smell of food. "Oh, smell that, comrades." He took a deep breath to enunciate his point, which started to make the men get agitated in excitement. "Burgers and chips, sausage and beans, pork, chicken and hot sweet tea, all for free! So, come and get it while it's hot!" The men, with beaming smiles, rushed for the ladder stair that led into the back of the truck. "That's it, kind sir's, don't just stand there! Get in there and fill your face! Fill your faces with pasties!" The group of men went into the truck, quickly followed by a couple of workers who went about closing the door. Then, the men began screaming and Crane's mask dropped. "Take them away." He ordered without emotion. Some of the workers nodded while one pointed behind him.

"Sir." He said simply.

Crane sighed and turned around, seeing a reflection amongst the rubble and a man shuffling about. _Someone trying to get "Evidence" about us._ "We know you're there. Now step out." He growled. Someone did, a young man in his 20's, with spiked brown hair and wearing a dull, black leather jacket with matching shirt and jeans. He was 5ft 7, ever so slightly taller than Crane himself and holding a camera. Crane just walked up to him and clicked his neck. "As for you, sunshine, who are you going to show that to, eh? Newspapers? Television? Police?" Crane chuckled. "We own them all." The man gulped at that and quickly moved to run away, causing Crane to laugh as he walked back to the truck.

* * *

"There you are!" The Doctor called as he, Clara and Mickey walked up to see Rose sitting on the top part of a wooden bench. "You okay? No applause, we fixed it. 24 hours, then we're flying back to reality." The Doctor and Mickey sat on either side of her, while Clara stood in front of them. Rose had a distant look in her eyes and her phone lay in her grasp. "What is it?" The Doctor asked, already guessing the answer.

"My phone connected. There's this…Cybus Network, it finds your phone. It gave me internet access." Rose said in a small voice.

"Rose." Clara warned, making Rose look at said person standing in front of her. "Whatever it says, this is the wrong world."

"I don't exist." Rose said simply, making them blink.

"How'd you mean?"

"There's no Rose Tyler, I was never born. There's Pete, my Dad, and Jackie, he still married Mum, but they never had kids."

"Give me that phone." The Doctor interjected, reaching over to take it but Rose held it back.

"Rose." Clara warned but she ignored Clara.

"They're rich. They've got a house and…cars and everything they want. But they haven't got me." Rose moved to stand up off the bench and pocketed her phone. "I've got to see him."

"Rose, you can't go." Clara repeated.

"I just want to see him." Rose reiterated. "I've got the address and everything."

"We can't let you." The Doctor joined Clara, standing up from the bench.

Rose groaned. "You just said 24 hours!"

"You can't become their daughter!" Clara snapped. "You'll be leaving your own mother behind!"

"I don't want to leave her behind!" Rose interrupted.

"Then why do want to see him?!"

"Because I don't know him!" Rose exclaimed. Clara blinked and sighed, while Rose had to blink away a prickle in her eyes and she walked away.

"Rose?!" Clara called and now the Doctor got off the bench.

"Rose, come back here!" He ordered.

"I just want to see him!" Rose repeated, now with an irritated growl.

"You can't! Mickey, tell her!"

"24 hours, yeah?" Mickey repeated, getting off the bench and moving in the direction they came from.

The Doctor and Clara blinked. "Where are you going?!" The Doctor asked.

Mickey shrugged. "Well, I can do what I want."

"Stay where you are, both of you!" Clara ordered.

"Rose, come back here! Mickey, come back here right now!" The Doctor demanded.

"I can't! I've got things to see and all!" Mickey said.

"Like what?!"

"Well, you and Clara don't know anything about me, do you?!"

"You never said anything!"

"Because you never asked!" Mickey watched as the Doctor and Clara gazed at each other, trying to figure out what to do. "Go on, then." Mickey said. "Either one of you follows or neither, but the both of you can't chase after the two of us, and it won't be me. Besides, this is something I need to do on my own."

They glanced over at Mickey. "You really want to go wandering around alone?"

"I'll be fine." Mickey reassured. "Stay with Rose."

They both sighed and moved to follow Rose. "Back here, 24 hours!" They repeated to Mickey.

_"Yeah, if I haven't found something better."_ Mickey promised to himself before walking away.

**London Airstrip**

Pete almost gulped at the massive size of Lumic's zeppelin looming overhead, blocking out the view of the grey, cloudy sky as it hovered down to the Earth. He didn't have to stare at it for long, as a black car drove up, containing four men all dressed in black and white suits. One in the front passenger seat quickly got out and opened the door to the back, politely letting out the man in question, President Lyndon Germaine of Great Britain. A dark-skinned man at 5ft 10, just shy of 6ft and with short, cropped hair that was a blend of light brown and shy grey. Pete quickly walked up to the car with a smile, which the President returned.

"Mr. Tyler…what's the matter? Couldn't wait until tonight?" President Lyndon asked with a hint of playfulness as he and Pete shook hands.

"Mr. President, honoured. I'm on the fast-track program." He informed, and they began their walk towards the zeppelin, where they were bringing out the long stair ladder to the base door of the ship. "Cybus Industries have bought up my company, so I'm part of the firm now."

"Some people say they've bought my government." President Lyndon remarked.

Pete laughed. "I've never heard anybody say that, never." President Lyndon just cocked an eyebrow and Pete quickly performed his catchphrase, "You can trust me on this."

"I tried your drink, that Vitex stuff. It tastes like Pop." President Lyndon said honestly.

"Well, it IS Pop." He said obviously.

President Lyndon squinted one eye at him knowingly. "You made money by selling a health food drink to a sick world. Not quite the ordinary Joe you appear to be, are you?" Pete said nothing to that which made him smile before he looked at the zeppelin with a sigh. "He does like to keep us waiting." They continued walking until they got to the base of the stairs and then stopped. "But tell me, you've had a chance to observe John Lumic more than most. What's your opinion?"

Pete thought for a moment and nodded slightly. "He's very sharp, I'd say, sharp as ever. Very clever man. Brilliant, in fact."

"Then you don't think he's insane?"

Pete blinked. "That's not the word I would've used, no."

"I see." President Lyndon said simply before sighing. "He does like to keep us waiting." He remarked dryly before climbing the stairs, Pete following shortly after.

* * *

Mickey walked through the streets of London, gazing around to see if there were any difference in the buildings, but it all looked the same. This part seemed a bit more run down but that could just be because of the zeppelins in the sky. Coming to the underside of a bridge, Mickey found two soldiers had put up a barricade on the road with a traffic halt bar. "Am I all right to get past?" Mickey asked the first soldier.

"Yeah, no bother." The soldier responded. "Curfew doesn't start till 10."

Mickey blinked. "There's a curfew?"

The soldier scoffed. "Course there is. Where you been living, mate? Up there with the toffs?" He asked, pointing to the zeppelins in the sky.

"I wish." Mickey remarked, and the soldier shrugged, motioning for the other to raise the bar to let him pass.

* * *

"Mickey's mum just couldn't cope." Rose explained to Clara and the Doctor as they walked through another street of London. "His dad hung around for a while, but then he just sort of…wandered off. So, he was brought up by his gran." Rose smiled warmly in nostalgia. "She was such a great woman. God, she used to slap him!" She said with glee and they chuckled. Then Rose let her smile fade. "And then s-she died, she tripped and fell down the stairs. It was about 5 years ago now, I was still in school."

Clara sighed. "We never knew."

"You never asked." Rose retorted.

"You never said." Clara retorted back.

Rose shrugged. "That's Mickey. I suppose we…we just…take him for granted. Do you think she's still alive, his gran?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Could be. Like Clara said: Parallel world, gingerbread house. We need to get out of here as fast as we can." At that, there was a loud beeping ringing through the streets and everyone around them…stopped. They just stopped moving, standing completely still, and staring into the middle distance blankly.

"What're they all doing?" Rose asked.

"They've stopped." The Doctor said simply as she looked around. They continued moving through the people, looking at everyone for any kind of difference. They could only spot one: The ear pods. Leaning in close to one man with dark hair, the small ear pod had a blue light that was beeping continuously on a cycle, which everyone else seemed to be echoing. "It's the earpieces. Like Bluetooth attachments, but everyone's connected together."

Rose's phone went off, making her take it out to see the Cybus Network was downloading updates. "It's on my phone." She said, and they went over to stand beside her, the Doctor putting on his "Brainy Specs". "It's automatic. Is this what they're all getting?" Rose clicked through the update, seeing the brief summaries of her newly acquired data. "News, international news, sports, weather, TV schedules, lottery numbers."

"They get it direct." The Doctor deducted. "Downloaded right into their heads, all sharing the same information." He looked closer at the phone. "Daily download published by Cybus Industries."

_"Cybus"?_ Clara thought, her own gaze briefly filling with nervousness. _Cybus._ She repeated. The phone came up with a new message: Joke. At once, everyone around them started laughing, before moving on with their day as if nothing happened.

The Doctor sighed. "You lot, you're obsessed. You'd do anything for the latest upgrade." He remarked, taking Rose's phone to gaze through the data.

"Oi." Rose poked. "Not our lot. Different world remember?"

"It's not so far off your world. This place is only parallel." He stopped clicking, giving a quick blink at the info. "Ooh look at that. Cybus Industries, owners of just about every company in Britain including Vitex. Mr. Pete Tyler's very well connected." He and Clara shrugged at that and looked over at Rose, who was staring with her best puppy dog eyes. "No." The Doctor remarked but Rose just kept silently pleading.

"Rose." Clara tried but she ignored them, making them groan. "We're so going to regret this. Fine, let's go and see him." She said, needing something to take her mind off Cybus. That word was so familiar, but the kind of familiar like she didn't want to know what it meant.

* * *

_There it was_ , Mickey realised. Her old flat, still on Waterton Street, even with the same door and handle, everything. Moving up and reaching out with a shaking hand, he grasped the metal handle and knocked three times.

"Who's that there?!" Mickey breathed as the voice of his Gran came through the door, which immediately opened. There she was, sunglasses over her eyes to cover her blindness, with black hair mixed with grey and wearing a blue suit dress. She also carried a white walking cane with a light brown handle, almost unconsciously resting both hands on it instead of one. "Who is it? I know you're there. Shame on you, tricking an old lady. I've got nothing worth stealing. And don't think I'm gonna disappear. You're not gonna take me!" She threatened, holding up her cane in warning.

"Hi." Mickey said, and it made her stop.

"Is that you?" She asked, reaching out a hand.

Mickey smiled. "It's me. I came home."

"Rickey?" She asked, finally reaching her hand to cup his face.

"It's Mickey."

"I know my own grandson's name." She tutted, holding a finger in front of his face. "It's Rickey. Now, come here."

He relented, opening out his arms to bring her into a warm hug. "Okay, I'm Rickey. Of course, I am, Rickey, that's me." Then, she pulled out and smacked his face hard. "Ow!"

"You stupid boy!" She smacked his shoulder.

"Ow!"

"Where have you been?!" She smacked his other arm.

"Ow! Stop hitting me!"

"It's been days and days!" She exclaimed, making Mickey blink. "I keep hearing all these stories, people disappearing off the streets. There's nothing official on the download, but there are all these rumours and-and whispers. I thought they'd gone and disappeared you."

Mickey didn't really focus on her words, staring past her shoulder to the tear in the carpet on the stairs and he gulped. "That carpet on the stairs, I told you to get it fixed. You're gonna…" He gulped again to stop his voice breaking. "fall and break your neck."

"Well, you get it fixed for me." She snapped lightly.

"I should've done way back. I guess I'm just kind of useless."

"Now, I never said that." She said, her tone gentler now.

"I am, though." He protested, needing to blink away a few tears prickling his eyes. "And I'm sorry, Gran, I'm so sorry."

"Don't talk like that." She stopped him. "Do you know what you need? A nice sit down and a cup of tea. You got time?"

"For you, I've got all the time in the world." He said honestly.

She laughed cheerfully. "Oh, you say that, but it's all talk." She shook her head. "It's those new friends of yours. I don't trust them."

Mickey blinked, now thoroughly confused. "What friends are they?"

"Don't pretend you don't know!" She huffed. "You've been seen. Mrs. Chan told me. Driving about all Helter Skelter in that van."

"What van's that, then?" He asked as the screeching of tires came from around the corner.

"You know full well. Don't play games with me! Now, get inside!" She snapped.

Mickey blinked as a big, blue van screeched to a halt beside him, before a man with spikey hair, almost like a backstreet boy dove out and grabbed his arms. "I've been looking for you everywhere!" He yelled, pushing a freaked Mickey into the back of the van. The man closed the door behind them and the van pulled away, Mickey looking around in confusion. There was a woman with short white hair in the drivers seat, while he was stuck in the cramped back of the van with the backstreet boy. "Rickey, you were the one who told us. You don't contact your family cause it puts them in danger."

Mickey blinked in bewilderment. "Yeah, Rickey said that." _Whoever these guys are, they seem to know my alternate me, at the very least on a colleague level._ "Course I did. Just testing. Remind me who you guys are?"

The man scrunched his face in confusion. "Rickey, you know us. Jake and Mrs. Moore." He motioned between the two.

Mickey cleared his throat to hide his predicament. "Sorry."

Jake grinned. "I saw them. I taped them. They went round Blackfriars, gathering up the homeless like the child catcher. They must've taken four dozen."

"The trucks were hired out to a company called "International Electromatics"." Mrs. Moore inputted. "But I did a protocol search. Turns out that's a dummy company established by guess who?"

"I don't know. Who?" Mickey asked.

"Cybus Industries!" They groaned in unison.

"But now, we've got evidence." Jake reassured.

"But the bad news is, they've arrested Thin Jimmy. So that just leaves you."

"Leaves me what?" Mickey asked, dreading the answer.

"The number one." Jake said with a smug grin. "Top of the list. London's most wanted."

Mickey snorted. "Okay, cool." _Wait, what?_ "Say that again?"

* * *

Peter Tyler and President Lyndon sat at a long table, watching a presentation pitch while John Lumic sat in his wheelchair behind them, breathing the medicinal chemicals from his gas mask to calm his burning lungs.

_"The most precious thing on this Earth is the Human brain, and yet we allow it to die."_ Lumic's voice rang from the presentation as it showed a brain in a skeleton. _"But now, Cybus Industries has perfected a way of sustaining the brain indefinitely within a cradle of copyrighted chemicals. And the latest advances in synapse research allows cyberkinetic impulses to be bonded onto a metal exoskeleton. This is the ultimate upgrade, our greatest step into Cyberspace."_

"I'm sorry." President Lyndon interrupted. "Could we stop at that?" Lumic immediately drew back the mask, staring at the President with his own mask of restrained outrage, hiding the bubbling, knowing terror beneath. "I don't need the pitch. I think we all know what this ultimate upgrade entails. And I'm here to tell you, John, the answer is no. My government does not give you permission, and I think no government ever will." He stands up from his seat at that, Peter echoing his movement.

"I've prepared a paper for the Ethical Committee." Lumic protests.

"Oh, come on." President Lyndon scoffed. "It's not just unethical, it's obscene."

"Mr. President, if I might make a personal plea." He nodded. "I am dying, sir."

President Lyndon gave him a sad look. "I'm aware of that and I'm very sorry."

"Without this project, you have condemned me. My inventions have advanced this whole planet. Would you have all that perish?"

"You're a fine businessman, John, but you're not God." Lumic gave a slight gulp and President Lyndon sighed. "I'm really very sorry, but I think we should end it there." He gazed over at Peter. "Mr. Tyler, I'll see you tonight. I think we could all do with a drink." Peter nodded in agreement. "Mr. Lumic." He said in farewell, before leaving the room. As he left, Lumic's gaze hardened into steel and his decision was made.

"Still…" Peter said, turning to Lumic with his characteristically accurate grin. "It's not the only country in the world. There's always New Germany."

"This is the homeland. My birthplace. You may leave." He ordered.

"Thank you, sir." Peter left the room and Lumic quickly turned his chair around to the monitor behind him.

"Mr. Crane."

* * *

Inside a large computer room within a laboratory, Mr. Crane pressed a few keys to answer Lumic's call, causing his face to pop up on a large screen at the front of the room. "Ready and waiting, sir."

_"Did the override work?"_

He shrugged. "Well, it needs a bit of fine tuning. We weren't exactly delicate, given the rush, but uh, yeah, yeah. It's all working." He stood up, taking a black remote and moved up to the homeless men they had recently…acquired, all of them staring blankly with beeping ear pods, rather like mindless slaves. "I've been testing the system, sir." He informed, standing before one of them and gently patting the ear pods. "They've grafted on a treat, these have. Given a little persuasion." He quickly backtracked, earning a small puzzled blink from Lumic. "If you care to observe, sir." Lumic gave a small nod, Crane missing him holding back a sigh as he moved into the centre of the room and held out the remote, pressing a large command button. "And…turn to the right." They all did as they were ordered, their backs turned towards a nearby door where a patient worker stood. Crane pressed the button again. "And…back to the left." Crane gave a small chuckle as they obeyed again.

_"Are you having fun, Mr. Crane?"_ Lumic asked sarcastically, making Crane turn back sheepishly.

"Oh, no, no, no. Not at all, sir, no. It's just…well, it's, uh…irresistible."

_"Then resist and start the upgrade."_

Crane breathed out a bit in surprise. "Did we get permission?"

Lumic clenched his jaw. _"I am governed by greater laws, old friend, the right of a man to survive. Now, begin!"_ He ordered before cutting off the link, causing static to flare on the monitor for a few seconds before a worker cut off the link at their end.

Crane just sighed, turned back to the men, and pressed the remote button. "And…turn to the left." They did so. "Forward march." They walked up to the nearby door, where the patient worker opened it for them, letting out the agonised screams of everyone that was being upgraded flood the room, causing everyone but the brainless men to flinch. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. L-Let's cover up that noise." He quickly said. "Uh…give us track number 19." At that, they played the music, Crane and the workers humming along, just letting it drown out the screams.

_In the jungle, the mighty jungle_

_The lion sleeps tonight_

_In the jungle, the quiet jungle_

_The lion sleeps tonight_

" _A-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh._ "

* * *

The blue van pulled up to a lonely and abandoned brown mansion. Well…if you could call a single light on inside the building abandoned. Jake thought so, as he opened the back door to let Mickey out.

"There's a light on. There's someone inside the base. Mrs. Moore, we've got visitors." He said.

Mrs. Moore exited the front seat, quickly coming over with a large black bag where she took out two loaded pistols and handed one to Jake. "Took them long enough." She quipped, and they rushed up towards the building, moving through the back entrance towards the room they had been stationed in. They're own messy, cramped base of operations.

They could hear a single pair of footsteps pacing about in the room and Jake carefully grasped the door handle. "One, two, three. Go!" Him and Mrs. Moore pushed open the door and aimed their pistols inside. Then, they stopped, letting their guard down in shock. There, standing by a curtain drawn window, to Mickey's icy shock was…himself. Except this one was clad in the same black leather garb as the two with him.

"What the hell are you doing?" The alternate Mickey, quite possibly Rickey, demanded as he moved away from the window. His own demeanour screamed difference and, to Mickey's sliver of delight, angsty edgyness. But now wasn't the time to snigger when you could be in danger.

Jack and Mrs. Moore looked back and forth between Mickey and Rickey. "What are you doing there?!" Jake demanded in bewilderment.

Rickey blinked, glaring embers at Mickey. "What am I doing _here_? Better yet, what am I doing _there_?" He retorted, pointing right at Mickey.

Jake and Mrs. Moore quickly turned their guns on Mickey, who held his hands up in defence. _Well…shit._

* * *

"They've got visitors." Clara remarked as she, the Doctor and Rose hid in the shadows of the trees outside the Tyler Residence.

"February the 1st. Mum's birthday." Rose informed. "Even in a parallel universe, she still loves a party."

"Well, given Pete Tyler's guest list, I wouldn't mind a look." The Doctor said. "And there is one guaranteed way of getting inside…"

"Psychic paper." Clara squealed slightly as the Doctor took said item out of his overcoat.

"Reminds me, I forgot to get you one." The Doctor said to Clara.

"Ah." She shrugged. "Worry about that when we get back to our world."

"Fair enough. Who do you want to be?"

Half an Hour Later…

"Is this a prank?" Rose growled. She and Clara had changed into white and black waitress outfits while the Doctor had changed into a matching tuxedo. Clara and Rose carried food sticks on their trays while the Doctor had to balance eight glasses of champagne on his. Walking out of the kitchens, they passed by the stairwell and through into the living room, where all the guests were chattering away, their voices along with someone playing, to the trio, a rather dull tune on the piano, created a loud roar in the room that allowed them to talk amongst themselves. Of course, they had to be mindful of the guests wanting their food or drinks, always ready to flash a bright smile at everyone. "We could've been anyone."

"Got us in, didn't it?" Clara defended the Doctor.

"Yes, but you could've snatched the psychic paper from him. You could've made us guests, celebrities. Sir Doctor with Dame's Clara and Rose."

"But then we would have to be properly interacting with everyone. Here, we just need to flash them a smile."

Rose groaned. "I did enough of serving back home."

"And I wasn't always a fan of interacting with children on a daily basis, but it got the job done."

Rose scoffed. "You can talk."

"What did you say?" Clara growled as they continued walking through the room.

"Ladies." The Doctor interrupted. "Stop it. If you want to know what goes on at a party, work in the kitchens." He gazed around the room, before nudging Clara, which got Rose's attention out of the corner of her eye, and they turned their gaze to President Lyndon. "According to Lucy, that man over there-"

"Who's Lucy?" Clara snapped.

The Doctor gulped at her tone. "She's…carrying the salmon pinwheels." Clara looked over at where he nodded, seeing a brunette with her hair tied up behind her head.

"Oh, THAT's Lucy, is it?" She asked.

"I was just talking." The Doctor squeaked. "I didn't mean to make you jealous."

Clara sighed. "Well, you did it anyway, you bloody idiot."

He just took her absent hand and kissed her palm. "Can I make it up to you?" He asked earnestly.

She just smirked at him, waggling her eyebrows and letting her inner jealously melt away. "Yes. You'd better do that."

"Do your flirting later, children." Rose poked sarcastically.

"Sorry." They said in unison.

"Anyway, Lucy said that he…" Nodding back to who they had been looking at earlier, "is the President of Great Britain."

"What, there's a President, not a Prime Minister?" Rose interjected with blinking eyes, Clara doing the same.

He shrugged. "Seems so."

"Or maybe Lucy's a thick idiot." Clara growled, earning a laugh from the two, making her smile.

"Excuse me, thank you very much!" Peter called above everyone, the roar of chatter quieting down as they all turned to look at the man, standing up on the stairwell. "Thank you. If I could just have your attention for a moment." Everyone stopped talking, including the TARDIS trio, with Rose staring at him in wide eyed disbelief. "Um…I'd just like to say thank you to you all for coming on this, uh, this very special occasion. My wife's…39th." Everyone laughed at that and Pete had to contain his own grin. "Trust me on this." He said with a thumbs up, making everyone laugh harder. "And so, without any further ado, here she is. The birthday girl and my lovely wife…Jackie Tyler." Peter motioned up the stairs where Jackie came down, dressed in a figure-hugging black dress and her hair wrapped up in a short length around her head. Everyone gave a round of applause at her entrance and she waved with a beaming grin, coming down to stand beside Peter.

"Now, I'm not giving a speech." Jackie said with her hands clasped together as everyone calmed down. "That's what my parties are famous for. No work, no politics. Just a few good mates, with some lovely champagne…and plenty of black-market whiskey." Everyone laughed at that before Jackie coughed sheepishly. "Pardon me, Mr. President." President Lyndon just rolled his eyes, despite his smirk. "So, yeah, get on with it. Enjoy. Enjoy." Everyone clapped in applause again, Jackie taking Peter's hand and he led her down the stairs, past a wide-eyed Rose, just as Clara leaned into her.

"You can't stay, Rose." Clara whispered. "Even if there was some way of telling them."

"Course I can't." Rose agreed, taking a sharp breath. "I've still got my mum at home, my real mum. I can't just leave her, can I? It's just…" Rose sighed. "They've got each other. Mum's got no one."

"Don't talk about your own mother like that." Clara snapped, making Rose flinch. "She's got you, those two haven't. You can say you love her Rose, but you need to stop taking her for granted."

Rose blinked, shuffling as she looked down at the floor. "Sorry." She muttered.

Clara sighed as the Doctor placed a hand on her shoulder. "All these different worlds, not one of them gets it right." Clara muttered under her breath.

"Rose!" Jackie exclaimed gleefully, followed quickly by the dog Rose barking as she pounced into the room, dashing straight towards Jackie. "There's my little girl. Come to Mummy! Come to Mummy! Yes, good girl!" Jackie reached down and heaved up the dog Rose into her arms, carrying her out of the room. Rose deflated at the sight, glancing everywhere before her gaze landed back on the main pair, who was gazing at her blankly before quickly bursting into laughter, earning a hurt look from Rose, making them stop.

"Sorry." They muttered in unison. Rose just sighed but they saw her give a ghost of a thankful smile just out of the corner of her eye.

**Cybus Factory Backlot, Battersea**

Crane almost winced at the thundering sound of the large platoon of Cybermen boarding into one of the masked black trucks of Cybus. He glanced around, seeing one of the truck drivers, a 30 something man with black hair, staring at the Cybermen in utter shock and he walked over.

**"Platoon 02 now boarding. Platoon 02 now boarding."** One of the Cyber Leader's reported.

"Stop staring." Crane told the shocked driver.

"Who are they, sir?" He asked.

"I'm told they're the future. Isn't technology wonderful?" The driver kept staring at the Cybermen and Crane rolled his eyes. "Go on. Get into the cab. Start her up." He ordered.

"Sir." The driver nodded, moving away, still glancing at the Cybermen.

Crane's ear pods rang the notification of an incoming call from Lumic and he answered. _"Mr. Crane. Are we mobile?"_

"Just about to hit the road, sir. And yourself?"

_"I'm arriving, Mr. Crane. Prepare the factory."_ Crane blinked, looking up into the sky above the factory, spotting Lumic's zeppelin getting closer towards them. _"Now, send them forth, old friend. Let the good work begin."_

**The Preacher's Hideout**

Mickey, stripped down only to a pair of black boxers, was bound in restraints to a wooden chair in the centre of the room. Jake ran a small blue scanner up and down his body, the scanner linked to a computer being monitored by Mrs. Moore while Rickey stood silently away, his arms crossed with a puzzled scowl on his face. Mrs. Moore just put a hand to her face with a sigh, making Jake stop.

"Nothing?" He asked.

"Nothing." She answered. "He's clean. No bugs whatsoever."

"But this is off the scale." Rickey commented, uncrossing his arms, and walked over, still staring straight at Mickey while Jake stood up and backed away a few steps. "I mean, he's flesh and blood. How did that happen?"

"Well, it could be that Cybus Industries have perfected the science of Human cloning." Mrs. Moore offered. "Or your father had a bike."

Jake smirked at that, but Rickey just clenched his jaw and started to slowly circle around Mickey. "And your name is Mickey, not Rickey?"

"Mickey." He nodded. "Dad was Jackson Smith. Used to work at the key cutters in Clifton's Parade. Went to Spain, never came back."

"But that's MY dad." Rickey pointed out, leaning down. "So…we're brothers?" He asked dryly with a shrug.

"Be fair." Jake inputted. "What else could it be?"

Rickey shook his head slowly. "I don't know. But he doesn't just look like me, he is exactly the same. There is something else going on here, Jake."

"S-So, who are you lot?" Mickey interrupted.

"We?" Rickey asked, standing up with a small smile, circling Mickey counter-clockwise. "We are "The Preachers", as in gospel truth. You see?" He pointed to both his ears, which were empty. "No ear pods. While the rest of the world downloads from Cybus Industries, we-WE-have got freedom. You're talking to London's most wanted." Rickey snarled, making Mickey blink. "But target number one is Lumic and we ARE going to bring him down."

Mickey quickly glanced around. "From your kitchen?"

Rickey glanced at Jake, who sent him a small smirk of amusement. "Have you got a problem with that?" Rickey asked.

"No." Mickey quickly said. "It's a good kitchen." Rickey shook his head while Mrs. Moore's computer beeped with a notification.

"It's an upload from Gemini." She said.

"Who's Gemini?" Mickey asked.

"The vans are back." She informed, ignoring his question. "They're moving out of Battersea. Looks like Gemini was right. Lumic's finally making a move."

"And we are right behind him. Pack up. We're leaving." Rickey ordered.

* * *

Rose, having been given a new tray of champagne glasses, down to the last four, was staring around the room, discreetly following the alternate Jackie with wide eyes. _Remember Rose, it's not her._ She admonished in her head. But still, it looked and acted so much like her, but only…more abrasive and louder with none of the gentle warmth that her own mother knew to use so well. _I miss her. I miss her so much._ Rose looked down in sadness at that, now starting to wish they could get back home-

"I remember her 21st." Pete said, startling her out of her own thoughts as he stared at Jackie with a distant smile. "Pint of cider in the George."

There was Pete, the only thing about this world that seemed so much like her own. Then again, she barely knew her own father, even when she had more time. Rose shook her head to silence her head. "Sorry, sir, champagne?" She offered.

He glanced down at the tray and shrugged. "Oh, might as well. I'm paying for it." They chuckled lightly at that as he took a sip.

"It's a big night for you."

He shook his head. "For her. Still, she's happy."

"Yeah, she should be." Rose agreed. "It's a great party."

His raised his eyebrows in genuine surprise. "Do you think?"

Rose bit her lip. "You can trust me." She said with a grin, doing a thumbs up.

Pete chuckled but he shook his head. "Uh-uh. You can trust me on _this_." He said with a wink making Rose laugh.

"That's it. Sorry, yeah." He kept chuckling right into his next sip of champagne. "So, um, how long have you two been married?"

"20 years."

Rose blinked. "No kids or…"

He gave a small sigh, a glint of sadness in his eyes. "We kept putting it off. She said she didn't want to spoil her figure."

"It's not too late. She's only 40."

"39." He corrected.

Rose smirked. "Yeah, sure. 39." They laughed at that again for a bit before Pete sighed.

"Still, too late. I moved out last month." Rose blinked, getting a look of sadness in her eyes that she had to hide. "But we're going to keep it quiet, you know. It's bad for business." Rose gave a small nod while he started to blink incredulously. "Why am I telling you all this? We haven't met before, have we?"

"No." Rose said. "Why?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "You just seem…sort of…"

"What?"

"I don't know. Just sort of…right." Rose had to blink to stop a tear prickling her eye while Pete shook his head, moving away with a grin. "Stevie! How's things? How's it going at Torchwood?" He asked to one of the guests, their conversation drowning away.

* * *

The Preachers van was parked in a hiding spot amongst trees, just hidden from the Tyler Residence. The gang was stalking one of the dummy trucks from Cybus, where a couple of workers had stopped and were exiting, starting to unlock the back. Mickey and Mrs. Moore sat in the front seat of the van while Rickey and Jake, both armed with rifles and carrying a walkie, lay hidden in a nearby bush.

"I don't know what they're doing but this seems to be the target. Big house, fair bit of money. Now we've just got to find a way to get in there." Rickey said.

_"I've identified the address."_ Mrs. Moore inputted through the walkie. _"It belongs to Peter Tyler, the Vitex millionaire."_

_"Pete Tyler?"_ Mickey whispered.

_"He's listed as one of Lumic's henchmen, a traitor to the state."_ Mrs. Moore answered both informing Mickey and Rickey.

_"Well…we've got to get in there."_

"Now, shut it, duplicate. That's what I just said." Rickey retorted. The workers finished opening the back, bringing out a steel platform for whatever was inside. "What're they doing?" Rickey muttered. The answer was the thundering sound of metal footsteps, large men of silver steel stomping slowly out of the truck. "What the hell are they?" Rickey asked, but no one answered. They just silently echoed his question.

* * *

Rose walked up to one of the glass doors of the house, seeing Jackie standing outside silently, moving over to a small bench out of view. Rose put down her tray, still with two glasses of champagne on it, and opened the door to step outside. Jackie was staring out with a gloomy expression in her eyes, which made Rose clear her throat. "Mrs. Tyler is there anything I can get you?"

Jackie glanced over. "The last twenty years back." She quipped dryly before chuckling to herself.

"I can manage a glass of champagne?" She offered, but Jackie didn't respond, so she tried again. "Or a nice cup of tea?"

"Oh, that'd do me." Jackie said, now properly smiling.

Rose chuckled, moving to sit beside Jackie. "My mum loves that. End of a long night, she never goes straight to bed. She always stays up just to have that last cup of tea."

"Oh, I'm the same." Jackie commented, still smiling, now getting a dreamy look regarding tea.

Rose smirked. "Two sugars."

"And me. And Pete always says, "You know…"." At that, she stopped, regaining her gloomy expression just at the mention of his name. "Ah, never mind him."

Rose gazed off briefly, giving a small sigh. _I know they're not the same, but they are a couple in danger of leaving each other. I've got to give them a chance._ "I was talking to him earlier. He's a nice man." Rose glanced up briefly in small playfulness. "You know…bit of a jack the lad, I suppose, even if he has got money, but…he's a good bloke. He's worth a second chance."

Jackie looked at her properly again, but her expression was that of glaring, burning flames, that made Rose inwardly sigh. _Never mind. Pete's more like your own dad than this Jackie is like your own mum._ "Are you commenting on my marriage?" She snarled.

Rose blinked. It still hurt to hear someone who looked and sounded like her mother behave so cruelly. "No, I was just-"

"Who the hell do you think you are? You're staff. You're nothing but staff. You're just the serving girl for god's sake. And you are certainly not getting paid. Don't you dare talk to me." Jackie immediately stood up and moved back inside the house, still glaring at Rose, who once she was out of sight, breathed out deeply and put her face in her hands.

* * *

Clara walked silently through the people of the party, her empty food tray tucked under her arm. Clara's attention however was gained by an office door left ajar, seeing the computer inside still on, sitting patiently in sleep mode. Quickly glancing around her, she saw no one looking, except for the Doctor who had finished handing out his champagne glasses. She quickly motioned with her head for him to follow and she silently crept into the room, carefully placing the tray down on the table as the Doctor followed her inside. He also placed his tray atop hers before he put on his "Brainy Specs" and leant onto the desk, Clara moving up beside him.

"So, what've we got here?" The Doctor muttered. Quickly using his sonic and his own computer skills, he got inside the computer to view a video file narrated by John Lumic, showing a schematic animation of a Human being.

_"The most precious thing on this Earth is the Human brain, and yet we allow it to die. But now, Cybus Industries has perfected a way of sustaining the brain indefinitely within a cradle of copyrighted chemicals."_

"Cybus?" Clara muttered, leaning in, her own blinking eyes widening as she listened.

_"And the latest advances in synapse research allows cyberkinetic impulses to be bonded onto a metal exoskeleton. This is the ultimate upgrade, our greatest step into Cyberspace."_

The schematic showed two metal rods extending from the Human's ear pods, moving up in a rectangular motion to join above his head. "No." Clara said, her own breathing hitching. "No, it can't! It can't be!" She quickly flung open the door, the Doctor moving after her, said man already knowing what she was afraid of. Moving back into the unaware party, they saw Rose standing by a window and looking at them with wide eyes, so they moved to join her. Outside, even through the window, they could hear the thundering march of the Cybermen, seeing their silhouettes getting closer in the darkness of the night. "No, it can't be." Clara muttered. "They're happening again."

Rose's eyes widened while the Doctor stared out in realization. "Oh my god." Rose muttered. "They're-"

"Cybermen." Clara finished with a growl, clenching her jaw. The Cybermen kept advancing up to the house, drawing the bewildered and bemused expressions of the party guests until they approached the windows, raised their fists and smashed the glass. The guests started to scream and shriek in panic as the metal horde smashed and kicked the glass down, quickly marching in to corner everyone, guest and staff alike into a large huddled in the living room. The Doctor quickly grasped Clara's hand while they both sought Rose's arms to hold her close.

President Lyndon's ear pod created a ringing notification and he answered, deciding to use speaker since they all would know who it was. "Mr. Lumic." He greeted dully.

_"Mr. President."_ Lumic returned, his own voice coming out of President Lyndon's ear pods. _"I suppose a remark about crashing the party would be appropriate at this point, sir."_ He finished with a dark laugh.

"I forbade this!" President Lyndon snarled.

_"These are my children, sir. Would you deny my family?"_

"Who were these people?"

_"Does it matter?"_ Lumic growled sarcastically.

"It always matters." Clara snarled under her breath.

"What's happened to them?" Rose asked.

"Their brain was taken out and jammed inside a cybernetic body, with a heart of steel, all emotions removed." Clara said, glaring daggers at the Cybermen. She didn't show it, but the Doctor grasped her hand tighter for he guessed it, that she was still afraid of them. Even if SHE was gone.

"Why no emotions?"

"Because it hurts." Clara informed. "Except for when they become an A.I Cyberplanner. Then it becomes irrelevant."

"I demand to know, Lumic!" President Lyndon exclaimed. "These people, who were they?!"

_"They were homeless and wretched and useless until I saved them and elevated them and gave them life eternal. And now I leave you in their capable hands. Good night, sir. Good night, Mr. President."_

Once the call was cut off, one of the Cybermen, presumably their Leader, stepped forward in front of President Lyndon. **"We have been upgraded."** It said, the mouth slit lighting up as it spoke.

"Into what?" The Doctor asked.

**"The next level of mankind. We are Human.2. Every citizen will receive a free upgrade. You will become like us."**

"I'm sorry." President Lyndon said with pity. "I'm so sorry for what's been done to you. But listen to me…this experiment ends tonight." He said with finality.

**"Upgrading is compulsory."**

"And if I refuse?"

"Don't." Clara warned.

"What if I refuse?"

"Stop it." Clara warned but he ignored her again.

"What happens if I refuse?"

**"Then you are not compatible."**

"What happens then?" He asked, stepping forward in defiance.

**"You will be deleted."** Without warning, the Leader reached out and grasped President Lyndon's shoulder, sending thousands of volts into the man, instantly killing him to everyone's horror. His death triggered a domino effect, causing everyone to scream and shriek in terror as they tried to escape the room, the Cybermen having to be quick on their stomping feet as they caught and shocked to death anyone that was in their way. The Doctor, Clara and Rose quickly moved through the chaos to exit the house, while Pete closely followed their trail, still looking back.

"Jackie!" He called, trying to see his wife. "Jackie!"

"Clara, we can't leave them!" Rose protested as she and the Doctor closely followed Clara out of one of the smashed windows.

"Listen to me right now, Rose Tyler, there is nothing we can do!" Clara snapped. "Now move it!" Trying to run back in the direction of the house gates, they found that it was surrounded by the oncoming horde of Cybermen, so they turned to rush around the house, just catching the moving blur of Pete diving out of one of the windows.

"Pete! Pete!" Rose called, gaining his attention and he rushed to sprint after them.

"Pete is there a way out?" The Doctor asked as they glanced around the massive lot.

"The side gates." He nodded for them to follow. "Who are you two? How do you know so much?"

"Trust me Pete," Clara shrugged as they ran, "you wouldn't believe it in a million years-" Clara was cut off just like their route as Cybermen appeared from around another corner of the house, causing them to rush deeper into the back lot of the Residence.

"Who's that?!" Rose asked, the group seeing two silhouettes coming out of the darkness, both apparently armed with a weapon, most likely a rifle.

"Get behind me!" Mickey's voice, even though it was really Rickey, yelled, making the group rush behind him and Jake as they fired at the Cybermen. Despite the loud gunfire, the bullets did nothing but bounce off the Cybermen's armour, not even leaving a scratch.

"Good to see you. Thought you had disappeared for good." Rose smiled, patting Rickey's back.

Rickey glanced at her in complete confusion. "Yeah, no offence, but who the hell are you?" The TARDIS trio blinked, before they heard a pair of footsteps rushing up to them.

"Rose!" Mickey called, making their eyes widen as he caught up, the Cybermen still getting closer. "That's not me. That's, like, the other one." He quickly said despite his panting.

"Oh, as if things weren't bad enough, there's two Mickeys?" The Doctor quipped.

"It's Rickey." Rickey inputted, making the Doctor blink with a small smirk.

"But there's more of them." Mickey pointed out, returning their attention to the Cybermen, who were quickly encircling them, closing off any escape path from the metal horde. Rickey and Jake raised their guns, making Clara growl again.

"Put the guns down. Bullets won't stop them." Jake ignored her and started firing, making her rush over and shove the gun out of his grasp. "No! Stop shooting now!"

"But-"

Clara smacked Jake, making everyone blink in shock. "Shut up!" She turned back, standing in front of the group. "Put your hands up. We surrender!" She called to the Cybermen, who quickly moved up to stand around the group in a large circle. Everyone quickly put their hands up, even Clara. "There's no need to damage us. We're good stock." She said just as the Cybermen stopped moving. "We volunteer for the upgrade program. Take us to be processed."

"What's she doing?" Rose whispered to the Doctor.

"Trying to give them a chance." He whispered back.

The Cyber Leader stepped forward, staring emotionlessly at Clara. It didn't say anything for a moment, and she guessed that they were scanning her silent brain. **"You are the only non-rogue element."**

"But my friends also surrendered." She protested.

**"You are compatible. They are incompatible."**

"But this is a surrender!"

**"You will be spared from being deleted."**

"But we're surrendering!" She exclaimed, her own voice high with fear. "Listen to me! We surrender!"

**"You are Cyber Planner material, but your companions are inferior. Man will be reborn as Cyberman, but they will perish under maximum deletion."** The Cybermen punched their hands to their chests before reaching their arms out, staring at the group behind Clara. **"Delete! Delete! Delete!"**

**AN: To be continued! Ayyy, I love me some Cybermen. That and I really enjoyed writing John Lumic and Crane. Especially Crane. I will say that I struggled on whether Mickey would be by himself or would get the Doctor for accompaniment. I decided, for the two parter, that he should be on his own. Anyway, as always, thank you for reading and leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	35. The Age of Steel

**The Age of Steel**

**Tyler Residence  
** February 1st, 2007

"But there's more of them." Mickey pointed out, returning their attention to the Cybermen, who were quickly encircling them, closing off any escape path from the metal horde. Rickey and Jake raised their guns, making Clara growl again.

"Put the guns down. Bullets won't stop them." Jake ignored her and started firing, making her rush over and shove the gun out of his grasp. "No! Stop shooting now!"

"But-"

Clara smacked Jake, making everyone blink in shock. "Shut up!" She turned back, standing in front of the group. "Put your hands up. We surrender!" She called to the Cybermen, who quickly moved up to stand around the group in a large circle. Everyone quickly put their hands up, even Clara. "There's no need to damage us. We're good stock." She said just as the Cybermen stopped moving. "We volunteer for the upgrade program. Take us to be processed."

"What's she doing?" Rose whispered to the Doctor.

"Trying to give them a chance." He whispered back.

The Cyber Leader stepped forward, staring emotionlessly at Clara. It didn't say anything for a moment, and she guessed that they were scanning her silent brain. **"You are the only non-rogue element."**

"But my friends also surrendered." She protested.

**"You are compatible. They are incompatible."**

"But this is a surrender!"

**"You will be spared from being deleted."**

"But we're surrendering!" She exclaimed, her own voice high with fear. "Listen to me! We surrender!"

**"You are Cyber Planner material, but your companions are inferior. Man will be reborn as Cyberman, but they will perish under maximum deletion."** The Cybermen punched their hands to their chests before reaching their arms out, staring at the group behind Clara. **"Delete! Delete! Delete!"**

Clara clenched her jaw and clicked her neck, letting her fear melt away into cold rage. "I don't think so." She snarled before raising her hand out to the Leader, the crystal in her grasp shooting out a stream of golden energy that struck the Leader in the head, causing it to recoil in screaming agony. The energy then continued to stream, bouncing off the Leader and onto all the Cybermen that were surrounding the group, causing everyone to echo the Leader's actions and screams. Then, they all quickly disintegrated in a stream of golden dust, evaporating like steam and water until they were completely gone.

"What the hell was that?!" Rickey asked as everyone except the Doctor stared at what Clara did with wide eyes.

"Or how about instead, run!" She ordered, causing them all to spring into action again, as more Cybermen started to move from up the house and from the edge of the lot, slowly but surely moving to encircle them again. They didn't get a chance however, as Mrs. Moore, honking repeatedly on her horn, raced up to them in the blue van, rolling down her window.

"Everybody in!" Mrs. Moore ordered, making Rickey and Jake race up to scramble into the front seats of the van beside her.

Pete tried to run back to the house, but the Doctor got in his path, holding him back. "I've got to go back! My wife's in there!" Pete protested.

"Anyone inside that house is dead." The Doctor said. "If you want to help, then don't let her die for nothing, but you've got to come with us right now." Pete relented, allowing the Doctor to move him back in the direction of the van. Rose stopped moving when she overheard what the Doctor had said, standing still and staring at the house, making Clara tug her arm.

"Rose, she's not your mother." Clara said.

Rose glanced at her and quickly nodded, despite her distant stare. "I know." At that, Clara led Rose to follow the Doctor and Pete into the back of the van, where the doors were being held open by Mickey. They climbed inside, the Doctor and Clara sitting together with Mickey while Rose and Pete sat opposite them.

"Finished chatting?!" Mrs. Moore called sarcastically. "Never seen a slower getaway in my life!" She then drove them all away, getting out of the quickly surrounded Residence and heading straight for the highways, the group needing to turn on the lights inside the van to see themselves.

Clara took out the crystal in her possession, which had stopped glowing after she used it on the Cybermen, making her look worried. She was about to ask when the Doctor placed a hand on hers. "It's still recharging. One blast can't stop it." He reassured. Clara gave him a grateful smile before her gaze went distant again.

"What was that thing?" Rickey asked, pointing at the crystal.

"Little bit of technology from my home." The Doctor explained.

"It's stopped glowing." Mickey pointed out. "You said it was recharging. How'd you mean?"

"A revitalizing loop." The Doctor explained. "It'll charge back up in about four hours."

"Right. So we don't have a weapon anymore." Rickey said dryly.

"Yeah, we've got weapons." Jake inputted. "Might not work on those metal things, but they're good enough for men like him." Jake growled, staring straight at Pete.

"Leave him alone!" Rose defended. "What's he done wrong?!"

"Oh, you know, just laid a trap that's wiped out the government and left Lumic in charge." Jake retorted.

"If I was part of all that, do you think I'd leave my wife inside?" Pete interrupted.

"Maybe your plan went wrong." Rickey interrupted with a shrug. "Still gives us the right to execute you, though."

"Talk about executions and you'll make us your enemy. Take some really good advice, you don't want to do that." The Doctor warned.

Rickey sighed, giving a small shake of his head. "All the same, we have evidence that says Pete Tyler's been working for Lumic's since 20.5."

Everyone just stared at Pete, even Rose whose eyes were wide with disbelief. "Is that true?" Pete didn't answer.

"Tell them, Mrs. M." Rickey said.

"We've got a government mole who feeds us information." Mrs. Moore chimed in, glancing back every now and then while staring at the road ahead. "Lumic's private files, his South American operations, the lot. Secret broadcasts twice a week."

"Broadcasts from Gemini?" Pete asked.

His response perked up both Rickey and Jake's attention. "And how do you know that?"

"I'M Gemini. That's me."

"Yeah, well, you would say that." Rickey reasoned.

"Encrypted wavelength 657 using binary 9." Pete said, making the pair blink, sharing a quick look that radiated realization. "That's the only reason I was working for Lumic, to get information." He sighed. "I thought I was broadcasting to the security services. What do I get? Scooby-Doo and his gang. They even got the van!" He remarked.

The Doctor gave a "Mmm, okay" look while Clara cocked an eyebrow. "No, no, no, but the Preachers know what they're doing." Mickey protested. "Rickey said he's London's most wanted."

Rickey now looked incredibly sheepish. "Yeah, that's not exactly…"

"Not exactly what?"

"I'm London's most wanted for…parking tickets." Mickey stared at him incredulously, the Doctor and Clara shared an amused look, Rose tried to not look amused while Pete sighed.

"Great." He muttered under his breath, but Rickey heard.

"Yeah, they were deliberate. I was fighting the system. Park anywhere, that's me."

"Good policy." The Doctor commented. "I do much the same. I'm the Doctor, by the way, if anyone's interested and this is Clara." Clara waved.

"And I'm Rose." Rose greeted. "Hello."

"Even better. That's the name of my dog." Pete remarked. "Still, at least I've got the catering staff on my side."

"I knew you weren't a traitor." Rose reassured.

"Why's that, then?" He asked.

The Doctor and Clara had to restrain from rolling their eyes dramatically as Rose caught herself. "I…just did."

"They took my wife." Pete said sadly.

"She might still be alive." Rose reassured.

"That's even worse. Cause that's what Lumic does. He takes the living, and he turns them into those machines."

"Cybermen." Clara muttered grimly, making everyone blink. "They're called Cybermen."

"Why do you hate them so much?" Pete asked. "How could you have seen them before-"

"Don't you dare, Peter Tyler!" Clara snarled, making him flinch. "Take those ear pods off." She ordered, taking out her sonic. "Lumic could be listening in with those." Pete quickly did as he was ordered, and Clara used the sonic to cause a small spark within the ear pods, rendering them useless before she tossed them aside, the pods violently shattering to pieces in the van, making everyone flinch again.

"Clara." The Doctor said softly, taking her shoulder.

"What?!" Clara snapped. He just raised his eyebrows at her, making her blink, taking a shaky breath to calm herself as the Doctor took her hand, which was shaking with her anger. "I'm sorry." She muttered, glancing up at Pete in guilt. Pete just gave a small nod in forgiveness, and she sighed.

"The problem with Lumic isn't just what he's done to those people," The Doctor said, quickly taking control, "it's what he has done with them. He's overreached himself, for he's still just a businessman and he's assassinated the President. All we need to do is get to the city and inform the authorities, because I promise you, for all our sakes, this ends tonight." He said with finality.

**Cyberman Factory, Battersea**

Lumic sat in his wheelchair within the control room, staring at the group of Cyber Leaders before him with a blend of joy and pride. "My everlasting children, tell me, how does it feel?"

**"We feel nothing."** One of the leaders said.

"But in your mind, what do you think?"

**"We think the same. We are uniform."**

"But you think of…what?"

**"We think of the Humans. We think of their difference and their pain. They suffer in the skin. They must be upgraded."**

Lumic smiled. "Excelled. Then let's begin." He pressed a few keys on his computer. "Computer. Identify: John Lumic."

The computer waited a few moments before beeping in success. _"Voice print acknowledged."_ An automated male voice said.

"Activate ear pod primary sequence."

_"Please state area of activation."_

He smirked. "The city of London. I've just declared independence. Begin transmission!" The computer beeped, signalling its admission of the order and Lumic sighed. Everyone in London wearing the earpieces would all walk towards the Factory, no matter who they are, where they are or what they were doing. "You will come to me, my dear children, the immortal ones."

* * *

_JESUS! The pain! What the hell?!_ Crane immediately placed both of his hands on his ear pieces and wrenched them out, the source of the immense pain leaving at once. He stared down at those blasted things, his own rage starting to build within. "Oh, no you don't." He snarled, moving to the back of the disguised truck, seeing the two truck drivers standing there, staring out blankly with their ear pods beeping at a fast rate. "You two, what's happening? What's he done?" They didn't answer. "What has Lumic done?" He tried again but they still didn't respond. "Answer me!" He snapped. No answer yet again. So, with a sharp breath, he turned around and clicked his neck. "Right. Time I went freelance."

* * *

"Whoa, watch out!" Jake and Rickey called in unison as Mrs. Moore screeched the van to a halt, everyone climbing out of the vehicle to see a mass horde of people walking down the dark street like brainless sheep.

"What the hell?" Jake muttered.

"What's going on?" Rose asked as Rickey, Jake and Mrs. Moore walked up to a few people to inspect them closer.

"It's the ear pods." The Doctor answered. "Lumic's taken control."

"Can't we just take them off-"

"Don't!" Clara snapped at Rose, pulling her back from one of the people. "You'll cause a brainstorm and they will die."

"Can't you use your-"

"No!" Clara snapped again. "Same thing will happen!" Rose flinched again while the Doctor just took Clara's hand to calm her.

"The Human race." The Doctor said. "For such an intelligent lot, you aren't half susceptible. Give anyone a chance to take control and you submit." He quipped dryly to improve Clara's mood. "Sometimes I think you like it, easy life."

"Oi." Clara said in a smaller voice with a ghost of a smile. "Not all of us."

"Hey." Jake called from the side walk, where him and Rickey were crouched up against a brick wall. He motioned them over to join, everyone seeing the aimless, emotionless Humans following a legion of Cybermen out of the street.

"Where are they all going?" Rose asked.

"I don't know." The Doctor shrugged. "Lumic must have a base of operations."

"Battersea." Pete interjected. "That's where he was building his prototypes."

"Why's he doing it?" Rose asked Pete.

"He's dying." Pete informed. "He never shared what exactly was killing him, but everyone already knew the inevitable. Lumic started all this as a way of prolonging life, keeping the brain alive at any cost."

"But these Cybermen are…I don't know…different from the ones before." Rose muttered.

"The Cybermen we saw were a fully-fledged empire, but everything starts somewhere." Clara said grimly. "One tiny world starts it all from scratch, then they swarm to every system they can reach. This lot may be a parallel version, but they still need to start from scratch, and this Earth is the place."

"What the hell are you three on about?" Pete asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Long story." The Doctor quickly inputted.

"Never mind that." Rickey interrupted. "Come on, we need to get out of the city." The group turned around to get moving but found that several groups of Cybermen had stopped their movements, turning to look at the group and began to advance on them. "Okay, split up. Mrs. Moore, you look after that lot. Jake, distract them. Go right, I'll go left. We'll meet back at Bridge Street. Move!" Rickey ordered, and he and Jake sprinted away.

"I'm going with him." Mickey quickly said, and he hurried away.

"Be careful." Rose called, and Mickey shot them a thumbs up before moving out of sight.

"Come on, let's go!" Mrs. Moore ushered, and they started running down the road, seeing the Cybermen behind them splitting up to follow the three different paths. One large group still followed them, so they quickly spotted an open alleyway just as more Cybermen started coming around the corner at the end of the road.

"Come on!" Clara said, ushering them to run down the alleyway, the thundering march of the Cybermen still hot on their trail.

* * *

Mickey and Rickey both ran into an empty street, taking a moment to catch their breath but not realising their own company.

"Which way?" Mickey asked. "I don't know where we are?"

"Did they see us?" Rickey asked.

"Do they know where we are?"

"I bet they saw us. I bet they see in the dark."

"I bet they got satellites."

"I think they saw us in the dark."

"They know where we are." They said in unison, making them blink and turn to each other.

"I don't get it." Rickey muttered, still staring with suspicious scrutiny at Mickey. "What is it with you? You are exactly like me."

"I don't know. I reckon you're braver."

Mickey huffed. "Oh yeah. Ten times." Mickey nodded at that, the pair not noticing the sound of the Cybermen getting closer to their street. "Still, your friends aren't bad, I'll give you that."

"Oh, that's the Doctor and Clara. Rose is their main friend. I just tag along behind."

"Well…then you're not that bad." Rickey complimented.

Mickey blinked. "Do you think?"

Rickey shrugged. "Yeah, I suppose."

At that, the Cybermen's march entered the street, making them turn to see the horde advancing on them. "Cybermen." Mickey pointed out.

"Split up!" They said in unison, running into two alleyways opposite each other.

* * *

The group flinched at the thundering sound of the Cybermen's march as they hid behind a group of trash bins, Mrs. Moore holding a device in her hand, ready to throw. Rose and Pete unconsciously held each other's hands while the Doctor held Clara in a close hug. The Cybermen got closer and closer until they stopped, and the group knew that they were staring at the bins they were behind. The Doctor quickly took out his sonic, aimed it upwards and pressed the button. The Cybermen then turned around and started to march away without any protest.

"My own Jedi mind trick." He quipped to himself. "Everyone okay?" The Doctor whispered, and they nodded to him. "Clara?" Clara, though staring at him with wide eyes of fear, nodded and he placed a kiss on her forehead. "Come on." He ushered everyone to follow them out of their hiding spot, Rose and Pete letting go of their hands with blinking eyes before they all started to rush up the street again.

* * *

Mickey gave a small sigh of relief as he rushed into a back alleyway, having managed to avoid the Cybermen, giving him some time. In front of him was a steel grated fence with a door. The door had a chain wrapped through its handles and a padlock within. Then, the Cybermen's march started to advance on Mickey, except the sound came from the other side of the fence, where from around an alley corner, Rickey came rushing up, Cybermen following quickly behind. "Come on!" Mickey yelled, and Rickey immediately grasped the fence, starting to scale upwards. "Come on!" Mickey repeated as the Cybermen drew closer. Rickey managed to get both of his hands on the top of the fence and lifted one of his legs up.

**"Delete!"** A Cyberman yelled, reaching out and grasping onto Rickey's other leg, just as he went to lift it, sending thousands of volts into the man as he clung onto the fence for his dear life.

"No!" Mickey yelled as Rickey screamed in agony before he collapsed off the fence and to the ground, smoking and lifeless. Mickey clenched his jaw, staring back up at the Cybermen, who just stood there, without emotion and completely motionless, starting to unnerve Mickey. Mickey gave a small growl in his throat before he turned to rush out of the alleyway. He had to tell Jake. Even though it will hurt him, he had to tell him.

* * *

Lumic frowned, turning his wheel chair around as a pair of Cybermen came into the control room with…Crane?

**"This one is unprogrammed."** One of the Cybermen informed, making him blink.

"Mr. Crane?" Lumic muttered. "I thought you were one of the faithful."

"Oh, that I am, sir." Crane quickly said. "My ear pods must've malfunctioned, for which I apologise." Lumic blinked in puzzlement. "If I, uh, might?" Crane asked, motioning to stand in front of him, which Lumic nodded to. Crane went to stand in front of him, just as Lumic felt his lungs begin to burn.

_Not yet! Let me hear out what my friend has to say!_

"I'd like to request an upgrade, sir." Crane informed, making Lumic stare at him in surprise. "I've been getting rather slow in my old age, and I want to be better. I've seen the future, and its copyright Cybus Industries. Sign me up."

"A willing volunteer." Lumic remarked with a bit of pride.

"You've known me a long-time sir." Lumic nodded to that. "Quite a team, you and me. I've been with you all the way."

"And I thank you for that." Lumic quickly commented.

Crane smiled. "But believe me, sir. Knowing you so well, I know exactly what to do."

Lumic coughed, already feeling his head starting to pound in immense pain and he moved to grasp the gas mask. Before he could, Crane, out of nowhere, grasped the mask and ripped it out of the wheel chair, tossing it across the room. "Crane!" Lumic gasped. Crane ignored his plea, moving behind the chair and began ripping out every wire and tube in his life support, causing it all to spark and flare with smoke. "No! Help me!" One of the Cybermen marched up, grasped Crane by the shoulder and flung him across the room, allowing the other to march up to the stunned Crane.

"Die you-" The Cybermen placed a hard grasp on Crane's shoulder, allowing thousands of volts to torment the man's body, right until his last screaming breath.

"Help me." Lumic gasped, his head pounding with a loud thumping noise, making him more exhausted by the second.

**"You are in pain."** The Cyber Leader standing in front of him informed. **"We can remove pain forever."**

"No! Not yet! I'm not ready!" He pleaded.

**"We will give you immortality."**

"I've told you…I will upgrade…only with my last breath."

The Cyber Leader moved to stand behind his wheel chair and pressed its fist to its chest. **"Then breathe no more."**

The chair had its control revoked by the Cyber Leader and it moved on its own. "No, no! I command you: No!" Lumic pleaded to no avail.

* * *

The group waited patiently on the side walk underneath one of London's overhead highways. While Rose, Pete and Mrs. Moore stood by each other in silence, the Doctor held a scared Clara close, absentmindedly stroking her hair. They could hear rushing footsteps heading towards them, spotting a silhouette of spiked hair in the darkness.

"That would be Jake." The Doctor informed as the man got closer, holding back his obvious panting as he slowed his pace down.

"I ran past the river, you should've seen it. The whole city is on the march. Hundreds of Cybermen, all down the Thames." Another pair of footsteps came towards them, making them turn back to see a silhouette of a man with incredibly short hair rushing towards them. Jake guessed and beamed. "Here he is." The man in question came out, but Jake blinked, as he was only one and the duplicates looked unnervingly alike. "Which one are you?"

Rickey…yet it might be Mickey, gulped. "I'm sorry. The Cybermen, he couldn't-"

"Are you Rickey?" Jake interrupted. His gaze danced off to the TARDIS trio behind them. "Are you Rickey?" Jake repeated.

His sad, scared eyes gave him away. "Mickey, that's you, right?" Rose asked.

He nodded. "Yeah." Jake's breath hitched as he blinked, while Mrs. Moore looked down in silent sadness. "He tried." Mickey tried to reassure. "He was running. There was too many of them."

"Shut it." Jake muttered under his breath, turning around to gaze at anything BUT Mickey.

"There was nothing I could do."

"I said just shut it!" Jake growled, snapping Mickey into silence. "Don't even talk about him! You're nothing, you are!" Mickey remained silent and Jake nodded to himself. "Nothing."

"We can mourn him when London is safe." The Doctor interjected, halting anything else. "For now, we move on." Everyone silently agreed to that and moved to leave their hiding place.

**The Edge of the Thames, opposite Battersea**

The group stood on the edge of the river bank, staring at the steaming factory on the other side, with Lumic's zeppelin flaring red lights parked right on top of the factory.

"The whole of London's been sealed off, and the entire population's been taken inside that place. To be "Converted"." The Doctor informed.

"We've got to get in there and shut it down." Rose pointed out.

"How do we do that?" Mickey asked.

The Doctor shrugged. "Oh, me and Clara will think of something." Clara sniggered at that, while he shot her a smirk.

"You both just make this up as you go along." Mickey accused.

"Yup." Clara answered. "But we do it brilliantly." Rose smirked while Mickey just shrugged as Mrs. Moore got out her laptop to bring out her findings. "Bri-lli-ant." Clara tried. "You ever noticed? It's got a weird ring to it. Br-iii-lli-ant."

"You're making it sound like Brian-liant." The Doctor retorted.

"Stop it." Clara warned playfully.

"Stop what?" He asked innocently.

"No!" Rose interrupted, glaring accusingly at the pair, while they just blinked.

"But-"

"No!" Rose repeated. "No." The two just glanced down sheepishly before bursting into giggles, having to lean on each other for support. "Whatever, you do you." Rose rolled her eyes, muttering to herself.

"Oi." Jake motioned them over to a nearby bench where Mrs. Moore placed the laptop on, allowing everyone to look at it, with the Doctor placing on his "Brainy Specs".

The computer pulled up a schematic of Battersea, an earlier form. "That's a schematic of the old factory." Mrs. Moore informed. Panning it up, it showed silhouettes of tunnels underneath the ground around it. "Look, cooling tunnels underneath the plant, big enough to walk through."

"We can go under then up into the control centre." Clara agreed, getting a nod from Mrs. Moore. "You coming?" She asked the Doctor. He just smirked, and she beamed. "Of course you are."

"There's another way in." Pete interrupted, everyone turning to look at him. "Through the front door. If they've taken Jackie for upgrading, that's how she'll get in."

"We can't just go strolling up." Jake pointed out.

"Or…" Mrs. Moore interrupted, opening her small black bag, "we could…with these." She pulled out two pairs of dead Cybus ear pods. "Fake ear pods. Dead, no signal. But put them on, the Cybermen would mistake you as part of the crowd."

"Then that's my job." Pete said, taking a pair of ear pods.

"Pete." Clara interrupted, earning his attention. "You'd have to show no emotion, none. Any sign of emotion would give you away."

He nodded. "How do you know so much about the Cybermen?" He asked.

Clara just stared in bleakness. "Long story." She muttered.

"How many of those you got?" Rose asked, allowing Clara to move on.

"Just two pairs." Mrs. Moore informed.

"Okay." Rose said, taking the remaining pair and looking at Pete. "If that's the best way of finding Jackie, then I'm coming with you."

Pete blinked as she stood up to stand beside him. "Why does she matter to you?"

"We haven't got time." Rose reprimanded. "Doctor, Clara, I'm going with him and that's that."

"No stopping you, is there?" The Doctor asked.

"Nope."

He nodded, before turning around to stare at the factory, specifically at the zeppelin. "Tell you what…we can take the ear pods at the same time. Give people their minds back, so they don't walk into that place like sheep. Jakey boy!" He motioned for said man to follow him closer to the bank. "Lumic's transmitting the control signal, it must be from over there." He took out his sonic and scanned in the direction of the factory, the sonic pulsing rapidly before it beeped as he hovered it in the direction of the zeppelin. On the front was a large transmitter, the source of the flaring red lights that flickered repeatedly. "There it is, on the zeppelin, you see?" Jake nodded, piecing it together in his head. "Great big transmitter. Good thing Lumic likes showing off. Reckon you can take it out?"

Jake smiled. "Consider it done."

The Doctor clapped him on the shoulder as they moved back to the group. "Mrs. Moore. Would you care to accompany me and Clara into the cooling tunnels?"

Mrs. Moore cocked an eyebrow. "How could I refuse an offer of cooling tunnels?"

The Doctor pocketed his "Brainy Specs" before grasping Clara's hand. "We attack on three sides: Above, between and below. We get to the control centre, we stop the conversion machines."

"What about me?" Mickey interrupted.

The TARDIS duo blinked, already starting to feel guilt again. "Mickey." The Doctor muttered as he cleared his throat. "You can…um…"

"What, stay out of trouble? Be the tin dog?" Mickey retorted, causing the pair to blink again. "No, those days are over. I'm going with Jake."

"I don't need you, idiot." Jake growled.

"I'm not an idiot!" Mickey retorted. "You got that?! I'm offering to help!"

Jake shook his head. "Whatever." Jake started to move away, and Mickey was about to follow.

"Mickey!" Clara called, making him turn back. "Good luck."

He blinked. "Yeah, you too. Both of you. Rose, I'll see you later."

Rose nodded. "Yeah, you better."

"If we survive this," The Doctor inputted, "we'll see you back at the TARDIS."

Mickey felt himself returning a small smirk to the Doctor and Clara. "That's a promise." He reassured before moving away to follow Jake.

The Doctor and Clara moved up and wrapped Rose in a hug. "Good luck." Clara said.

"And keep safe." The Doctor echoed.

"You too." Rose said back, earning a couple of reassuring winks from the pair before they moved into action.

* * *

Opening the latch and entering a dark cooling tunnel, Mrs. Moore went down the ladder first, followed by Clara and then the Doctor.

"Brrr, it's freezing." Clara muttered, rubbing her hands together.

"You can endure it, Clara." The Doctor said, grasping her upper arms and rubbing them to help warm her up, which just made her shiver to his inner delight. "Any sign of a light switch?"

Mrs. Moore scoffed. "Can't see a thing." She quickly opened her black bag. "But I've got these…a device for every occasion." She pulled out two head lights and gave them to the pair.

"Thank you." Clara said as she and the Doctor helped put them on each other while Mrs. Moore took out one for herself.

"You haven't got a hot dog in there, have you?" The Doctor asked. "I'm starving."

Mrs. Moore chuckled. "Of all the things to wish for. That's mechanically recovered meat."

"I know. It's the Cyberman of food, but its tasty."

Clara's stomach gave a low rumble. "Dammit, I want a hot dog now." She grumbled, making the trio snigger.

"Here." Mrs. Moore pulled out two black torches. "Proper torches as well."

"Let's see where we are." The Doctor said, holding the torch up and flicking the switch. Immediately, they flinched at the site of a long row of Cybermen, standing dormant against the left wall of the tunnel. The Doctor moved up to the closest one and tapped his knuckle against it, but it didn't do anything. "Already converted, just put on ice." The Doctor informed, turning back to see Clara shaking. "Clara?" He asked as she gazed at them in fear. He quickly took her hand to avert her gaze from them. "It's going to be okay. You hear me?"

She nodded despite the fear still in her eyes. "Yeah, I hear you."

He smiled reassuringly, placing a kiss on her hand. "Come on." He motioned for her and Mrs. Moore to follow. "Let's go slowly. Keep an eye out for trip systems."

* * *

**"Chamber Six now open for Human upgrading. Chamber Seven now open for Human upgrading. Chamber Eight now open for Human upgrading."**

Rose and Pete ducked to hide behind a group of large debris, keeping out of sight but retaining their own upon the Cybermen as they led the swarm of brainless Humans into the factory. Rose and Pete quickly turned on a dummy button to activate the blinking light and inputted the ear pieces.

"Just put them on. Don't show any emotion." Pete reminded. "No signs, nothing, okay?"

"Don't worry." Rose reassured. "We can do it."

"We could die in here. Why are you doing this?"

Rose sighed. "Let's just say I'm doing it for my mum and dad." Glancing up to confirm that no Cybermen could see their spot, they squeezed each other's hand for luck. "Right. Let's go." With that, they stood up and moved to join the long line of emotionless Humans, their own faces turning completely blank.

**"Chamber Nine now open for Human upgrading. Chamber Ten now open for Human upgrading. Chamber Eleven now open for Human upgrading."**

* * *

Jake and Mickey, through their own methods, had found a silent pathway to reach the top of the factory, seeing a large steel stair case leading up and into the zeppelin above. In front of the stair case was two workers, both staring ahead unmoving with their ear pieces flickering and pulsing rapidly. Jake got up from the side ladder and crouched down until Mickey got up as well before they moved to hide behind a large crate, still staring at the workers.

"Two guards. We can take them." Jake said.

"Don't kill them." Mickey protested.

Jake rolled his eyes. "Who put you in charge?"

"If you kill them, what's the difference between you and a Cyberman?"

Jake seriously thought about that for a moment before he reached into his pocket. "Well, I suppose we could use these." He pulled out two small brown bottles and handed one to Mickey.

"Smelling salts?" Mickey asked in puzzlement.

Jake gave a light chuckle. "Bit stronger than that. One of Mrs. Moore's little tricks. Should knock them out." Then, he turned to look straight at Mickey. "Three…two…one." At that, they both rushed up from their hiding spot and towards the backs of the workers, uncorking the bottles as they went. Without warning, they wrapped a strong arm around the workers necks to hold them, using the other to place the open bottle right by their noses. The workers struggled and gasped for breath, but their bodies quickly slackened until they collapsed onto the ground, completely knocked out.

"There's got to be more guards on board." Mickey pointed out.

Jake grinned. "Then let's go get them."

* * *

"How did you get into this, then?" The Doctor asked as he, Clara and Mrs. Moore continued walking down the tunnel. "Rattling along with the Preachers?"

Mrs. Moore shrugged. "Oh, I used to be ordinary. Worked at Cybus Industries, 9 to 5. Until one day, I find something I'm not supposed to." They both shot her furrowed looks of intrigue and she gave a small smirk. "A file on the mainframe. All I did was read it. Then suddenly, I've got men with guns knocking in the middle of the night. A life on the run and then I found the Preachers. They needed a techie, so…I just sat down and taught myself everything."

"What about Mr. Moore?" Clara interjected.

She huffed. "Well, he's not called "Moore"." They both blinked at her. "I got that from a book, "Mrs. Moore". It's safer not to use real names." She clarified, making them nod. "But he thinks I'm dead. It was the only way to keep him safe. Him and the kids." Clara's face grew sad at that comment, but she chose not to say anything. "What about you two? Got any family or…"

The Doctor had noticed Clara's expression, so he chose to input. "Oh, who needs family when I have Clara?" He asked rhetorically, earning a small chuckle from Mrs. Moore while he sent a wink to a blushing Clara.

"Thank you." Clara mouthed to him and he smiled warmly at her.

"Go on then." The Doctor said, turning his attention back to Mrs. Moore. "What's your real name?"

"Angela Price." The Doctor and Clara gave small smiles of approval at that name. "Don't tell a soul." She said, half in plea, the other in warning.

"Not a word." Clara said, winking to Mrs. Moore. They kept walking, missing a small alarm flickering with a red light as they walked past. For a second, Clara's heart rocketed up as one of the Cybermen in front twitched its hand. "Doctor did that one just move?" She asked, fear properly in her voice.

"It's just the torchlight." The Doctor reassured, grasping her hand. "Keep going. Come on."

"So, what's that light?" Mrs. Moore asked, pointing to a flickering red alarm beside one of the Cybermen. When they noticed, that same Cybermen gave a small hiss of steam, before it started to slowly turn its head towards them.

"They're waking up. Run!" The Doctor yelled. The three began to sprint down the tunnel, the Cybermen behind them starting a domino effect of hissing into life and stepping away from the wall to face the backs of the trio. Once they got past all the Cybermen, they found themselves at a dead end, with only a ladder leading up to a closed hatch. The Doctor quickly climbed up the ladder and took out his sonic to unlock the hatch.

"Get up." Mrs. Moore said hurriedly as the Cybermen started to advance closer. "They're coming."

"Open it!" Clara shrieked. "Quick!"

The hatch shuddered and clanged as it was unlocked, and the Doctor quickly grasped it to slide it away. "Up!" He yelled, jumping off the ladder and up through the hatch. "Come on!" He yelled, holding out a hand as Mrs. Moore scaled up the ladder, followed by Clara.

"Close it!" Clara yelled as she got off the ladder, the Doctor and Mrs. Moore placing the hatch back into place and locked it shut.

"Oh, good team, Mrs. Moore." The Doctor complimented, earning a thankful nod from her. He then got up and moved over to Clara, whose breath was shaking nervously, so he helped her up into a hug. "You okay?"

"Yeah." She muttered. "That was close."

"I know." He kissed her head and took her hand in his. "Come on. Let's keep moving."

* * *

**"Units upgraded now 6,500. Repeat: 6,500 and rising."**

Rose and Pete had now entered the conversion chambers, the whole area filled with ceiling high capsules, all guarded by a single Cyberman at its entrance. It was all filled with steam created by the working machines, but due to the ear pieces, no screams could be heard. It was just the echoing sound of machinery working in unison upon all the unfortunate souls.

Rose and Pete's march was halted by a Cyberman who held out its arm in front of them. **"You will wait."** It ordered simply before moving away.

"You okay?" Pete asked, his voice laced with nervousness.

"No." Rose breathed shakily. They were both starting to see why Clara feared and hated them so much. They were just so unnerving, standing there, completely silent with blank, black eyes. Their monotone, robotic voices and their heavy stomping didn't help either.

**"Chamber Six now open for Human upgrading."** On that report, the capsules before them opened, letting a new set of people enter as freshly created Cybermen emerged out the other side. **"All reject stock will be incinerated."**

"Any sign of Jackie?" Pete asked. Before Rose could answer, a Cyberman standing guard by a nearby capsule sharply turned its head towards them. Then, it marched up, making them flinch, inwardly cursing at themselves.

**"You are Peter Tyler. Confirm, you are Peter Tyler."**

Pete inwardly gulped, but he had no choice now. "Confirm."

**"I recognize you. I went first. My name was Jacqueline Tyler."**

"No." Rose muttered.

"What?!" Pete demanded. The two of them thought the same thing. _Not her! It can't be her!_

**"They are unprogrammed. Restrain."**

"You're lying." Pete denied, just as two Cybermen marched up behind and grasped their arms tight. "You're not her! You're not my Jackie!"

**"No, I am Cyberform. Once I was Jacqueline Tyler."**

"But you can't be." Rose said, her own voice shaking. "Not her. You can't be her."

**"Her brain is inside this body."**

"Jacks, I came to save you!" Pete exclaimed but Cyber Jackie ignored him.

**"This man worked with Cybus Industries to create our species. He will be rewarded by force. Take them to Cyber Control."** Cyber Jackie then marched away while the two restraining them hauled them out of the line and in a different direction through the factory.

"They killed her." Rose blinked as she felt her own throat choke. "They just took her and killed her." Rose had to close her eyes to stop any tears from prickling them. _Please be alive, Mum. Please._

"Maybe there's a chance, I don't know. Maybe we can reverse it." Pete tried but Rose shook her head.

"Nothing we can do."

"But if-if she remembers…" The Cybermen stopped their march as a line of brainless Humans moved in front of them, allowing Rose and Pete the chance to glance behind them and over the Cybermen's shoulders. "Where is she?" Pete asked, staring at the sea of endless, unnervingly similar Cybermen. "Which one was it? Which one was her?"

Rose shuddered. "They all look the same." The line in front of them finished moving past, making the Cybermen shove the two back into march again.

* * *

Jake and Mickey shoved open the doors to the central room of the ship, tossing two more unconscious guards onto the floor before them.

"Nice one." Jake commented as they moved inside. The room it seemed was completely empty, aside from unused glasses on a table by them with a large pillar in the centre of the room and the main controls at the front. "Nobody's home. Find the transmitter controls."

"What do they look like?" Mickey asked.

Jake scoffed. "Well, I don't know. They might have "Transmitter Controls" written in big red letters. Just look." The pair moved around the pillar, seeing the main controls of the ship along with a monitor, a keyboard and a steering wheel for the helm. Mickey turned around and immediately jumped with a gasp of shock at the sight of a Cybermen within the pillar cupboard. "Cyberman!" Jake gasped, pulling out a pistol to aim it at the Cyberman's head. Nothing. They blinked. It didn't move. It didn't acknowledge them. Nothing. It just stood there, completely motionless, but no less intimidating.

Mickey walked up slowly to get a closer look at the Cyberman before tapping a knuckle on its head. Still nothing, so he sighed. "It's dead. I don't think it was ever alive."

"You don't think?" Jake retorted. They had to be truly sure at that.

Mickey closed his fist and tapped said hand three times against the Cyberman's head, creating a hollow ringing sound within the metal armour, but still nothing. "It's empty, no brain. It's just a robot suit for display."

Jake gave a small sigh of relief, but they both still stared at it with nervous scepticism. "Okay. Transmitter." He reminded, so he and Mickey moved back to work.

* * *

The new tunnel the trio had entered had far stronger light that the one before, allowing them to stop for a moment to switch off their torches and head lights. The Doctor took Clara's headlight and gave it back to Mrs. Moore along with his own head light and torch. Mrs. Moore then took off her own and placed it in the bag with her torch. Clara had just put her torch in the bag before a Cyberman stepped suddenly from around a corner into their view, making them, especially Clara, jump in shock.

**"You are not upgraded."**

To their surprise, it wasn't Clara that responded, it was Mrs. Moore. "Yeah?" She asked dryly, pulling a small handmade device out of her bag. "Well, upgrade this." She tossed the device at the Cyberman which immediately stuck onto its chest, then flared into life. It sent hundreds upon hundreds of volts through the Cyberman's system, shocking and stuttering it, causing it to shake violently before it fell backwards, collapsing onto the floor without any more motion.

Clara sent Mrs. Moore a thankful look, while the Doctor shot her an impressed expression. "What the hell was that thing?" He asked.

Mrs. Moore grinned cheekily. "Electromagnetic bomb. Takes out computers, I figured it might stop a Cybersuit."

"Well, you figured right." Clara complimented. "Now, let's have a look." She walked up to kneel beside the Cyberman while the Doctor and Mrs. Moore slowly joined her with puzzled expressions.

"Clara, I thought you already knew everything about Cybermen." The Doctor noted.

Clara just shot him a blank look. "Not everything. I may be an immortal Human, but I'm still Human. Besides, these Cybermen are very young compared to the ones we met. Also, it's a good thing to know your enemy well and dear to your heart." Those words made her sigh, slowly shaking her head. "Never mind that bit." She said dejectedly.

"Clara." The Doctor interrupted. "No more brooding. Agreed?"

She smiled. "Yes boss." She took out her sonic and pressed the tip to the centre of the Cyberman's chest. "Big logo on the front." She commented as the Doctor held his hand on said chest piece. "Lumic's turned them into a brand. Odd choice." She muttered, allowing the Doctor to wrench the chest piece out. He turned the chest piece over, revealing a small wiring system with a steel protector the size of a pocket watch over the top. "Heart of steel." Clara deducted as the Doctor placed it down beside them while she pocketed her sonic.

"What's that?" Mrs. Moore asked. Within its chest was another small wiring system within a computer board, surrounded by silky white material that almost looked like oily fat. The Doctor gently grasped a piece of the material and lifted it up. "Is that flesh?"

The Doctor nodded, the three shivering a bit in disgust. "I'm afraid so." He muttered as he placed it back inside the suit.

"A central nervous system." Clara informed. "Artificially grown, then threaded throughout the suit so it responds like a living thing."

"It IS a living thing." The Doctor argued.

Clara sighed. "I know. I'm just…biased against them."

The Doctor knew that feeling too well, being biased against one race for everything they've ever done. Just for him, it wasn't the Cybermen, but he saw Clara's point. To help take her mind off it, he gently placed a finger on the wiring system within the chest. "Oh but look." Clara and Mrs. Moore leaned in closer to gaze at it. Even the wiring system had a small Cybus logo on it, just to further hammer home who created this new species.

"Emotional inhibitor." Clara muttered. Mrs. Moore blinked at that. "It stops them from feeling anything." She explained.

Mrs. Moore blinked again, now in confusion. "But…why?"

"They still have Human brains. Imagine their reactions if they could see themselves, realise where they are, inside these things." Clara said.

"They'd go insane." Mrs. Moore concluded, getting a nod from Clara and the Doctor. "So, they have to cut out the one thing that makes them Human."

Clara sighed. "It's because they have to."

**"Why am I cold?"**

The three jumped at that, needing a moment to calm down before they realised exactly what it had said. "It can feel." Clara muttered.

"We broke the inhibitor." The Doctor quickly explained. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

**"Why so cold?"**

"Can…" Clara gulped to help her voice be more than a squeaking whisper. "Can you remember your name?"

**"Sally. Sally Phelan."**

"You're a woman." She muttered.

**"Where's Gareth?"**

"Who's Gareth?" The Doctor inputted.

**"He can't see me. It's…unlucky the night before."**

"You were getting married." Clara muttered, burying her face in her hands.

**"I'm cold. I'm so cold."**

The Doctor shot Clara a sad look, so he took out his own sonic and switched the settings over. "It's all right. You sleep now, Sally. Just go to sleep." He put the sonic within its chest and pressed the button, quickly switching off the Cyberman peacefully. "Sally Phelan didn't die for nothing. Cause that's the key, the emotional inhibitor. If we could find the code behind it, the cancelation code, then feed it throughout the system into every Cyberman's head, they'd realise what they are."

"And what happens then?" Mrs. Moore asked.

"I think it would kill them. Can we do that?" The Doctor asked.

"Yes." Clara inputted, bringing up her face to show her grim expression. "We've got to, before they kill everyone else." The Doctor sent her a hurt look at her words.

"She's right." Mrs. Moore inputted. "There's no choice, Doctor. It's got to be done." Mrs. Moore went to stand up behind them before they heard electricity and a gasp of pain. Looking up, they saw a Cyberman standing behind Mrs. Moore, grasping her shoulder. There was a hidden door behind them and they inwardly cursed themselves for not noticing it earlier as Mrs. Moore dropped to the ground, lifeless.

"No! No, you didn't have to kill her!" Clara exclaimed.

**"Sensors detect a binary vascular system, creating an unknown upgrade." The** Cyberman reported, staring at the Doctor before it turned to Clara as two more Cyberman came to corner them both. **"Sensors detect potential Cyber Planner host. You both will be taken for analysis."**

The Doctor and Clara shot Mrs. Moore's body one last apologetic look before they turned to follow the first Cyberman. "One chance, Doctor." Clara whispered with a hint of anger as a promise. "They get one chance."

* * *

"The transmitter controls are sealed behind here." Mickey reported, showing Jake a large black computer cube. "We need, like, an oxyacetylene or something."

"Oh, and I forgot to bring it with me." Jake quipped dryly.

"Well, then, what do we do?"

"We'll crash the zeppelin."

"With us inside it?"

"We could set it to automatic and then just leg it." Jake turned and moved over to the monitor with the keyboard. "Let's have a look." Jake pressed a command key, but all it did was bring up an error sound, making him sigh. "It's locked. There's got to be an override."

"Let me have a go." Mickey said, earning a blink from Jake. "I'm good with computers, trust me." Mickey immediately went to work on the keyboard, not noticing that as soon as Jake had touched it first, a small light was beeping beside the Cyberman.

* * *

The Doctor and Clara, flanked by the two Cybermen, were led into the control room, seeing the other entrance blocked by two more Cybermen, while Pete sat dejectedly in a chair with Rose standing beside him with a sad expression.

"We've been captured, but don't worry. Rose and Pete are still out there. They can rescue us. Oh well, never mind." The Doctor quipped, earning smirks from Clara and Rose and a small smile from Pete. "You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah." Rose nodded. "But they got Jackie." The Doctor just shot them a sad look while Clara clenched her jaw.

"We were too late. Lumic killed her." Pete interjected with a sad voice.

"So, where is he?" Clara demanded, turning to the Cybermen. "The "Famous" Mr. Lumic?" She spat with obvious venom in her voice. "Don't we get a chance to meet our lord and master?"

**"He has been upgraded."** One of the present Cyber Leaders said.

"So, he's just like you. Good job." She growled.

**"He is superior. The Lumic unit has been designated Cyber Controller."** The Cybermen turned their heads to the far wall, which slid open, revealing an emerging throne of metal that rolled out towards them. Sitting on the throne was a Cyberman, the Lumic Cyberman, but it had one difference. Its eyes glowed white and its forehead was a clear glass, showing the top of his brain.

**"This is the age of steel and I am its creator."** Cyber Lumic said proudly.

Pete stood up beside the trio, while Clara glared fires at Lumic, quickly crossing her arms.

* * *

"Almost there." Mickey reported as he continued his mission.

"Not bad work." Jake complimented. As Mickey kept working, they both heard hissing steam from behind, turning to see the Cyberman starting its slow march towards them. Jake immediately grasped Mickey's shoulder as Mickey chucked the keyboard aside. "It's moving!" Jake split from Mickey to go around the Cyberman, briefly distracting it. "You said it was dead!"

"A robot suits still a good robot." They both moved to the far side by the transmitter, and Jake drew his gun, but Mickey held him back. "Wait." He pushed Jake aside and glanced back at the Cyberman. "Hey, Cyberman, over here." The Cyberman slowly turned around to glance at Mickey, who gave him a large smug grin. "Come on, you big brainless lump of metal. Come and have a go." He taunted and the Cyberman marched up to Mickey with its fist raised. "Come on!" The Cyberman struck just as Mickey darted out of the way, its own fist immediately hitting the controls, shattering it to pieces and violently shocking the Cyberman dead with electricity. At that, Jake and Mickey rushed to the windows to look down at the factory, hearing the distant screams of people as they sprinted out with terrified faces, quickly overwhelming the Cybermen. "Transmitter's down!" Mickey and Jake grinned in unison, sharing a quick friendly hug.

* * *

Clara sent the Doctor a beaming grin as they heard all the people in the factory rushing out, and he sent her a playful wink.

"That's our friends at work. Good boys!" The Doctor complimented.

"Mr. Lumic…" Clara turned back to Cyber Lumic, "that must be a vote for free will." She retorted.

If it could, it would've scoffed. **"I have factories waiting on seven continents. If the ear pods have failed, then the Cybermen will take humanity by force. London has fallen. So shall the world."**

Clara clicked her neck. She feared and hated them so much that a part of her felt it wasn't worth it to offer them a chance. But she had to. It was in the rules after all.

* * *

"Hold on, I've logged onto Cyber Control." Mickey informed as he pulled up a live feed from a security camera in Cyber Control. It showed the Doctor, Rose and Pete standing together, while Clara, in obvious dark intent, had taken one step closer to the centre of the room, to stand opposite Cyber Lumic. "They're alive!" Mickey beamed. "The Doctor, Clara and Rose, there they are."

Jake's gaze immediately went to Cyber Lumic and he scrunched his face in bewilderment and fear. "Never mind them, what the hell is that thing?"

"Shh!" Mickey hushed. "Has this thing got sound?" He muttered to himself as he tapped a few more keys. The screen gave a screech of static before the sound came through for them to hear.

_**"** **_I_ will bring peace to the world, everlasting peace…"** _

* * *

**"…and unity and uniformity."** Cyber Lumic said with clear arrogance, not knowing who was also watching them.

"And imagination? What about that?" Clara growled. "The only path that led you here, imagination. Now you're killing it dead!"

No response for a moment, almost as if Cyber Lumic would've blinked. **"What is your name?"**

"Clara Oswald. Used to be part time primary school teacher, now full-time carer."

It was obvious Cyber Lumic would've scoffed or laughed at her comment. **"Redundant titles."** It mocked. **"Teachers or carers need not exist. Cybermen already have full knowledge and have no need of emotional support."**

"Ugh, for fucks sake, that's the point!" Clara snarled. "Come on, Lumic!" She mocked. "I would call you a genius, but I have my own bias against you." She muttered to herself. "Seriously, everything you did here was to fight your sickness. But now what?" Cyber Lumic didn't respond to that. "The Cybermen may evolve into an empire, but you won't advance. You'll just stop. You'll be stuck like this forever. A metal Earth, with metal men, metal thoughts, metal looks, metal everything. What are you even going to do with yourselves? The answer is nothing, because you can't! You'll be lacking the one thing that makes this planet so alive: People! Ordinary, stupid, beautiful, brilliant people! Without them, you can't create music, or films, booming businesses, or failing businesses, or inventions or anything! You will be doing nothing!" Clara spat.

Cyber Lumic cocked its head at her. **"You are proud of your emotions?"**

Clara scoffed. "I thought it would've been obvious by now."

**"Then tell me, Clara, you have already expressed rage, but have you known grief and pain and sorrow?"**

"Yes. Yes, I have."

**"And they hurt?"**

"Yes."

**"Then do you know what being a Cyberman feels like? Nothing. There is nothing to feel, because you do not need to feel."** Clara gulped and buried her face in her hands. Its words were hitting a little too close to home, and she could feel its arrogant stare upon her, almost as if it knew the truth. **"We can set you free. Would you not want that? A life without pain, sadness or guilt?"**

With those words, Clara decided, that they lost their one chance. "You might as well kill me." Clara retorted.

**"Is that answer in weakness or strength?"** Cyber Lumic retorted. **"Either way, I will take that option."**

Clara had to bury her face in her hands to muffle her agonized scream of frustration. "It's not yours to take! You're a Cyber Controller! You don't control me or anything with blood in its heart!"

**"You have no means of stopping me!"** It retorted. **"I have an army, a species of my own!"**

Clara rolled her eyes. "You don't understand anything about proper logic, do you?! An army's nothing! All those ordinary people out there, they're the key! Anybody, even the most unknown person can change the world!" Clara sighed, letting herself calm down for just a moment. She had already guessed that Mickey and Jake were watching, and if she was to address them, she didn't want to do it in pure rage. Save that for the end. "Some ordinary man or woman. Some idiot, even." She shrugged. "All it takes is for him to find, say the right numbers…the right codes. Here's an example, he could find the code behind a linked device that represses emotions, sitting right there in front of him." She turned around to see the Doctor and Rose struggling like mad to hold back a grin…or was it a roll of the eyes? She didn't really care, it made the rage calm just a bit, if only for a bit. "Cause even some random idiot knows his computers these days. Knows how to get past firewalls and passwords, unlike me of course." She quickly added with a smirk. "He'll know how to find something encrypted in the Lumic family database under…" She sighed, turning to Pete. "What was it again, Pete? Binary what?"

"Binary 9." He quickly said, already picking up on her mad idea.

"An idiot could find that code, the cancelation code. All he has to do is keep on typing, just keep on fighting."

**"Your words are irrelevant."** Cyber Lumic spat.

Instead of shooting Cyber Lumic a dark smile, she chose to chuckle to herself. Only the Humans present, plus one Time Lord, noticed that it was fake. "Talking too much. Blame matchstick man over there, he's rubbed off on me a bit."

"Oi!" The Doctor whined but she just cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Lucky we have that cheap tariff, Rose, for all our long chats on your phone."

**"Far too much talking. You must be deleted."** Cyber Lumic snarled.

"Yes!" Clara said in fake proudness. ""Delete", "Control", "Hash", all those buttons the kids use nowadays. But I have one favourite: Send." Clara moved to stand at the end of the monitor row, where a small pod stand, obviously compatible with Rose's phone, lay at the end closest to her. "And don't forget how you seduced all those ordinary idiots in the first place, by making every bit of technology compatible with everything else."

Rose's phone went off, and she pulled it out, glanced at the text before looking at Clara. "It's for you." She tossed it over and Clara quickly caught it.

As she did, she melted away any fun pretense she was having, sending Cyber Lumic a dark look of satisfaction. "Like this." She jammed Rose's phone into the pod and at once all the Cybermen started screaming in agony, making the group flinch while Cyber Lumic stared around in obvious shock. Clara saw at the side of the room, one Cyberman that was staring at its reflection, wailing to itself in sorrow. Clara went to stand by it and just for one moment, she let all her guilt at her actions express into one sorrowful look. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She said sadly.

**"What have you done?!"** Cyber Lumic demanded.

"I gave them back their souls." Clara said, glowering at Cyber Lumic as she took Rose's phone out of the pod and tossed it back to its owner. "They can see what you've done, Lumic, and its killing them!" The group then quickly rushed out of the room.

**"Delete! Delete! Delete!"** Cyber Lumic called from behind them as they raced through the factory. Rushing towards a back exit, they found it blocked by a large group of screaming Cybermen, forcing them back inside. They could feel the factory around them starting to shake violently as the Cybermen all exploded and died, causing sparks and flames to erupt within the facility's walls. Despite the mass commotion, they could hear the distant screams of Cyber Lumic and they knew, they had to find a way out. Lumic would get to them first before the fires of the factory would.

"There's no way out!" Pete exclaimed.

"Keep searching!" The Doctor ordered.

* * *

"What're you doing?!" Mickey demanded as Jake took the helm.

"We've got to get away. If that factory blows up, this balloon's gonna ignite." Jake explained.

"Take it back!" Mickey ordered.

"Mickey, they've had it!"

"I said: Take it back!" Jake ignored him, so Mickey moved over and shoved him away from the wheel. "We're not leaving them behind!" Jake moved back to grasp the wheel, but Mickey shoved him aside again. "There's no way we're leaving them behind!" He quickly spun the wheel to keep the zeppelin steady over the factory roof, but they had already moved too high away from the staircase ladder. Mickey took out his phone and dialled Rose's number before handing it to a puzzled Jake. "Hold it!" Jake held it to his ear just as Rose answered. "Rose! Rose, can you hear me?! Head for the roof!"

_"Gotcha!"_ He could hear her put the phone aside. _"It's Mickey!"_ Rose called in the background. _"He says head for the roof!"_

"How are you going to get them?!" Jake demanded.

"I don't know, figure it out!" Mickey retorted.

_"Mickey, where did you learn to fly that thing?!"_ Rose demanded. She and the group must've quickly sprinted to the roof, but he couldn't feel relieved at that just yet.

"PlayStation." He said simply. "Just hold on, Rose, I'm coming to get you." He moved away from the helm towards the ship controls. "Take the helm!" He ordered, and Jake immediately did so.

"You can't go any lower!" Jake said.

"I've got to!"

"You're going to crush them!"

Mickey glanced at all the controls with furrowed eyebrows. "There's got to be something. There's got to be." He muttered. Then, his gaze landed on a lever next to an emergency message. _Rope ladder!_ "Oh yes!"

* * *

"Oh, you've got to be kidding!" Pete exclaimed as a long rope ladder descended from the zeppelin above their heads.

"Come on, get up!" The Doctor demanded, Rose getting on first followed by Clara, then the Doctor, then Pete.

"All right, we're all on!" Rose said as soon as Pete got a good grip.

_"Hold on tight! We're going up!"_ The rope started ascending towards the zeppelin, albeit slower than they expected, while the zeppelin in turn started to move high away from the factory. _"Welcome to Mickey Smith Airlines. Please enjoy your flight. Wooh!"_ Mickey quipped with a laugh before they hung up, allowing Rose to pocket her phone.

Rose looked down to see the Doctor and Clara holding onto the rope, while Pete moved up just behind them. "We did it! Mickey did it!"

"Go Mickey!" The Doctor called, the three sharing a laugh, but it was cut off as the ladder shook violently. They had to be carrying something heavy, so they all looked down. There it was, Cyber Lumic, climbing slowly up the ladder towards Pete, practically glaring fires as bright as the factory at them.

Clara growled low in her throat, reaching to pull out her sonic and switched the settings. "Pete!" She called, earning said man's attention. "Take this!" She dropped the sonic, which Pete caught in his outstretched hand. "Hold the button down! Press it against the rope! Just do it!"

Pete, with a firm grip on the ladder, pressed her sonic against the ladder beneath his feet. "Jackie Tyler! This is for her!" The sonic made quick work of the rope, burning and tearing it instantly, letting a screaming Cyber Lumic fall to its death, consumed within the flames of the burning factory. Now, they could all relax. The threat was dead, and Mickey was piloting them safely away. They just had one last stop now. They needed the old girl alive again.

* * *

The Doctor and Clara raced into the TARDIS and he immediately hooked the glowing crystal into the console.

"You all right now?" He asked Clara as they waited for the TARDIS to return to life.

Clara breathed, moving in to hug him. "Not really, no." She muttered.

"Clara, it'll be fine. They're gone now." She just gave a small smile as he planted a kiss on her lips. At that, they heard the TARDIS hum around them, the lights returning and an instant, welcoming warmth letting them chuckle to themselves.

"Okay, I think we BOTH feel much better now." She mused, the Doctor sharing her grin as they looked at the console. "Missed you, old girl."

_*Beeps*_ (Missed you too. Both of you)

The Doctor and Clara chuckled. It felt good to be back home.

* * *

"So, what happens inside that thing, eh?" Pete asked Rose as they stood outside the TARDIS, while Mickey and Jake conversed to themselves away from the pair.

"Do you want to see?" Rose offered.

Pete shook his head. "No, I don't think so." He sighed, turning to look at Rose. "But you three, you know, all that stuff you said about different worlds…who are you?"

Rose felt her own heart race at that. She'd been dreading this conversation, even if he was so much like the Dad she only briefly knew. "It's like you said." She took a breath to calm herself. "Imagine there are…different worlds…parallel worlds, worlds with another Pete Tyler and…Jackie Tyler's still alive and their…daughter."

The inquisitive curiosity on Pete's face melted into recognition. She could almost hear the gears turning in his head as he pieced it all together, and he realised exactly who she was. Why he felt she was so right. "No." He muttered in disbelief and shock. "I've got to go."

"But if you just look inside-"

"No, I can't." Pete interrupted her pleading. "There's all those Lumic factories out there. All those Cybermen still in storage. Someone's got to tell the authorities what happened, carry on the fight."

The TARDIS doors opened, the Doctor and Clara stepping out and walking towards them. "Rose. We've only got five minutes of power. We've got to go." The Doctor explained.

"They could show you." Rose pleaded again, turning back to Pete.

"Thank you…for everything." Pete said, with clear denial at her offer.

"Dad."

Pete's face morphed into sadness. "Don't. Please, just don't." At that, he walked away, only glancing back once before he disappeared. Rose felt sad at that, but now she knew. She really needed to see her mum again.

"Here they are." Mickey said, joining the group, him and Jake carrying two bundles of clothes. "Found them. Yours hasn't got a crease, Doctor."

"My suit! Good man!" The Doctor complimented, taking his clothes from Mickey.

"That's my sweater!" Clara beamed, taking her own from Jake. "Thank you!"

"Not at all." Jake returned.

"Now then, Jake, we've got to run. But one more thing." The Doctor inputted. "Mrs. Moore, her real name was Angela Price. She's got a husband out there and children. Find them. Tell them how she died saving the world."

Jake nodded immediately with a wink. "Yeah, of course I will."

"Right. Off we go then." The Doctor said.

"Uh…thing is, I'm staying." Mickey said.

The trio looked at him with wide eyes. "You're doing what?" Clara asked.

"You can't." Rose muttered.

Mickey shrugged softly, but his own voice was holding back from breaking. "It sort of balances out, cause this world lost its Rickey, but there's me. And there's work to be done with all those Cybermen still out there."

"But you can't stay." Rose said, tears prickling her eyes.

"Rose, my gran's here. She's still alive, my old gran, remember her?"

Rose nodded. "Yeah."

"She needs me." He said simply.

"What about me? You're my friend. What if I need you?"

He shook his head sadly. "Yeah, but Rose, you don't. You have them." He nodded to the pair beside them. "And you have Jackie. You've got it pretty good." He said with a small smile that faded quickly.

"Well, we'll come back. We can travel anywhere, come and see you, yeah?" Rose looked to the pair for help.

"We can't." The Doctor denied sadly. "We've told you, travel between parallel worlds is impossible. We only got here by accident. We-we fell through a crack in the skin of our universe. When we leave, me and Clara must close it. We can't ever return."

Mickey sighed and held out his hand to the pair. "Doctor. Clara." They just glanced at his hand and rolled their eyes, grabbing his wrist to pull him into a double hug. "Oof." He muttered.

"Watch it." Clara warned playfully before they parted. "Now, take Rose's phone, it's got the code. Get it out there. Stop those factories." She ordered.

"And good luck, Mickey the idiot." The Doctor inputted, playfully smacking Mickey on the cheek.

"Watch it." Mickey retorted. They sent him one last smile before turning away and entering the TARDIS. Mickey turned to Rose, who gave him her phone and he put it into his pocket. "Thanks. We've had a laugh though, haven't we? Seen it all, been there and back. Who would've thought, eh? Me, you, off the old estate, flying through the stars with those toddlers?" He remarked.

Rose smiled briefly before bringing back her sad expression. "All those years, just sitting there…imagining what we'd do one day. We never saw this, did we?" She choked, and he brought her into one final hug.

"Go on." He ushered, parting from the hug. "Don't miss your flight."

She nodded. "Good luck out there, yeah?"

He smiled. "You too." Rose then without any further words, moved into the TARDIS and closed the doors behind her. "Jake, you want to watch this." Mickey said after clearing his throat.

Jake looked at the TARDIS with puzzlement that quickly turned into disbelief as the lamp flared above, slowly dematerialising away. "What the hell?" Jake muttered.

"That's the Doctor and Clara, in the TARDIS, with Rose Tyler." He said proudly.

**Tyler Flat**

Jackie just finished filling the jug as she heard the TARDIS materialising inside the flat, so she immediately put it down on the counter and exited the kitchen into the living room, beaming as Rose came out of the TARDIS. She briefly gave a confused look at Rose's server attire before shrugging it off.

"You're alive." Rose said in relief. Jackie blinked as Rose bounded up to her. "Oh Mum, you're alive!"

Jackie blinked a bit in surprise as Rose dove in for a tight hug. "Well, I was the last time I looked." She quipped. The Doctor and Clara exited the TARDIS, both bearing sad expressions which made Jackie frown.

"I'm sorry, Mum. I'm so sorry." Rose choked.

"What is it? What's happened, sweetheart?" Jackie asked as Rose held her tight. "What's wrong? Where did you go?"

"Far away." It was Clara that answered. "That was…far away."

"Where's Mickey?" Jackie asked.

It was the Doctor that answered now. "He's gone home."

Rose sniffed, making Jackie rub her back in comfort. "Hey, it's all right. What's wrong?"

"I love you Mum. I'm so sorry."

"Hey, it's okay." Jackie cooed. "It's all right. What happened out there?"

"We'll tell you." Clara said, making Jackie blink. "We'll be staying for a bit, if that's okay."

Jackie smiled, just continuing to rub Rose's back. "Yeah, it's okay. You can stay." The Doctor and Clara shot her small smiles while Rose started to relax, letting Jackie smile to herself. It was good to have her back.

* * *

Mickey and Jake climbed into the front seats of the Preacher's van, deciding to sit in silence for a moment.

"Jake…" Mickey started, earning said man's attention, "I know it's not easy with my face looking exactly like Rickey, but I'm a different man. I'm not replacing him."

Jake nodded. "You never could. I'll never have another boyfriend like him."

Mickey blinked, and quickly cleared his throat. "Okay, definitely not replacing him." Jake chuckled at that. "But we can remember him, by fighting in his name."

Jake nodded. "Yeah. Him, Mrs. Moore…definitely."

Mickey turned to stare out the windscreen of the van with furrowed eyebrows. "With all those Cyber Factories out there, do you think there'll be one in Paris?"

Jake cocked an eyebrow before nodding. "Yeah."

"Then let's go liberate Paris." Mickey said.

"What, you and me? In a van?" Jake quipped dryly.

Mickey smiled. "There's nothing wrong with a van. I once saved the universe with a BIG yellow truck." Jake laughed with Mickey as he turned the van on and drove away, now on their new mission. They didn't know it, but they would meet the TARDIS trio again. One day.

**AN: Ahh, I miss Mickey. I mean…you know…he'll be back, but still, I already miss him. I hope now you see why I didn't have someone go with Mickey in the first place, as I needed him to find his own place in the world, or in this case another world, on his own. Also, do tell me if you think I should do anything better in this story. Since it will be a VERY long story, any criticism is appreciated. Anyway, as always, thanks for reading and leave a comment if you wish, and I shall see you in another two weeks. :)**


	36. The Idiot's Lantern

**The Idiot's Lantern**

**Florizel Street, Muswell Hill, London  
** 1st May 1953

Embarrassment. Shame. Regret. Sadness. These were the only feelings Mr. Magpie could feel now, stuck in his job as owner and founder of Magpie Electricals. The man was only 58 years old, with a receding hairline leading into dark brown hair, dashed with shades of grey, which coupled with his greying stubble, helped to show his ragged, tired attire. He typically wore a dark blue suit, maybe even a brown trench coat, but right now he had removed most of those for the night, just remaining in his jeans, white shirt and black suspenders. The man ran a hand over his face to hold back a sigh as he finished calculating all his current bills, his behavior not helped in the least by the nighttime rain and thunder outside. "Two hundred pounds overdrawn." He muttered, ripping one of his notepad sheets and tossed it aside, all the while some random program played on one of his televisions. It was something about a prim and proper female British presenter, with black hair and a silver blue dress with three white necklaces, despite the telly only being in black and white.

_"Orchestrations were arranged by Sir Rodney Fenning and Dame Eve English is a member of the Kings Lynn Players. So, tune in again next week for more from the "What's My Line?" team. And that brings us to the end of programming for today. So, from all of us here at Alexandra Palace, a very good night."_ The woman said before the TV switched to an automatic, floating symbol, with "God Save the Queen" playing on for background ambience.

Even that music helped to add to Magpie's beaten attitude, since the coronation of the nations newest majesty would be coming in a single month. But people still didn't have enough money to buy televisions. Magpie sighed. "I need a miracle." He silently pleaded. Maybe he needed to sleep it off, help strengthen his mood. _Yes._ He agreed to himself. _That should do the trick._

* * *

The Connolly family. Sitting together in their small home, were just listening to something relaxing on the radio. The mother, Rita, was sitting at a desk in the room, using a sewing machine to fix a hole in one of her shirts. The grandmother, who they just called Gran, or Mum on Rita's part, was sitting on a small sofa, nibbling on a jam crumpet and laughing softly to herself at the radio. The son, Thomas or Tommy, was sitting on the main long sofa just reading a magazine that contained an advertisement on televisions, and he was always excited at the possibility of having one in their home. Rita gave a quick glance at her mother as said woman kept giggling at the radio.

"He's a caution, that one. He does make me laugh." Rita said with a smile on her face.

At that, the man of the house, Eddie Connolly, a 48-year-old man with scruffy dark hair and a thin matching moustache came into the room, finishing buttoning up his blue suit, which was even coupled with his medals of honor he had received from his serving times.

"Oh, our lord and master." Gran Connolly quipped.

Eddie rolled his eyes with a smirk. "Rita, I'm off out." He said simply.

Rita just gave a silent nod, while Tommy turned in his seat to look up at him. "Dad."

Eddie looked down to see what Tommy was holding and he groaned. "Oh, how many times, son? We'll see."

"But everyone's getting a telly, Dad, even Mr. Gallagher. And the bells at Number 67."

Eddie sighed. "Well, perhaps we'll get one for the coronation." Tommy's gaze turned into radiating hope, almost making him smirk again. "If you're lucky. We'll see." He ruffled Tommy's brown hair before grabbing his keys off the table and turned to leave. "Don't wait up." He said to everyone before moving to grab his overcoat and head out the front door.

"I heard they rot your brains. Rot them into soup, and your brain comes pouring out of your ears. That's what television does." Gran said to Tommy.

* * *

_A house. A proper house. A nice brick house with carpets and a good wage. Good food. Roast chicken or pork-_

" _Mr. Magpie?"_

_What? Is my dream talking to me?_

_"Oh, Mr. Magpie?"_

"Eh?" Magpie muttered. The dream was over now. It was weird. It sounded like that lady on the TV was talking to him. Ah, it didn't matter. Slowly, Magpie awoke from his sleep, just to be sure that he was alone, the only thing with him being a television still on, with that lady on it.

_"Whoo-hoo! Can you hear me, Magpie?"_

Okay, NOW he was confused. "Yes." That voice. It came from the TV. Nah, it couldn't be. "I must be dreaming." He said, shaking his head to clear his eyesight, turning to look at the TV.

The lady, or whatever it was, shook its head. _"Oh, no. This isn't a dream."_

He blinked and gulped. "I'm going doolally, then."

It smirked. _"Not at all, sweetheart. Now, are you sitting comfortably?"_ He blinked again, now in bewilderment. _"Good. Then we'll begin."_ Its smirk turned into a cold smile, before it closed its eyes and sighed. Out from the TV screen came three tendrils of red electricity that latched onto Magpie's face and started to feed, drawing his own screaming face into the TV as it laughed manically.

1st June

_Pink. So much pink._ Rose mused to herself as she stepped out of the TARDIS. They were going to see Elvis and they decided to dress appropriately, with Rose wearing a long pink dress with matching heels and a blue jacket over the top, along with a pink hairband, pink sunglasses and even two long earrings. _It was an odd style,_ Rose thought, _but then again, the Elvis period was odd anyway. I mean, come on, it's Elvis for god's sake._ She took a confused glance at her surroundings and frowned. "I thought we'd be going for the Vegas era." She said as she heard the Doctor and Clara moving about in the TARDIS. "You know…the white flares and the… _*Purrs*_ chest hair."

"You are kidding, aren't you?" Clara asked as she hopped out of the TARDIS. She was wearing the same outfit that she wore when they fought that werewolf with her shorty Queen counterpart, now with the addition of a pair of sunglasses, all which Rose admired a bit.

_If only for a bit._ She playfully mused.

"If you want to see Elvis, you go for the late 50's. The time before burgers, when they called him "The Pelvis" and he still had a waist." Clara continued as she stepped out. "What's more, you see him in style."

"It'll be just like Forrest Gump." Rose mused.

Clara blinked. "Eh?"

"Elvis. They had him "Appear" in Forrest Gump."

Clara shook her head. "Sorry, can't remember." Then, Clara shrugged. "To be honest, it's been a while since I've seen that movie."

Rose groaned. "First thing we're doing when we get back." She muttered.

"Don't worry, Clara." The Doctor called as they heard him start up a motorbike inside the TARDIS. "You're not alone on that." The Doctor came riding out, doing a quick circle around the pair, earning a roll of the eyes from Rose while Clara had to stop herself from giggling as he came to a stop. "You going my way, doll?" He asked with a wink to Clara, clearly imitating Elvis, which his own brushed back hair even echoed, if only a tad.

"Oh yes, mate." Clara quipped with a Cockney accent. "I'm sure I would be having fun with your ride." She flirted.

"Bloody hell, you pull that one off well." The Doctor complimented with a smirk as he put on a white helmet and handed a silver one to Clara, the two of them turning to Rose as they buckled them on. "How about you, Rose?"

Rose smirked and put on her glasses. _She could outdo them BOTH._ "Is there any other way to go, Daddy-o?" She asked in an American accent, and it caused the desired effect. The couple's eyes widened, and she grinned. "Straight from the fridge, man!"

"Rose Tyler, since when could you speak the lingo?" Clara asked as the Doctor handed her a helmet, Rose moving to hop on behind Clara.

"Well, me, mum, Cliff Richard movies every bank holiday Monday." Rose explained, back in her normal voice.

"Oh, Cliff." The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Of course, Jackie would be a Cliff fan."

""Cliff"?" Clara asked. "Cliff who?"

"Don't let my mum catch you saying that." Rose warned. "She'd go barmy."

"Aaaaaand we're off!" The Doctor said, taking the bike into motion, causing Clara to shriek behind him.

"Doctor! Control yourself!" She reprimanded playfully.

"Not in a thousand years!" He retorted back.

"Where are we off to?!" Rose interrupted. _Why is it that these bikes have to be so bloody loud?!_

"Ed Sullivan TV Studios!" The Doctor informed. "Elvis did "Hound Dog" on one of the shows! There were loads of complaints! Bit of luck, we'll just catch it!"

"And that'll be TV Studios in…what, New York?!"

"That's the one!"

The Doctor brought the bike to a stop to let a double decker bus pass by, making the Doctor and Clara blink while Rose just laughed. "Digging that New York vibe!" Rose whooped.

"Well…this could still be New York." The Doctor muttered, the low rumble of the unmoving bike letting the pair behind him hear his words. "I mean…this looks very New York to me. Sort of…Londony New York, mind, but…"

"What're all the flags for?" Rose asked. She was right, on every single house in sight there was flags adorning their walls, with long strings of small flags connecting all the houses in the street together. "Clara, what'd you reckon?" She asked.

Clara blinked, shaking her head slightly. "I taught English, not History."

"Oh, fat lot of use you-"

"Oi!"

* * *

The Connolly family, sans Gran, sat in the living room around their newly acquired black TV. Eddie stared at the TV in a mixture of bemused curiosity while Rita and Tommy tried to replicate that feeling, they kept glancing up to the ceiling beneath the second floor in wide eyed nervousness. The current channel was something about "Muffin the Mule", which made Eddie chuckle as he got up, crossed over to the TV and turned the volume down

"Smashing!" He commented with a grin. "Smashing, isn't it?" He asked, glancing back between the family and his TV. "You'd have thought they was in the room with you, eh? Fair dues, Tommy, you had a point." He looked at Rita and his smile faded noticing her far away gaze, which even Tommy had. "Come on, it's a new television, Rita, that should cheer you up a bit. Give us a smile then, eh?"

"I can't." Rita muttered, and his gaze turned properly blank. "Nothing's the same anymore, not with her-"

"Stop it." He warned.

"But her face, Eddie." She said, her voice truly level now. "What happened to her? That awful face-"

"I said stop it!" He growled, hushing Rita.

_*Tap*_

They all looked up at the roof, hitching their breaths just a bit.

_*Tap* *Tap*_

"She's awake." Rita said, her voice back to a soft mutter again. "I think she's hungry."

"But how?" Tommy asked. "She hasn't even got a mouth." Rita sighed at that while Eddie rolled his eyes.

* * *

"There you go, sir!" Magpie called cheerfully as he handed a receipt to another customer, a man and his son carrying their new TV into a nearby house. "All wired up for the great occasion!"

"Cheers!" The man called.

""The Great Occasion"?" The Doctor asked as he, Clara and Rose stepped up to Magpie from around his car. "What do you mean?"

Magpie blinked. "Where've you been living, out in the colonies? Coronation, of course." He said as he moved to close the back doors of his car.

"And…what Coronation's that, then?"

Magpie truly scrunched his face in bemused bewilderment. "What do you mean? THE Coronation."

Rose caught on before her two friends. "It's the Queen's." Clara almost got it while the Doctor just shook his head. "Queen Elizabeth."

Now they got. "Oh, is this 1953?" Clara asked.

Magpie shrugged. "Last time I looked." He quipped. "Time for a lovely bit of pomp and circumstance, what we do best."

Rose smiled at that before her gaze darted up to the rooftops and her expression frowned. _There's too many of them._ "Look at all the TV aerials. Looks like everyone's got one. That's weird, my nan said tellies were so rare they all had to pile into one house." The Doctor and Clara cocked an eyebrow at her words but decided to fold it away for now.

"Not round here, love." Magpie said with a grin as he patted his car, bearing the painted card title of his company. "Magpie's marvelous tellies, only 5 Quid a box."

"Oh, but this is a brilliant year! Classic!" The Doctor exclaimed with a beaming grin, automatically getting a giggling Clara's attention. "Technicolor, Everest climbed, everything off the ration, a nation throwing off the shadows of war and looking forward to a happier, brighter future!" While the three chuckled, Magpie rolled his eyes and moved to enter his car.

And yet, on that statement, all their joyful attitude was cut off as a nearby front door slammed open and three men in detective outfits hauled a man covered in a black cloak into a black car, a screaming woman behind them. "Someone help me, please! Ted! Leave him alone, he's my husband! Please!"

The Doctor and Clara immediately sprinted over. "What's going on?" The Doctor asked.

Tommy also came rushing out of the Connolly house. "Oi! What are you doing?!" He demanded but the police ignored him.

"Are you hurting him?!" Clara demanded as they shoved the man inside the car.

"No." The leader, a gaunt man with an obvious receding hairline despite his hat on top, said to the TARDIS couple. "This is police business. Now, if you would kindly sir, ma'am, get out of the way!" He ordered. With that, the police trio entered the car.

"Who did they take? Do you know him?" Clara asked Tommy as Rose hurried over to join them.

"It must be Mr. Gallagher." The police then started to drive off in haste, leaving the poor man's wife in sobbing tears. "It's happening all over the place. They're turning into monsters."

"Tommy!" Eddie roared, stepping out of the house with Rita hiding behind him. "Not one word! Get inside now!"

The TARDIS group sent glowering looks at the man's attitude, but Tommy relented. "Sorry. Better do as he says." He muttered before stepping back inside.

"All aboard!" The Doctor ushered, the three clipping their helmets back on and hopping onto the motorbike.

* * *

"Come on, come on, come on, come on." The leader of the police, Detective Inspector Bishop, muttered to himself as the phone in the car continued dialing before it successfully connected. "Operation Market Stall. Go, go, go!" He ordered. The car rounded a corner towards an opening red gate, two men holding back a stall on two wheels and the car quickly sped through the opening, the gate closing behind them. At that, the three men in the car breathed out in relief. They knew every time they had to pick one of these…things up, someone would follow them. This time would be no different. DI Bishop then dialed a new number, this being one of his intelligence gatherers. "Anything from Torchwood? What are they saying?" He asked.

_"Nothing sir."_

DI Bishop rolled his eyes. "Like that's new."

_"I'm sorry sir, but-"_

"I know their first priority is to protect the royal family but how does that help me?!" He snapped back, hanging up the phone without a word as the car came to a stop at the gate of their hidden warehouse. He then turned around to the poor man in the seat behind them who, despite having a cloak over his head, was clenching and unclenching his fists repeatedly.

"Why do they keep doing that, sir?" The driver asked, also looking at the Mr. Gallagher's fists.

"I'm not sure." DI Bishop sighed and opened his door. "Put him with the others."

* * *

The Doctor and Clara just stared at the red gate ahead of them with furrowed eyebrows, while Rose just blinked, looking back and forth between them as the motorbike sat still, rumbling softly to itself.

"Lost them." The Doctor muttered. "How did they get away from us?"

Rose scoffed. "I'm surprised they didn't turn back and arrest you for reckless driving. Have you actually passed your test?"

"No, he never did." Clara informed.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Of course." She grumbled.

"Men in Black?" The Doctor muttered, ignoring their banter. "Vanishing police cars? This is Churchill's England, not Stalin's Russia."

Rose sighed, furrowing her own eyebrows. _Monsters. Why did that boy call them monsters?_ ""Monsters"." Rose muttered.

"Eh?" Clara asked, the Doctor looking back at Rose as well.

"That's what the boy said, "Monsters". Maybe we should go and ask the neighbors."

Clara smiled. "That's what we like about you. The domestic approach."

"Thank you." Rose beamed back. But then, she let her smile fade as she saw the twinkle in Clara's eye. "Hold on, was that an insult-"

"Aaaaaand we're off!" The Doctor called, quickly putting the motorbike into action.

"Whoa! Watch it!" Rose shrieked, Clara and the Doctor just giggling at her and she scowled. "You two are the worst!"

"Nah!" They said in unison.

* * *

_All finished._ Magpie brought a small black, handheld television towards his main set and placed it down on top of one of the inactive tellies. Magpie had to blink back the throbbing inside his head. It felt like someone had trapped an animal inside his own brain and it was trying to claw its way out, and by hell it hurt, but it never went away. Taking a gulp, he cleared his throat and the creature, which called itself "The Wire", came back onto the center TV. "I finished it as you instructed." Magpie informed, and the Wire smiled.

_"That's awfully good of you, Mr. Magpie."_

Magpie's expression turned hopeful. "So, you'll go soon? You'll leave me?"

The Wire smiled, with the tiniest hint of a dark sparkle in its eyes. _"Oh, we'll see. If you're a very good boy, we may part."_

Magpie took a breath, rubbing a hand on his forehead in a vain attempt to dull the pain. "Please, you're burning me inside. Behind my eyes, it hurts. Even my memories hurt." Magpie choked, closing his eyes to stop any more emotions from pouring out. "I just want things back like they used to be."

_"Oh, Magpie."_ The Wire cooed, albeit, at least to Magpie, with a hint of a condescending tone. _"This world of yours is busy, busy, busy, forging ahead into a brand-new age. You can never go back, that's your tragedy. But now, the time is almost ripe, Magpie. "Cometh the hour, cometh the man"."_ The Wire laughed to itself before smirking. _"Or lady."_

* * *

There Tommy stood, upstairs in the Connolly Residence, with the small brown key that could unlock THAT room. His grandmother's room. He could even hear her, shuffling around aimlessly to herself inside, tapping and rattling on whatever was in her way. Tommy moved up to the door and placed his hand on it. "Gran?" He whispered timidly, but received no answer, as they always did. "Gran, it's me. It's Tommy." Still no answer, so he took a deep breath. "I'm gonna come in, Gran. Stand back. Just don't…I'm sorry, but I've got to come in." Tommy placed the key at the lock-

"What do you think you're doing?" Eddie snarled, making Tommy jump as he looked at his scowling father standing behind him.

"We've got to try and help her, Dad."

Eddie's eye twitched ever so slightly but he kept Tommy distracted from it by obviously clenching his jaw. "Give me that key." He ordered. Tommy did nothing, so he clenched his fists as well. "I said give me that key right now." He ordered again, now with a growling tone of warning. Tommy relented, handing over the key which Eddie immediately snatched out of his grasp and placed it into his pocket. Tommy gulped, hoping it was over with, which made Eddie scrunch his face together. "You think I'm finished with you?" He asked with a hint of disgust. "I'm not. Get downstairs now!" Eddie grasped his shoulder and hauled him ahead, down the stairs and into the living room where Rita waited, wringing her hands together anxiously. "How many times do I have to tell you not to go into that room and you never listen! All the warnings I've given you and every time, every time, you disobey me!"

"We can't just lock her away." Tommy protested.

"Excuse me, sunshine, I am talking." Eddie snapped. "And you can forget that college nonsense." Eddie quickly added. "You're gonna come and work alongside me. Get your hands dirty for once!"

_*Tap*_

All of them, even Eddie blinked, looking up at the ceiling.

"Oh, lord." Rita whimpered. "Won't she ever stop?"

_*Tap* *Tap*_

Eddie sighed, moving to Rita to, as carefully as he could, grasp her shoulders in a form of comfort. "There, there, Rita, my sweet. Business as usual. Now, let's get these up all over the house." He motioned to their bundle of small flags. "In honor of her majesty."

"But, Eddie, what if she's dying?" Rita asked.

"I am talking!" Eddie exclaimed, silencing a nervous Rita. He even ignored the shaking look of fear and anger from Tommy, since the kid couldn't do anything to him. Eddie gave a small smile at the, at least what he would call, calm and peaceful silence. "That's better. A little bit of hush." Almost as if the universe disagreed with him, the doorbell rang, making him blink in bewilderment. He waited a moment and the doorbell rang again, so he moved to the front door, his expression growing even more confused as he saw the TARDIS trio standing there with beaming smiles on their faces.

"Hi!" They said in unison.

Eddie blinked comically a few times before taking a breath. "Who are you then?" He asked in trepidation.

The Doctor frowned, gazing into the house. "Let's see then. Judging by the look of you, family man, nice house, decent wage, fought in the war therefore…" He pulled out his psychic paper and showed it to Eddie, "me and my girl Clara here represent Queen and country." To their own delight, Eddie straightened his back immediately in anticipation. "Just doing a little check on her forthcoming majesty's subjects for the great day. Don't mind if we come in? Nah, didn't think you did, thank you." The Doctor immediately bounded through the front door and into the living room, followed swiftly by Clara and Rose as Eddie shut the door, still blinking at them despite his full attention on their movements. "Not bad." The Doctor complimented, gazing around the room with a small nod. "Very nice. Very well kept. What'd you think, Clara?"

Clara nodded. "Very homely."

He turned to Rita. "We'd like to congratulate you, Mrs.…"

"Connolly." Rita said. "Rita Connolly."

"Now then Rita, I can handle this." Eddie quickly said. "This gentleman's a proper representative. Don't mind the wife, she rattles on a bit."

The Doctor gave a small scowl at his words. _He blatantly ignored my Clara and is dismissive to his own wife? Strike one._ "Well, maybe she should rattle on a bit more. I'm not convinced you're doing your patriotic duty." Eddie blinked, while Tommy and Rita stared at him with wide eyes. "Nice flags." He nodded to their bundle. "Why are they not flying?"

Eddie looked over at Rita. "There we are, Rita, I told you. Get them up, Queen and country." Clara scowled, and the Doctor echoed it.

"I'm sorry…" Rita tried to apologize but Eddie didn't have it.

"Get it done, now!" He demanded.

"Hold on a minute…" The Doctor said, motioning for Clara to stay back.

"Like the gentleman says-"

"Hold on a minute." The Doctor said more clearly, silencing Eddie. "You've got hands, Mr. Connolly, two big hands. So, why is that your wife's job?"

Eddie blinked. "It's housework, isn't it?"

"And that's a woman's job?"

Eddie scoffed. "Of course, it is."

The Doctor shot Clara a small smile before turning back to Eddie. "Mr. Connolly, what gender is the Queen?"

Eddie blinked. "She's…a female." He said with slight trepidation.

"And are you suggesting the Queen does the housework?"

Tommy shot the Doctor an impressed look while Rose tried her best not to snigger at Eddie's terrified expression. "No." Eddie stammered. "Not at all."

The Doctor noticed Rita gave a small beaming smile at his words, so he took the bundle of flags between two of his fingers and outstretched them to Eddie. "Then get busy."

Eddie quickly nodded and moved to work. "Right. Yes, sir. You'll be proud of us, sir. We'll have Union Jacks left, right and center."

The Doctor turned to Clara, who was burning pink at what he did. "You don't have to do anything alone, my Clara." He said with a wink, making Clara blush even more.

"Thank you." Clara mouthed, and he grinned cheekily at her.

Rose stood up and moved to lean in close to them. "Who said friends can't help either?" Rose asked rhetorically with her tongue in her teeth, making them shoot each other puzzled looks as Rose moved to stand behind Eddie. "Excuse me, Mr. Connolly, hang on a minute." Eddie stopped, looking at Rose with the same terrified expression he sent the Doctor. ""Union Jacks"?"

Eddie blinked. "Yes…that's right, isn't it?"

"That's the Union Flag." Rose said, motioning to the very flags Eddie was putting up. "It's the Union Jack only when it's flown at sea." Tommy could barely control his beaming grin, Rita was struggling to control her smirk while the Doctor and Clara just grinned at each other.

"Oh. Oh, I'm sorry, I…I do apologize." Eddie squeaked.

Rose grinned, with a slight twinkle of mischievousness in her eyes. "Well, don't get it wrong again. There's a good man. Now, get to it!" She ordered in her Jackie voice and Eddie immediately went back to work. She sent the Doctor and Clara a sheepish smirk before the pair sat down on the sofa, Rose moving to kneel behind it, leaning her head over their shoulders.

"Right then. Nice and comfy, at her majesty's leisure." The Doctor said before he glancing to Rose. ""Union Flag"?" He whispered.

"Mum went out with a sailor." Rose explained making Clara scoff with a roll of her eyes.

"I bet she did." The Doctor said, echoing Clara's expression before they turned back to the Connolly family, specifically Rita and Tommy. "Anyway, I'm the Doctor, this is Clara, and this is Rose, and you are?" He asked Tommy.

"Tommy."

"Well, sit yourself down, Tommy." The Doctor patted the space between him and Clara, while also patting the small sofa next to them for Rita. "Have a look at this." He said, grinning at the TV. "I love telly, don't you?"

"Yeah." Tommy said, beaming. "I think it's brilliant."

"Good man." The Doctor commented. "Keep working, Mr. C!" He called over his shoulder before he turned to Rita with a serious expression. "Now, why don't you tell me what's wrong?"

Rita's breath hitched. "Did you say you were a doctor?"

"Yes, I am."

"Can you help her? Oh please, can you help her, Doctor?"

Eddie stopped working at her words. "Now then, Rita, I don't think the gentleman needs to know."

"Oh, the gentleman AND the lady does." The Doctor snapped. _I swear, if he keeps being rude to Clara one more time…_

Rose moved to kneel beside Rita. "Tell us what's wrong and we can help." Rita just shook her head, starting to sob silently so Rose just hugged her close. "It's all right. It's all right." She cooed, rubbing Rita's back.

"Hold on a minute!" Eddie exclaimed, immediately earning a pair of smoldering glares. "Queen and country's one thing, but this is my house!" He looked down at the flags in his hands with puzzled disgust. "What the…what the hell am I doing?" He tossed the flags aside and moved to stand in front of the group. "Now, you listen here, Doctor, you may have fancy qualifications, but what goes on under my roof is my business!"

"Mr. Connolly, or Eddie…" Clara interrupted with a scowl, "all those people are being bundled into-"

"I am talking!"

_That's it!_ The Doctor stood up before Clara could move and got right into Eddie's suddenly terrified face. "And we're not listening! Now you, Mr. Connolly, you are staring into a deep dark PIT of trouble if you don't let us help! So, we're ordering you, SIR, tell us what's going on!"

_*Tap* *Tap* *Tap*_

The Connolly family looked at the ceiling in fear, while the TARDIS group, including a calming Doctor, looked up in curiosity.

"She won't stop." Eddie whimpered.

_*Tap* *Tap* *Tap*_

"She never stops."

Tommy cleared his throat, making everyone turn to look at him. "We started hearing stories, all around the place. People who've…changed. Families keeping it secret cause they were scared. Then the police started finding out. We don't know how, no one does. They just turn up. They come to the door and take them at any time, day or night."

"Show us."

Tommy nodded, standing up from the couch as everyone moved to follow him up the stairs. Eddie took his time, which they reasoned because he was just trying to catch his wits after being scared out of his mind, which gave Clara a small bit of delight against his arrogance. Tommy put a hand on the door knob of Gran's room, but it was locked. Before he could give any form of apology, Clara took out her sonic and used it to unlock the door for him. Tommy briefly had a wide-eyed look of awe at her device before he shook his head and opened the door. The room inside was dark, the lights all turned off but there was an obvious shadow within the room, that stood completely still, staring at the intruders. "Gran? It's Tommy." No answer from the unmoving silhouette inside. "It's all right, Gran, I've brought help." Still no answer, so Clara reached past Tommy and flicked the light on. There was his Gran, but her face…just wasn't there. It was completely blank, no eyes, no mouth, no eyelids, no eyelashes, no lips, nothing. What was only there was the grim shadow of her own skull underneath. The Connolly family, now joined by a grim looking Eddie, stared still with fear at Gran. Rose blinked in disgust while the Doctor frowned in worried curiosity and Clara in concern.

"Doctor." Clara muttered, looking straight up at him. "Will she be all right?"

He just stared at her. "I don't know." Clara blinked, and he cupped her cheek. "We'll figure it out, okay?" Clara nodded, and he gave her a quick kiss before taking her hand and led her over to Gran. Taking out his own sonic, he leaned in to look more closely at the faceless Gran, his expression now back to frowning curiosity. "Why is her face completely gone?"

"Somebody took it, it must've been." Clara said.

"Or something." The Doctor muttered grimly. "No one can do this, least of all in this time." He then placed his sonic just a couple of inches from Gran's face and started to scan her. "There's nothing there. No responses, no reactions, nothing. Scarcely an electrical impulse left. Almost complete neural shutdown, she's just ticking away, doing nothing else. It's like her brain's been…wiped clean." He informed, shutting off and pocketing his sonic.

"What are we going to do, Doctor, Clara?" Tommy asked. "We can't even feed her."

The front door slammed open, with two pairs of footsteps entering the house. They all knew who it was. "Well, we've got company." Rose quipped dryly.

"It's them! They've come for her!" Rita said fearfully.

"Quickly." Clara said, taking Rita's hand. "What was she doing before this happened? Where was she?" Rita blinked. "Tell us quickly! Think!" Clara snapped.

"I can't think!" Rita said, holding her head. "She doesn't leave the house, she was just-"

The two policemen bounded up the stairs, past a, at least to the Doctor and Clara, polite Eddie and into the room and the Doctor stepped in front of Clara and Gran. "Hold on a minute!" He quickly said, holding up a hand. The policeman in front of him shot the one behind him a quick look, almost as if to say, "This guy for real?". "There are three important, brilliant and complicated reasons why you should listen to me. One-" The policeman punched the Doctor square in the head, knocking him out cold and down to the floor.

"Doctor!" Clara exclaimed, moving beside his unconscious form and started smacking his face to awaken him. Amidst the confusion, the policemen draped a black cloak over Gran and started to haul her out of the room, ignoring a protesting Rita and Rose.

"Don't hurt her!" Rita yelled at the front door.

"Back inside Rita!" Eddie ordered.

"She's my mother!"

"Back inside now, I said!"

Clara gave one last smack to the Doctor, the man bolting up without warning and making Clara jump back just to avoid his forehead knocking against hers. "Ah! Hell of a right hook! Have to watch out for that!" He stood up and took Clara's hand. "Come on!" They bounded down the stairs, towards the front door, where Eddie was holding back Tommy and Rita.

"Don't fight it! Back inside!" Eddie ordered to Tommy and Rita.

"Move aside, now!" The Doctor ordered and the three moved over to let the Doctor and Clara out just in time to see the anonymous black police car driving away. They briefly saw Rose out of the corner of their eye inspecting the Connolly TV, but they couldn't mind that right now. "Rose, come on!" They bounded onto their motorbike and quickly put on their helmets.

"Rose, we're gonna lose them again!" Clara called. Still nothing and they had no choice but to drive away and chase after the police car without Rose.

Rose on the other hand had moved closer to the TV after she briefly saw an arc of red electricity, so she looked behind it, and the same arc of energy was on the main cable for the TV aerial. THAT and the label for where the TV came from was Magpie Electricals, the same man that was selling the TV's around here cheap. Rose started to put her own pieces together in her head, coupled with the many dozens of aerials there also were in the street, just as the Connolly family stepped back into the room.

"How did they know? How did they find her?" Tommy asked. "Who told them?"

Eddie was about to order Tommy to be silenced about that matter, but he had to delay it upon seeing Rose still in the house. "You! Get the hell out of my house!" He snarled.

Rose rolled her eyes. _He's not even that threatening at all, he was just annoying. Still, if I want to retain my sanity, I need to leave._ She mused in her head as she moved to stand up. "I'm going, I'm done." She looked over at Tommy and Rita with a smile. "Nice to meet you Tommy, Mrs. Connolly." She then looked at Eddie with squinting eyes. "And as for you, Mr. Connolly, only an idiot hangs the Union Flag upside down." Eddie briefly blinked, looking at what he did with bewilderment. "Shame on you. Now move aside so I can leave your house." She ordered in her Jackie voice again and Eddie once again blinked, and she beamed impishly before moving to leave the house.

* * *

The Doctor and Clara, speeding on their motorbike, moved around a corner just in time to see the police car behind a red gate that had just closed, the two men from this morning standing there, still sweeping. However they noticed that the two men's gazes kept moving back up to the TARDIS pair, almost like a guilty reflex like a pet knowing its in trouble for something. That and the fact that there was barely anything to sweep on the ground nor was there any real point to be working at night proved to the pair that it was all just an act.

The Doctor just shot Clara a look over his shoulder, and she winked at him, also having got it. "Oh, very good." The Doctor commented. One of the men smiled, but he quickly caught it and went back to his blank state again, but it was too late. "Very good." Clara tapped his side and as he turned his head towards her, she placed a finger over her lips to indicate silence. Then, she nodded towards the sidewalk, and while it was very small and hidden in the darkness, they could JUST make out a tiny dark red latch. The Doctor sent Clara a wink and without a word, he turned the motorbike around and moved the bike up a couple of blocks and turned it off. Taking off their helmets, they took each other's hand and started to slink silently back towards the red gate, keeping in all the shadows they could find to keep themselves hidden. Moving into the cul-de-sac, they kept on the right footpath and moved up to the small latch. The Doctor found it locked upon attempting to open it, so he briefly took out his sonic to unlock it. The pair slid through, making sure the latch was closed when they did and found themselves in what at first looked like an abandoned warehouse or junkyard but the silent police car that sat there along with a light in a work room upstairs proved otherwise. Underneath the office they could see metallic fence grating with no lights shining within, so the pair crept over to gaze closer. Still nothing proper could be seen within, except for the silhouettes of what they assumed were figures, standing still in the darkness and not a single sound was being made. The Doctor went to grab his sonic to unlock the gate door, but Clara lightly swatted his hand and took out her own to do it herself. Moving through the door, they grasped each other's hand as Clara pocketed her sonic, biting back a smirk as the Doctor stared down at her in playful warning.

_"What?"_ Clara asked, their minds linked through their touch.

_"You'll pay for that, missy."_

_"Oh, will I?"_

_"Yes, you will."_

Clara shot him a smirk. _"I look forward to it."_ She flirted.

Despite his rolling of the eyes, he did smile, for a moment. They let their joyful attitude drop as they got closer to the dark silhouettes, who were kept behind a metal grated makeshift cell. It being the Doctor's turn, he took out his sonic, unlocked the door and carefully opened it. Then, he switched out his sonic for a small torch and flicked it on. Now that they could see inside, the figures became clearer and their faces did so. They took that bit back, for they realized that this is where ALL the missing "Changed" people had been taken too. Just to be locked and hidden away secretly, most likely by a police force that didn't really know what to do. Every single one of them started to slowly turn towards the open door, all bearing the same blank faces, with shadows of their own skulls shining prominently in the torchlight all the while they clenched and unclenched their fists repeatedly. The Doctor and Clara shot each other a slightly nervous look, for no matter how awful their situation was, there was no denying that they did look rather unnerving in their appearance. Then, without any warning, the lights of the police car shot up in full beam, drowning the cell while the Doctor and Clara immediately placed their arms over their eyes to protect them from the light's onslaught. Turning to the direction of the light, they saw the three policemen standing there, one by the open driver's door while the other two including DI Bishop stood in front of the car.

"Stay where you are!" DI Bishop ordered.

* * *

_Just need to finish fixing these screws…_ Magpie muttered in his mind as he tinkered with his new creation, the portable television, for the Wire. He knew that soon enough, in a very short while, the Wire would reach out to another household in the area and feed off another poor soul. He could never figure out what happened to the people after they changed, but there was nothing he could do about it. If he defied the Wire, it would kill him and then latch onto some other poor soul instead. Maybe it was better with him, silly old man that he was, not much use anymore other than selling tellies cheap.

_*Ding Ding* *Ding Ding*_

Magpie looked up with a startled blink, seeing the door to his shop open. Within his own internal brooding, he had completely missed Rose's footsteps heading up to the door, as said girl stepped inside and gave a brief nod of approval at the display of TV's available. He did find her and her companions quite…odd, to say the least, not to mention the man that didn't even know that the Coronation was tomorrow. Still, he couldn't have her here, not when the Wire was not only, for a lack of a better term LIVING here, but was also going to feed soon. Maybe, just this once, he could avert one life, if only for a handful of hours. "I-I'm sorry, miss, I'm afraid you're too late. I was just about to lock the door."

Rose shrugged with a smirk. "Yeah? Well, I want to buy a telly."

"Come back tomorrow. Please."

Rose shook her head. "You'll be closed, won't you?"

Magpie blinked. "What?"

"For the big day? The Coronation?"

Magpie sighed. _Of course that wouldn't have worked._ "Yes, yes, of course. The big day." He shook his head, putting another screw into the back of the handheld TV and started to twist it in. "I'm sure you'll find somewhere to watch it. Just, please go."

Rose walked up and placed her hands on his desk, her gaze turning into accusation, if only softly. "Seems to me half of London's got a television, since you're practically giving them away."

"I have my reasons." He muttered with a shrug.

"And what are they?" Rose asked.

As if on cue, the Wire's personal television turned on and it looked out, gazing darkly at Rose. _"Hungry."_ It drawled. _"Hungry!"_

Rose blinked in puzzlement. "What's that?"

Magpie shrugged, hiding a shaking breath. _If she doesn't leave NOW, then it will devour her. Please, just this one! Let her live!_ "It's just a television. One of these modern programs." Putting down his screwdriver, he moved around the desk and started towards the door, missing the puzzled expression on the Wire's constructed face. "Now, I really do think you should leave, right now." He said sternly.

"Not until you've answered my questions." Rose retorted, crossing her arms. "How comes your televisions are so cheap?"

He shrugged, but his tone was starting to get hasty. "It's my patriotic duty. Seems only right that as many folks as possible get to watch the Coronation." Magpie gave a quick smile. "We may be losing the Empire, but we can still be proud. 20 million people they reckon will be watching. Imagine that!" He beamed, and Rose smiled. "And 20 million people can't be wrong, eh? So why don't you get yourself back home and get up bright and early for the big day?" He asked with practiced charisma, grasping the door handle to open it-

"Nah, I'm not leaving till I've seen everything." Rose retorted.

His smile dropped into an expression of pleading. "I need to close."

Rose's smile also dropped, but this time into seriousness. "Mr. Magpie…something's happening out there. Ordinary people are being struck down and changed and the only new thing in the house is a television…your television. So what's going on?"

Magpie gave a quick glance towards the Wire, who gave him a threatening look and he knew now, no matter how good her intentions were, Rose had lost her chance to leave. He HAD to keep the door closed and he could NOT help her, otherwise the Wire would melt his brain and let his body disintegrate into ash. "I knew this would happen." He said dejectedly, and Rose blinked. "I knew I'd be found out." Taking the key to the door, he locked it from the inside and placed the key in his pocket.

Rose, if only a little bit too late, had her expression turn into nervousness at his small action. "All right then, just you and me." She shook her head, cleared her throat and straightened her back. "You gonna come clean, then? What's really in it for you?" She asked.

He blinked. _Despite what could happen to her, she's being…kind. I'm so sorry, my dear._ "For me? Perhaps some peace."

"From what?"

"From…THAT." He said, gazing properly at the Wire, who was watching them both with dark curiosity.

Rose turned to gaze at the Wire and found herself puzzled again. "That's just a woman on the telly. That's just a program." She said, shaking her head.

_"What a pretty little girl."_ The Wire commented with a drawl. _"It's a shame, you believed Magpie so easily, it almost makes me feel bad for him trying so hard to get you to leave. Then again, that's what you get for listening to the words and never the meaning behind them."_ The Wire remarked darkly.

Rose blinked, now in complete bewilderment. "Oh my god, are you talking to me?"

The Wire scoffed. _"Yes, of course I'm talking to you, stupid little girl."_ The Wire gave a brief blink at Rose's attire. _"Questionable choice. It's unseasonably chilly for the time of year, don't you think?"_

"What are you?" Rose asked.

The Wire gave a sinister smile. _"I'm the Wire and I'm hungry!"_ As it droned out its words, it lashed out red electricity onto Rose's face, starting to eat away at her brain.

"Magpie, help me!"

Magpie gave a gulp, staring straight at the struggling Rose. "Just think of that audience tomorrow my dear, all settling down to watch the Coronation. 20 million people. Things will never be the same again."

"Help me, please!"

Magpie gave a shaking breath. "I'm sorry." He choked. "I'm so sorry." He had to turn away, unable to keep looking on, but he couldn't get Rose's helpless cries out of his head.

_"Goodnight children…everywhere."_

* * *

"Start from the beginning. Tell me everything you both know." DI Bishop ordered to the Doctor and Clara, who sat in front of his desk in the upstairs messy office, while DI Bishop stood up from his seat, with his subordinates split up to guard the door and to stand behind his back.

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, for starters, I know you can't wrap your hand round your elbow and make your fingers meet."

"Don't get clever with me." DI Bishop warned. He missed his subordinate behind him blinking and trying but failing to wrap his left hand around his right elbow, which made the TARDIS couple smirk.

"We're just stating facts." Clara smirked. "I also know that you can't control a classroom of children on your first day of teaching by giving them empty threats."

"Really? Did that actually happen?" The Doctor asked Clara, and DI Bishop noticed that they BOTH instantaneously forgot that he was in the room.

_Dear god. These two are children AND a couple._

"Yeah." Clara nodded. "First day. Was a bit overwhelmed by it, but it worked out in the end…somewhat." Clara shrugged.

"If you two are finished?!" DI Bishop snapped, making the pair jump.

"Sorry." They muttered in unison.

"You both were there today in Florizel Street and now breaking into this establishment. Now, you both are connected to this, make no mistake."

Clara gave a low "Mmm" in her throat, squinting her eyes ever so slightly at him. "See, here's the thing, Detective Inspector Bishop-"

"How do you know my name?!" He demanded.

Clara blinked and nodded towards him. "It's written inside your collar." DI Bishop gave a small gulp and quickly buttoned up the top collar button on his white shirt. "Like I said, I was a teacher, things like spotting written names became second nature. Bless your mum." Clara said with a smirk. "But I can't help thinking, Detective Inspector, you're not exactly doing much…detective inspecting, are you?" She asked.

"I'm doing everything in my power."

Clara scoffed. "All you're doing is grabbing those people and hiding them as fast as you can. Oh, don't tell me." She said suddenly with a smile before glancing at the Doctor. "It is, isn't it?" The Doctor nodded.

DI Bishop blinked. "What? What is?"

The Doctor leaned in this time with a smile. "Orders from above, hmmm? Coronation day, the eyes of the world are on London town, so any sort of problem just gets swept out of sight."

DI Bishop sighed. "The nation has an image to maintain."

"But doesn't it drive you mad?" The Doctor asked. "Doing nothing? Don't you want to get out there and investigate?"

"Of course I do. But…I can't." On that, he let his stiffness relax and sat down in his chair. "With all the crowds expected, we haven't got the manpower. And even if we did, this is…beyond anything we've ever seen." He sighed, slouching his shoulders. "I just don't know anymore. 20 years I've been on the force and I don't even know where to start. We haven't got the faintest clue what's going on."

"Well…" The Doctor started, him and Clara sharing a look, "that could change."

"How?"

To his utter bewilderment, the Doctor and Clara both stood up and placed their hands on his desk, effectively and completely reversing their positions. "Start from the beginning. Tell us everything you know."

DI Bishop nodded, standing up to bring out all their findings as their phone rang. One of his subordinates answered before quickly hanging up, speaking about yet another one found. DI Bishop nodded and the two quickly left, speeding out of the warehouse. He motioned the TARDIS couple over, bringing out a few files along with a board bearing a marked map of London, with the Doctor taking out his "Brainy Specs". "This all started about a month ago, persons left sans visage, heads just…blank. We already concluded that their faces had been taken by something or someone, we just can't figure out the who or the what or even the why. But every single person bears the same pattern. No facial features, barely any form of confirmation to any words said aside from…turning around on the spot, and with the absence of their facial features, they've been left nothing to do but clench and unclench their fists. It would be comical if it wasn't-"

"Unnerving." Clara concluded for him.

DI Bishop nodded. "And it can be anyone. Men, women, kids, grandads, grannies, uncles, aunts, husbands, wives, it doesn't seem to matter as long as they're Human."

"Is there any sort of pattern?" The Doctor asked.

"Yes, spreading out from North London. Only real lead is that there has been a large number in here." He tapped on a specific point on the map. "Florizel Street."

Two knocks tapped on the door before it swung open, one of DI Bishop's subordinates entered with a new arrival. "Found another one, sir." He said, and the Doctor pocketed his "Brainy Specs".

"Oh, good man, Crabtree." DI Bishop nodded, stepping away from the map. "Here we are, Doctor, Clara. Take a good look. See what you can deduce."

Crabtree withdrew the cloak, revealing it, to the Doctor and Clara's growing horror, a faceless Rose. "No." Clara muttered in disbelief. "No, not you."

"Do you know her?" DI Bishop asked.

"Know her? She's our friend." Clara cupped Rose's face despite it being rather pointless, considering that Rose didn't even react, and maybe she couldn't even feel it. Still, the Doctor grasped Clara's shoulder for comfort, both for him and herself.

"Where was she found?" DI Bishop asked Crabtree.

"In the street. Over at Leicester Square, abandoned."

DI Bishop frowned. "That's unusual. That's the first one out in the open. _*Scoffs*_ Heaven help us if something happens in public tomorrow for the big day. We'll have Torchwood on our backs then, make no mistake."

Clara had funneled out all sound after she heard those three words. "In the street". That made her horror quickly turn into a steeled smoldering rage. Something that the Doctor himself was also echoing. "They did what?" Clara growled.

DI Bishop and Crabtree both flinched at her tone. "I'm sorry?" DI Bishop asked.

"They left her where?" The Doctor asked for Clara, his own tone also a low growl.

"Just…in the street."

""In the street". They left her in the street." Clara repeated, her own hand starting to shake. "They took her face, then they just chucked her out and left her in the street. And as a result, that makes things…simple. Very, very simple. Do you know why?"

"No."

"Because they did this to our friend!" Clara snarled. "So now, Detective Inspector Bishop, there is nothing that can stop us! Come on!"

"Where are we going?" DI Bishop asked as he quickly put on his black coat and hat, motioning for Crabtree to look after Rose until they returned.

"Florizel Street." The Doctor answered for Clara, who had already left the room, him and DI Bishop following closely behind. "We need help from one Tommy Connolly."

DI Bishop sighed, quickly glancing out the window to see the first rays of light glimmering in the sky. "The big day dawns."

2nd June

Crowded. Packed. Noisy. Yet cheerful and fun. This is what the Connolly living room had turned into, now occupied by their family and friends, all from young adults just into college, to their parents chatting away about the day to come, right down to the young children marveling in awe at the TV. However, Rita just couldn't smile at this, the tension between her and Eddie was causing a strain on her mind. But she couldn't do any of THAT in front of their guests. It would be bad luck for the day. Coming out of the kitchen with a large tray full of sandwiches, she barged straight into Eddie, who held his hands behind his back.

"You've had your fun with your little Doctor, but now you're left with me, Rita." He said in a calm voice that would've snapped her at any other time, but not now. Not with the guests. "So you'll behave yourself…and smile." Rita gave her best warm smile which he returned, holding out a hand to motion her into the living room, their entrance getting everyone's attention. "Here we go, everyone, here we go! Grub's up! Grub's up! Tuck in, everyone, tuck in, take a sandwich!" Everyone, with the best politeness they could offer, darted around Rita grabbing a single sandwich and offered their thanks. "Oh, here we go, here we go, it's started! Come on, take your places! Sit down, sit down!" Eddie called, the last few people in the room quickly grabbing their sandwiches before Rita placed the tray down on the table as everyone took a seat, Tommy sitting on the right of the long sofa with Rita on his armrest, while Eddie sat on the small sofa at the other end of the room.

Next to Tommy sat a brunette woman, his Aunt Betty, wearing a large brown fur coat, who gazed at the television in awe, echoing the expressions of everyone in the room that wasn't the Connolly family. "Rita, love, just look at that telly box then, eh? Isn't it marvelous? The picture's so clear!"

Eddie smirked, budging up in his seat. "Here, Bet, I says to Rita, I says, "You didn't need to get your hair done special, love. The Queen won't be able to see you"." Eddie and Betty laughed at that, although Betty didn't exactly get the hidden meaning that made Rita take as small of a shaking breath as she could.

"Where's your old Mum, then?" Betty asked Rita. "She can't go missing this."

Rita sighed. "Sorry, um…Mum can't make it down."

"Oh, bless her." Betty said in a soft tone. "Maybe we could pop up and see her later."

Tommy nodded. "Maybe you could. That's a good idea. What do you think, Dad?" Tommy asked Eddie, who, at least to Tommy and Rita, took a shaking breath to control himself. "Maybe Aunty Betty can go and see Gran later."

Eddie so obviously resorted to shaking his head with a smirk. "Hm. Oh, he loves his Gran, this one. _*Chuckles*_ Proper little Mummy's boy all round."

"Oh, you know what they say about them." Betty said. "Eddie, you want to beat that out of him."

" _*Chuckles*_ That's exactly what I'm going to do." Eddie sent a small glare to Tommy, but, as if the universe itself was annoyed by the tension between the family, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Tommy quickly said, standing up to go to the door. Opening it, he saw standing outside was the Doctor, Clara and DI Bishop.

"Tommy, talk to us." Clara said, her voice rather stern for someone he found rather nice and kind much earlier. "We need to know exactly what happened inside your house."

Tommy stepped outside but before he could close the door, Eddie swung it open and stepped outside with them. "What the blazes do you think you're doing?" Eddie snarled.

"I want to help, Dad." Tommy said obviously.

"Mr. Connolly." Clara interjected.

Eddie turned to face her. "Shut your face, you. Whoever you are, we can handle this ourselves!"

Clara squinted her eyes at him. "Don't you fucking dare talk to me like that, you arrogant son of a bitch." She snarled.

Eddie, thankfully enough, flinched at her, deciding to step back and turn his attention back to his son. "Listen, you little twerp, you're hardly out of the blooming cradle so I don't expect you to understand but I've got a position to maintain! People round here respect me! It matters what people think!"

Tommy, to their surprise, stood up straight and glared accusingly at his father. "Is that why you did it, Dad?"

Eddie blinked. "What do you mean? Did what?"

"You ratted on Gran. How else would the police know where to look? Unless some coward told them."

"How dare you!" Eddie snarled. "You think I fought a war just so a mouthy little scum like you could call me a coward?!"

Tommy shook his head with a shaking breath, but not of fear. "You don't get it, do you? You fought against fascism, remember? People telling you how to live, who you could be friends with, who you could fall in love with, who could live and who had to die. Don't you get it? You were fighting so that little twerps like me could do what we want, say what we want. Now you've become just like them. You've been informing on everyone, haven't you? Even Gran, all to protect your precious reputation!"

"Eddie." That small voice stopped Eddie from exploding in snarling rage, everyone looking in the doorway to see Rita standing there, looking straight at Eddie with a small expression of betrayal on her face. "Is that true?"

"I-I did it for us, Rita. She was filthy! A filthy, disgusting thing!" He snarled.

Rita blinked, feeling betrayal as well as anger stab at her heart. "She's my mother." Those three words made Eddie stare at her in frozen fear. "All the others you informed on, all the people in our street, our friends!"

"I had to." Eddie said. "I…I did the right thing-"

"The right thing for us or for you, Eddie?" Rita interrupted, making Eddie gulp. Rita sighed, glancing at her son. "You go, Tommy. Go with Clara and the Doctor and do some good. Just…get away from this house, it's poison." She looked straight at Eddie and gave him a look of anger, yet also of betrayed sadness. "We had a bloody monster under a roof, all right, but it weren't my mother!" With that, she slammed the door in his shocked face.

"Rita!" He pleaded to no avail. "Rita!"

"Tommy." The Doctor held out his hand, said person sparing one last glance at Eddie before moving forward to join the group and walked away, leaving Eddie alone.

Rita, who had been breathing deeply to calm herself, now felt a sense of relief and she stepped back into the living room where everyone was looking at her with concern. "What was all that, then?" Betty asked.

Rita stepped through and sat on the sofa beside Betty. "That was…that was the sound of something ending. And about time too. Nothing should spoil our big day. Everyone all right?" Everyone nodded, and she smiled warmly. "Smashing."

* * *

The whole neighborhood, in preparation of today's event, was setting up a massive joined table stand, bringing out many chairs as they prepared a joined lunch for the whole street. But the group couldn't worry about that, not right now. "Tommy, tell us about that night, the night she changed." Clara said.

Tommy shrugged. "She was just watching the telly."

Just like a penny dropping out of the sky, realization dawned on Clara just before it dawned on the Doctor. "Rose said it." Clara realized. "She guessed it straightaway, of course she did. All these aerials in one little street, how come?" She asked.

"Bloke up the road, Mr. Magpie, he's selling them cheap." Tommy informed.

"Is he now?" DI Bishop asked.

"Come on!" Clara yelled, Tommy and DI Bishop hurrying to catch up with the pair who had already sprinted up towards said shop. The Doctor went first, smashing the door's window to unlock it from the inside.

"Here, you can't do that." DI Bishop tried to protest but the two ignored him, swinging open the door, Clara marching straight up to the desk.

"Sir!" Clara called, receiving no answer. Instead, she grabbed a desk bell and started smacking it relentlessly. "If you're here, come out and talk to us! Magpie!" Still receiving no answer, Clara took the bell and tossed at a TV, smashing both instantly, making Tommy and DI Bishop flinch.

"Maybe he's out?" Tommy tried, quite afraid at the glowering looks of the Doctor and Clara.

"Look's like it." Clara muttered. "Doctor, if you would do the honors." Clara motioned to Magpie's desk.

"Thank you." The Doctor returned, stepping around and started filling through the desk, pulling out from one of the drawers, with a curious gaze, a portable television. "Oh, hello." He muttered, holding it up for a curious Clara, along with a bewildered Tommy and DI Bishop to see. "This isn't right. This is very much not right." The Doctor bought it up to his mouth and licked it, making Tommy and DI Bishop blink while Clara gave a dull glare in his direction. "Tastes like iron. Bakelite." He placed it down on the desk. "Knocked together with Human hands, yes. But the design itself…" He took out his sonic and scanned it. "Oh, beautiful work. That is so simple." The Doctor marveled.

"That's incredible." DI Bishop also marveled. "It's like a television but portable. A portable television."

The sonic pulsed and beeped, so the Doctor held it up and all the TV's in the room activated. "It's not the only power source in this room." Everyone looked at all the TV's, all of which were bearing the faces of many people, all looking scared, crying out inaudibly.

"Are these…" DI Bishop started to ask, but Clara answered anyway.

"Yes. These are all the people that were "Changed"."

"Gran?" Tommy muttered, the face of his own Gran was on one of the TV's, also crying for help.

"Rose." The Doctor turned to see Clara kneeling before one of the TV's, which did indeed have Rose's face inside, who was crying out, "Doctor! Clara!".

The Doctor knelt beside Clara and grasped her shoulder. "We're on our way." He whispered, both him and Clara unsure if Rose could hear them.

Footsteps came from the back of the shop and Magpie stepped out from the doorway, looking at the group incredulously. "What do you think you're doing?"

Clara immediately stood up and marched over to him. "We want our friend restored!" She snarled, Magpie looking increasingly scared at her burning expression. "Now, I'm pretty sure that's beyond a little backstreet electrician so tell us, who's really in charge here?!"

_"Yoo-hoo!"_ Static flickered on one of the TV's and the Wire appeared. _"I think that must be me."_ It stared at the group, it's gaze specifically focused on both the Doctor and Clara. _"Ooh, these one's are as smart as paint."_ It drawled.

"Is she talking to us?" DI Bishop asked Magpie as Clara stepped away from him to stand beside the Doctor.

"I'm sorry gentlemen, mi 'lady, I'm-I'm afraid you've brought this on yourselves. May I introduce you to my new…friend." He said with some uncertainty that the Doctor and Clara briefly caught before turning their gazes to the Wire.

_"Jolly nice to meet you."_ The Wire smiled.

DI Bishop's eyes widened. "Oh my god, it's her, that woman off the telly."

"No, IT is just using her image." Clara informed with a growl that made the Wire cock it's eyebrow.

"What?" Tommy muttered. "What are you?" He asked the Wire.

_"I'm the Wire."_ The Wire greeted. _"And I will gobble you up, pretty boy, every last morsel. And when I have feasted…"_ It let it's image turn from black and white to full blown color, making Tommy, DI Bishop and even Magpie stare at it in bewilderment, _"I shall regain the corporeal body, which my fellow kind denied me."_

"Good lord, color television!" DI Bishop muttered.

"So, your own people tried to stop you?" The Doctor deducted.

_"They executed me."_ The Wire growled. _"But I escaped in this form and fled across the stars."_

"And now you're trapped in the television." Clara retorted sarcastically, which made the Wire clench its jaw.

_"Not for much longer."_

"Doctor, Clara, is this what got my Gran?"

"Yes, Tommy." The Doctor answered grimly. "It feeds off the electrical activity of the brain, but it gorges itself like a great overfed pig, taking people's faces, their essences, it stuffs itself!"

"And you let it do this, Magpie." DI Bishop accused.

"I had to." Magpie explained. "It allowed me my face. It's promised to release me at the time of manifestation."

"What does that mean?" Tommy asked.

_"The appointed time? My CROWNING glory?"_ The Wire said quite obviously.

"Doctor, Clara, the Coronation!" DI Bishop realized.

"For the first time in history, millions gathered round a television set." The Doctor informed. Then, his expression went incredibly smug. "But you're not strong enough yet, are you? You can't do it all from here. That's why you need this!" He deducted, holding up the portable television to the Wire's approving eyes. "You need something more powerful. This will turn a big transmitter into a big receiver."

_"What a clever thing you are."_ The Wire drawled. "But why fret about it? Why not just relax? Kick off your shoes and enjoy the coronation? Believe me, you'll be glued to the screen." The Wire smiled and lashed out four lots of electricity, grasping onto the group's tensing faces.

"Doctor! Clara!" DI Bishop exclaimed.

"Hold on!" Clara said.

The Wire started to cackle with insane laughter as DI Bishop groaned, Tommy screamed, and the Doctor struggled while Clara, albeit rather slowly given their circumstance, inched her hand closer to her pocket. _"Hungry! Hungry! The Wire is hungry! Ahh, these two are tasty! Oh, I'll have lashings of them both! Delicious!"_ Clara then pulled her sonic out and the Wire gasped. _"Armed. They're armed and clever. Withdraw. Withdraw."_ The Wire stopped feeding at once, the group collapsing to the floor, Magpie looking on from his frozen spot. _"The box, Magpie! The box!"_ The Wire ordered. Magpie moved at once, taking it from the Doctor's loose grasp and held it up. _"Hold tight."_ The Wire then quickly transferred itself to the portable TV, the screen flickering to life with it's chosen face. _"Conduct me to my victory, Magpie."_

* * *

Clara shot up with a gasp, looking around to find herself still in Magpie's shop. The Doctor shot up beside her and she sighed. "Doctor." She said, and they exchanged a quick hug before parting, moving to stand up. They saw Tommy completely fine yet asleep but unfortunately DI Bishop's face was taken, and his fists were clenching and unclenching repeatedly as he lay on the floor. "Tommy, wake up." Clara called, shaking Tommy's shoulder. "Tommy!"

Tommy's eyes opened with a gasp, and he too looked around the room in confusion for a moment. "What happened?"

"I managed to threaten her into stopping her feast on us." Clara said, pocketing her sonic that still laid in her grasp.

"Where's Magpie?" The Doctor asked as Tommy stood up to join the couple who were dashing outside.

"We don't even know where to start looking. It's too late." Tommy said.

"It's never too late, as a wise person once said." The Doctor said before he frowned. "Kylie, I think. You know who it was, Clara?" She just held out a hand, holding a single altoid. The Doctor rolled his eyes but took it and popped it into his mouth anyway.

"The Wire's got big plans." Clara said. "It'll need something to help her, bigger than a single aerial."

The Doctor nodded. "Oh, yes, yes, yes, it's going to harvest half the population. Millions and millions of people and…where are we?" He asked Tommy.

"Muswell Hill."

"Muswell Hill." The Doctor muttered before his eyes widened. "Muswell Hill! Which means…Alexandra Palace!" He exclaimed, pointing to a distant building opposite Magpie's shop. "Biggest TV transmitter in North London! Ugh, that's why it chose this place, Clara!" He quickly took her hand to lead her back into the shop.

"We're going shopping?" Clara deducted.

The Doctor smiled. "We're going shopping."

* * *

_"Hungry! Hungry!"_ The Wire screamed. Magpie kept driving as fast as he could, if only to get rid of this damned voice from his life. _"Feed me!"_

* * *

Magpie's office had become a complete mess, with a large armful of electronics arranged into a small echo of a computer box. They just needed one specific black electricity bulb, but the Doctor and Clara couldn't find one. Luckily, Tommy spoke up.

"Is this what you want?" He asked, holding up said bulb.

The Doctor raced over followed by Clara, taking the bulb to quickly look closer at it before beaming. "Perfect!" He took the assembly and pushed it into Tommy's arms before taking Clara's hand. "Right, we need one more thing!" They raced out of the shop, up the street and towards the TARDIS.

"Why are we going to a blue box?!" Tommy asked.

"Long story! Don't have time to explain!" The Doctor said as he raced inside. "Wait right there!" He called, quickly placing on his overcoat and grabbing some more devices from the console, along with a large roller containing a long-wrapped wire. Then, he raced outside to rejoin Clara and a confused Tommy. "Completely forgot it today." He quipped lightly to Clara.

"You got everything?" Clara asked.

"Yep! Let's go!" They started to race off down the street, the Doctor and Clara standing on either side of Tommy, using their own sonics to help build the device as they ran.

* * *

Magpie arrived at the back of Alexandra Palace, stepping quickly out of his car, taking the portable television and darting towards the steel staircase that led straight up to the transmitter. Darting up the final flight of steps, he raced over and started to climb the metal transmitter. Every step and every grasping hand up the tower made his heart sank even lower at what he was about to do. Pausing for a moment, he held up the portable television to look at the Wire. "I can't do this!" He cried. "Please, please don't make me!"

The Wire glowered, and his brain burned in agony. _"Magpie, the time is at hand! Feed me! Feed me!"_

Magpie cried softly to himself, both from horror at his oncoming act and from the pain in his head as he was now forced to continue climbing the tower.

* * *

The group had finally arrived at the back of Alexandra Palace, having just finished their quick assembly of the black console, the Doctor taking it out of Tommy's arms after he and Clara quickly pocketed their sonics.

"Up there!" Tommy pointed, the Doctor and Clara seeing Magpie climbing the tower.

"Come on!" The Doctor and Clara raced with Tommy towards the back entrance of the palace's main control room, where a security guard was conversing with a woman, briefly stopping their conversation as the group approached.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, where do we think we're-" The Doctor halted his speech by pulling out his psychic paper and quickly held it up for the guard to see. "Oh, I'm very sorry, sir." The guard quickly apologized before furrowing his eyebrows. "Shouldn't you and your Queen be at the Coronation?"

"They're saving us a seat!" The Doctor called over his shoulder as the group kept running.

"Doctor, who did you say we were?" Clara asked, once again giving a small blush at being called his Queen.

"King and Queen of Belgium, apparently." The Doctor beamed, giving Clara a quick wink as they entered the control room. "Right, you go there!" He put the console on the control desk and quickly hooked it in and switched it on. "Tommy, keep this switched on!" He took the roll of wire and hooked it into the console, placing a small plug into his pocket while he gave the roll and a small belt to Clara. "Don't let anyone stop you, Tommy! Everything depends on it, you understand?!" Tommy quickly nodded before the couple rushed out of the room. Clara quickly wrapped the belt around her waist and hooked the roll onto it, allowing the wire to continuously pour out as they ran back to the steel staircase past Magpie's vehicle and darted up the flights of steps.

"Ma'am! Your majesty! You'll get yourselves killed up there! Your majesty!" The guard called but the couple ignored him, rushing up to the top of the stairs, straight over to the base of the tower and started to climb. By the time they had reached halfway up the tower, Magpie, who had been fighting against the increase of wind considering the height, had already reached the top. He then took the portable television and hooked it onto the tower before plugging a small cable into the box.

_"Feed me!"_ The Wire called as Magpie took the power plug and inserted it into a power socket. The Wire sighed and started to cackle softly to itself, red electricity sparking out of the box, up to the tip of the tower and spiraling out in all directions to all the TV aerials in the North London neighborhood. The electricity began to buzz and hum, the Wire's eyes drooped ever so slightly as the colors of its picture began to slowly fade from black and white. _"Oh, feasting. Feasting."_ The Wire purred. _"The Wire is feasting."_

"It's too late! It's too late for all of us!" Magpie cried as the Doctor and Clara got closer to the top.

The Wire smiled. _"I shall consume the both of you!"_ However, since it couldn't actually see either of them, it sent out a random spark of electricity that missed the two.

"We won't let you do this, Magpie!" The Doctor exclaimed.

"Help me, please! It burns! It took my face, my soul!"

The Wire chuckled. _"You cannot stop the Wire. Soon I shall become manifest."_ The Wire fired another arc of electricity, which struck the Doctor in the arm.

"Doctor!" Clara cried.

"No more! No more of this!" Magpie cried. "You promised me peace!"

The Wire gave a cold smile. _"And peace you shall have."_ It fired an arc of electricity straight at Magpie, burning his mind and disintegrating him into ash.

Clara climbed up to be side by side with the box, reaching a hand out to grasp it. A small electrical pang caused her to flinch her arm back, but she just sent it a cold glare. The Doctor took the front end of the cable attached to Clara, pulling out a plug and his sonic. Clara decided to distract it. "Been burning the candle at both ends?!" Clara taunted. "You've overextended yourself, mate! You shouldn't have had a crack at poor old Magpie there!" Clara grasped the box and another arc struck and stung at her hand, causing Clara to let out a painful scream.

"Clara, hold on!" The Doctor called.

"Oh, don't worry about me!" Clara quipped, taking the box and passing it down to the Doctor, who had just pocketed his sonic, and plugged the cable into the box.

And yet…nothing happened. The Wire was, for the first time in its electrical life, rather confused. _"Nothing's happening."_ The Wire blinked, darting her gaze back and forth between the Doctor and Clara. _"Is nothing meant to happen?"_ Neither of the two answered, just exchanged worried looks which made its eyes twinkle. _"Oh dear. Has our little plan gone horribly wrong?"_ It taunted.

* * *

The black console sparked and flared making Tommy flinch. One of the black bulbs had shattered, rendering it useless. Thinking quickly, Tommy moved to take another bulb, swapping it for the shattered one, then taking a plug, inserted it into the back of the bulb and plugged the power end into a socket.

* * *

The Wire, all of a sudden, felt the strangest sensations. Pain. Fear. Failure. It's power began to drain away from itself, the feasting stopped, then completely reversing around, the feasting now focused on itself and it never knew such pain. The Wire began to scream in agony as the electricity that had darted from the tip of the tower began to pull back, the reversal of the process ensuring that anyone who the Wire had been feeding upon would be released without harm. And if the TARDIS couple were lucky, just a little bit lucky, those that had already been fed upon may get the process reversed on them. For now, they watched as the electricity receded back from the tip of the tower and into the box, the Wire still screaming and shrieking, almost filling their ears with a loud ringing noise, which the wind around them didn't help with either.

Clara and the Doctor beamed smug smiles, and the Doctor grasped the box. "It's closed down, I'm afraid, and no epilogue!" He taunted. The Wire screamed one last time and then it's screen flickered, devolving right down into pitch black silence. At that, the Doctor and Clara sighed.

* * *

Luckily for Tommy, as he waited for the Doctor and Clara to return, the control room had a TV that was playing the Coronation. He had a brief freak-out when the black console sparked with red electricity for a few moments, but it then just stopped, and he assumed that it was meant to happen like that.

"What have we missed?" The Doctor asked suddenly from the door, Tommy looking at him with a small jump as Clara was standing there with him, the both of them beaming bright smiles.

"Doctor. Clara. What happened?" He asked.

"Sorted." The Doctor informed. "Electrical creature, TV technology, clever alien life-form…that's me by the way…" He said smugly to Tommy's blinking puzzlement, "and one gorgeous woman…that's Clara by the way." Clara gave a small blush, which made the Doctor chuckle to himself. "We turned the receiver back into a transmitter, the Wire got a taste of its own medicine and, at least what was left of it, is trapped in here." The Doctor pressed a button on the black console and out popped a black video tape. "I think…we just invented the home video, 30 years early." He tossed it up before catching it, Tommy looking quite bewildered at the tape, which the Doctor took as a different kind of confusion. "Betamax." He explained with a small frown. "What good it did them in the long run." He muttered.

"Oh, look." Clara motioned to the TV, which had the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth waving at the crowd, an orchestra playing "God save the Queen" in the background. "Dear god, that wave." Clara muttered with a shake of her head. "The memes and jokes she'll receive."

Tommy blinked. "Memes?"

The Doctor and Clara exchanged a look. "You'll find out one day." The Doctor answered for her. "Come on, let's get back to the warehouse."

* * *

Entering the warehouse, they saw a completely bewildered yet restored DI Bishop conversing with Crabtree over the people inside, all of which had been restored their faces and minds and were conversing with a mixture of excitement, relief and bewilderment. Tommy at once saw his Gran and ran towards her.

"That's my grandson." She beamed, holding out her arms to welcome his hug.

"Doctor, Clara, what happened?" DI Bishop asked, walking up to the pair.

They shrugged. "We stopped the Wire, reversed the process, all with a black box and a cable." DI Bishop blinked at the Doctor's words, who just sighed at his expression. "Long story short, the Wire's gone and won't come back. Everyone here is free to enjoy Coronation day, even though they did miss the actual Coronation."

DI Bishop smiled in relief. "Well, I'm sure that their friends and family will fill in the blanks." He said before moving off to help everyone out of the warehouse.

""A black box and a cable"? Did I miss an inside joke?" Rose asked from behind them, the pair turning around, looking relieved at her restored state.

"Long story." Clara shrugged before they beamed. "Oh, come here." Rose embraced the two, laughing to herself as she did.

* * *

Eddie stood silent before Rita, who was holding up his large brown suitcase, staring at him with a blend of relieved tiredness, and just a hint of scorning. "This was never your house, it's in my mother's name. And on her behalf, I'm telling you: Out." She said simply, placing the suitcase before Eddie. With a dejected yet silent expression, he took the suitcase and turned to walk out, leaving Rita, who was softly smiling at the lifted tension, the house now filled with a calm peace. Eddie would make his own life now, whereas her, Tommy and her Mum would just enjoy the freed household.

* * *

The Doctor, Clara and Rose walked back down Florizel Street, the inhabitants and neighbors were pouring out drinks, laying out lunch and sweet food, savories, and even cakes. One of the neighbors had brought out their radio to play music, the children playing their own games to themselves and even a few couples danced together.

The Doctor however couldn't help himself and took two large slices of cake. "Now Clara, I know you like Soufflés, but do you like cake?" He held one out.

Clara blinked. "Who doesn't?" She retorted, taking the slice and wringing her arm through his.

Rose however took a cup full of juice and started to drink deeply. "We can go down the mall, join in with the crowds." She pointed out.

"Nah." They said in unison, their voices somewhat muffled by mouthfuls of cake.

"That's just pomp and circumstance." The Doctor merely said. "This is history, right here."

""The domestic approach"."

They chuckled. "Exactly."

"Will it…that thing, is it trapped for good on the video?"

"What's left of it, yeah." The Doctor nodded. "Just to be on the safe side though, I'll use my unrivaled knowledge of transtemporal extirpation methods to neutralize the residual electronic pattern."

"What?" Clara asked before Rose could.

"Come on, slow poke. I'm going to tape over it." The Doctor retorted.

Clara rolled her eyes while Rose just laughed. "You can leave that to me, I'm always doing that."

"Does Jackie still not know how to use the video recorder?" Clara asked. Rose just raised her eyebrows and Clara nodded. "Yeah, fair enough."

They finished walking up the long table, coming to a stop by Tommy. "Tell you what, Tommy, you can have the scooter. Little present." The Doctor said, him and Clara leaning against the table beside Tommy. "Best, um…keep it in the garage for a few years though, eh?"

"But what about us?" Rose perked up from Tommy's other side.

"We have another scooter. A better one at that." The Doctor said as he finished eating the slice of cake.

Clara's eyes widened. "Do you mean…the one that you-"

"Rode up on the Shard? Yeah." The Doctor winked down at her and she leaned up to give him a kiss. "Blushing a lot today, aren't you?" He quipped, drawing her in closer.

"Shut up."

Silence fell for a moment that was broken by a dull voice from Tommy. "Good riddance." They blinked, turning to see where he was looking at, his father Eddie stepping out of his former home with his overcoat and hat, and started to walk off down the street.

"Is that it then, Tommy?" The Doctor asked. "New monarch, new age, new world, with no room for a man like Eddie Connolly?"

Tommy nodded. "That's right. He deserves it."

"Tommy." Rose interjected. "Go after him."

Tommy blinked. "What for?"

"He's your Dad."

Tommy scoffed. "He's an idiot."

"Of course he is. Like I said, he's your Dad. But you're clever. Clever enough to save the world, so don't stop there." Tommy stared back at Eddie, now with contemplation which made Rose smile. "Go on." Tommy looked at Rose and gave her a smile before rushing off to catch up with Eddie. Eddie gave him a surprised look as Tommy moved to walk beside him and took his suitcase from him. Eddie just gave him a genuine smile and they walked off in silence.

The Doctor took Rose's glass, refilled it and handed it back to her before he took two full glasses and gave one to Clara. The three clinked their glasses together and took a good drink. This is what they loved. Having a good time with friends, and the Doctor and Clara just being together. They decided to relish this one time. They may not get another like this.

**AN: Well, that is finally done with. Now I get to do my most adored story in Series 2, and by god I love this two parter. But don't mind it for now, I'll go into it next time. Anyway, as always, thanks for reading and leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	37. The Impossible Planet

**AN: Quick little true story before we start. When I was looking up the cast for physical descriptions and stuff, I realized that "Shaun Parkes", who plays "Zachary Cross Flane", was the same person that played "Izzy" in "The Mummy Returns". That movie is one of my childhood movies, as awfully stupid as it gets, and now I can't watch this two parter the same way, since all I can think of when I see him is "Izzy!" and he runs off whimpering. Sorry about the ramble, I just wanted to share a laugh I had with myself when I wrote this. Anyway,** _***Cough*** _ **, getting past all of that, on we go with the chapter. ;)**

**The Impossible Planet**

**Unknown Location and Time**

Wherever and whenever the TARDIS landed, it landed with a groaning whooshing sound that could inspire hope in some or fear in others. Yet, for this one time, it inspired…concerned bewilderment. The groaning was much deeper, more rasping and ragged, almost as if the TARDIS had eaten a bad meal and was suffering from a form of space diarrhea. It's materializing cycle also seemed to be much slower, like an exhausted man getting out of bed when they also weren't a morning person, trying desperately to blink away the sleep from their eyes. With these occurrences, you'd think the room it landed in would be rather strange or more out of the ordinary for the TARDIS group to encounter, but the room was only a mere storage closet, packed to the brim with large silver and yellow boxes along with an assortment of bags and suitcases. The only lighting in the room aside from the TARDIS itself was a few white lights in the ceiling along with some underneath the floor, all of which was a mere metallic grating, similar to the flooring inside the TARDIS console room. As the TARDIS landed with its loud and rasping groan, the trio stepped out, the Doctor first, then Clara and Rose. Clara and Rose, rather unlike some of their previous adventures, had both decided to go for something a bit minimalist. Clara for a blue denim shirt with red buttons and skinny black jeans. Rose on the other hand was wearing a raspberry Diesel jacket, a crimson top underneath said jacket and simple blue jeans with a brown belt. As they closed the door, they turned back around to stare their confused and bewildered expressions at the box, with the Doctor placing a gentle hand on its door, as if he was stroking a scared animal.

"I don't know what's wrong with her. She's sort of…queasy. Indigestion, like she didn't want to land." The Doctor said with a concerned voice.

"But she'll be all right though, won't she?" Clara asked with the same voice. "She has to be."

"Well," Rose perked up, "if you two think there's gonna be trouble, we could always get back inside and go somewhere else." She offered. The three just stared at each other before bursting into laughter.

"Yeah, not happening." Clara agreed. "So, where are we?" She asked.

"I think…we've landed, quite obviously, inside a cupboard." The Doctor explained before moving to the door. "Here we go."

The door was a large yellow door with a wheel instead of a handle and the number "15" on it. When the Doctor turned the wheel anti-clockwise to unlock it, an automated female voice said, _"Open door 15." They_ stepped through the door, finding themselves in a bronze, dull golden corridor, the floor grating mixed with lights and steam vents, yet the place wasn't THAT warm. It was just mildly warm. _"Close door 15."_ The computer voice said as Rose closed the door, turning the wheel clockwise to lock it.

The Doctor absentmindedly scratched the back of his head as they gazed about the corridor, while Clara looked up at the ceiling in confusion, for there seemed to be an awful lot of noise outside. "Some sort of base." The Doctor said. "Moon base, sea base, space base. They build these things out of kits."

"Glad we're indoors." Clara said nervously, nodding to the roof. "Sounds like a storm out there."

"And…rather close." Rose noted. She also gave a small obvious snort as the Doctor took Clara's hand to comfort her before they moved to the main front door of the corridor.

_"Open door 16."_ The voice said as they moved through the door. _"Close door 16."_

The next corridor was rather long and only had two doors, one of which being the one they just walked through, so they decided to move to the next one, "17". "Human design, you've got a thing about kits." The Doctor quipped lightly. "This place was put together like a flat-pack wardrobe, only bigger and easier."

_"Open door 17."_ The trio stepped through the next door and into a rather spacious room. _"Close door 17."_ It bore a large signature, "HAB 3", which the Doctor quickly concluded to be "Habitation 3". And it was stylized as a form of cafeteria, with three large tables surrounded by small yellow stools with a circular base, along with a serving area and empty grey trays. The rumbling of the mysterious storm outside was not heard through the roof of this room, which made them suspect that the roof on this one was more reinforced with a different material than the ones in the corridors. However, they did hear the sound of a distant rumbling in the floor, but it sounded more like machinery than a storm.

Clara and Rose stared around the room in impressed intrigue while the Doctor beamed. "Oh, it's a sanctuary base!" He grinned at Clara. "Deep space exploration, we've gone way out. Oh, and…listen to that. Underneath." He said, stepping close to Clara and pointing to the floor. Clara and Rose kept themselves silent and they could definitely hear the mechanical rumbling. "Someone's drilling." He pointed out.

"Mining, maybe?" Clara offered. "Resources, knowledge…or a local myth?"

The Doctor smiled warmly at her. "I bloody love you, you know that?"

Clara grasped his tie, biting back her own smile. "I don't know. You should say it more often." She flirted, pulling him down for a kiss.

Rose rolled her eyes, staring instead at the far wall. She could see to her own intrigue, a large series of symbols printed in black ink along with three words printed above them. ""Welcome to Hell"." She read.

The Doctor and Clara both took it the wrong way, breaking their kiss to stare at her incredulously. "Oh come on, you've always put up with-"

"Not you two, you idiots!" She admonished. "Over there." She pointed to the wall, chuckling at their relieved faces. However, she stopped laughing when the BOTH of them had their expressions morph into an extreme curiosity and, could she detect, hints of…fear?

"Hold on." The Doctor muttered, taking out his "Brainy Specs" and moving with Clara to get closer to the wall. "What does that say?" He asked as he and Clara knelt before the wall. Rose took the hint and moved up with them, peering over their shoulders but their expressions didn't change as they gazed closer at the symbols. "That's…weird. It won't translate." All of the symbols bore a sort of familiarity, the Doctor and Clara finding traces in them that reminded them of many of Earth's languages and even some alien languages that they had encountered, especially during their time together before they met Rose. But the problem was that those languages did translate but these symbols, whatever language they were, just sat there on the wall, unchanging. It intensified the intrigue in their minds, but it also sowed seeds of worry in their hearts, even Clara's non-beating heart, which would have picked up a small pace if it was working properly.

"Doctor, the TARDIS translates everything, writing including." Clara said.

"Except for noise based ones." He quickly included.

"So…why aren't we seeing English?" She asked.

He just stared at the symbols. "It's…not working." He quickly deducted. "And if its not working then it means…" As he trailed off, his face quickly morphed into a completely bewildered expression, but his voice didn't change any levels whatsoever. "This writing is old." He concluded after a moment. "Very old." He blinked again, shaking his head. "Impossibly old." Taking a breath, the Doctor stood up as he pocketed his "Brainy Specs" and moved to the 2nd other door in the room, "19". "We should find out who's in charge." He quickly said as he started to spin the wheel. "We've gone beyond the reach of the TARDIS' knowledge, not a good move, and if someone's lucky enough-"

_"Open door 19."_

"Oh!" He gasped, Clara and Rose jumping with a shock. On the other side of the door, standing as a trio, dressed neck to toe and hands in grey or black button jump suits was…a very strange species, to put it lightly. Their skin was ash grey, their head completely bald, with no sign that they ever had any hair or that they could grow hair. Their ears were small, roughly the size of a thumb and pointing out sideways, ending in a pointed tip. Their eyes were rather the same, a crimson red outline that gradually grew darker towards its center most point. Their skin towards the middle of their faces was incredibly wrinkled however, and where there normally was a mouth was instead a mass array of dull red tentacles including, quite puzzlingly, a white tube that spun out of the tentacle array and linked into a white sphere that lay in their right hands. The alien trio just stared at the TARDIS trio, but their expression could not be determined. Once the TARDIS trio regained their bearings, they sent the mysterious newcomers a smile, albeit a rather nervous one. "Right, hello!" The Doctor beamed. "Sorry, um…I was just saying, uh…nice base."

The white spheres in their hands lit up like a Christmas tree and an automated male voice came out of all three in unison. _"We must feed."_

The TARDIS trio blinked. "You're going to what?" The Doctor asked.

_"We must feed."_

"Yeah." Clara inputted quickly. "I think they mean on us." The trio backed away quickly from the open door, the newcomers slowly walking in.

_"We must feed. We must feed."_

_"Open door 17."_

The trio turned around quickly, seeing yet another trio of the strange aliens starting to pile inside the room, joining the unnerving chorus. _"We must feed. We must feed."_

_"Close door 17. Open door 18."_

This time, two more aliens moved into the room. _"We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed."_

_"Close door 18."_

As they found themselves slowly backing up to a wall, the Doctor and Clara, who quickly grasped onto each other's hands to remain close, took out their sonics, despite not even knowing what these creatures were. Rose improvised, albeit rather appallingly, taking one of the yellow stools to use as a weapon or a shield, as the group of eight aliens moved into the center of the room, marching slowly towards the trio. _"We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed-"_ Then suddenly, they stopped. The creatures started to share looks between themselves before they turned back to the trio, and the front creature held up its white sphere to its eyes as if it was inspecting it. _"We must feed-"_ It blinked and tried again. _"We must feed-"_ The alien then rattled the sphere a tiny bit, smacked it with the palm of its hand, and tried again. _"We must feed YOU if you are hungry."_

The TARDIS trio blinked, shared with each other incredulous looks before they frowned. "So sorry, what?" Clara asked.

_"We apologize."_ The front alien said on its own. _"Electromagnetics have interfered with speech systems. Would you like some refreshment?"_

Rose, realizing she looked rather ridiculous with the stool, quickly placed it back down on the ground while the Doctor and Clara timidly pocketed their sonics. "Ummm…uhh…uh, not for me, thanks." The Doctor quickly stuttered.

"Yeah, me neither." Clara said. "Sorry."

Rose timidly held up a hand, before feeling a little bit foolish since there was more than one of the alien creatures. "Umm…do you have any coffee?" She asked.

_"I'm afraid we only have Protein One, Protein Two and Protein Three."_

"What does…Protein One taste like?"

_"Milk."_

"Protein Two?"

_"Salt."_

The Doctor and Clara shared a puzzled look at that before shrugging it off. "And…Protein Three?"

_"Sugar."_

Rose blinked a few times, stared off into the middle distance with a small squint, making a tiny "Mmm" sound in her throat before coming back up with a smile again. "Okay, I'll have a cup of One with just a little bit of Three. Tiny bit. Thank you."

_"We will have to charge payment to your designation codes."_

"We haven't got one." The Doctor inputted.

The creature didn't say anything for a moment, but its eyes widened in quite obvious shock. _"That is impossible."_

"Nah, that's Clara." The Doctor said with a smirk. "She's the Impossible Girl. We're just along for the ride."

Clara blushed. "Shut up."

"Never." The Doctor winked, kissing the palm of her hand.

_"I have to apologize but this must be reported."_ The creature quickly said.

"Oh, do you have to?" The Doctor whined childishly with a pout.

The creature cupped its sphere in both hands and bowed low. _"We regret we have unauthorized Humans in Habitation 3."_

The trio, in a childish pouting manner that the Doctor already started, moved to lean against a nearby table, the Doctor pulling Clara in to hug her from behind. "That's a bit harsh, unauthorized. Why don't you just call us "Visitors"?"

"Why not "Guests"?" Clara tried, the back of her head under his chin. "Guests is good."

"Or…" The Doctor started with a beaming grin, ","Friends you just haven't met yet"."

Clara just tilted her head to stare up at him. "Not entirely sure what you were going for there."

The Doctor just sighed. "Neither do I." He admitted, earning a small giggle from Clara.

_"Open door 18."_

Suddenly, stepping through the open door, and rather thankfully to the TARDIS trio were Humans. At least, they could be Humans, despite the numerous alien species including one "Doctor" which looked like but weren't Humans. Despite this, three people, all dressed in black leather jackets, dark green cargo pants, and even military dog tags, enforcing to the TARDIS trio that they were the security soldiers, entered the room. The two in behind, a male and a brown skinned lady, both in their mid to late 20's, were carrying semi large rifles, hands ready on the trigger. The man in front was late 40's to early 50's, with blue eyes and had a receding brown haircut with dashes of grey, specifically in small groups by his ears. If his age wasn't obvious enough to make him the leader of that group, then his lack of a rifle, instead opting for a pistol in a belt holster would've reinforced it. The leader stared at the TARDIS trio in complete and utter astonishment. "What the hell?" He breathed. "How did…" Stepping quickly from the door and through the parting creatures, he and his two subordinates walked straight up to the TARDIS trio. "Who the hell are you?" He asked.

The main alien that had just been speaking before interrupted. _"These are friends you just haven't met yet."_

The TARDIS trio gave a small chuckle at its words before the head soldier rolled his eyes with a groan. "That's enough out of you." He growled, smacking the sphere out of the alien's grasp.

"Oi! There's no need for that!" Rose defended.

"Don't be daft. It's not like they care anyway." He grumbled before bringing up his wrist and pressed a few buttons into the side of his wrist pad. "Captain." He said into the wrist pad, staring at the TARDIS trio as if he believed that they were just a figment of his imagination. "You're not going to believe this, we've got people. Out of nowhere, i mean, real people, I mean…two…living people just…standing here right in front of me."

_"Don't be stupid. That's impossible."_ The Captain's voice spoke out of his wrist pad.

"I suggest telling THEM that." He quipped lightly before letting his finger go from one of the buttons on his wrist pad.

"But…you're a sanctuary base. Which means you're on a planet in space." Clara deducted. "If you're on a planet or a moon, you must have visitors now and then. It can't be THAT impossible."

He blinked again. "You telling me you don't know where you are?" He asked.

"No idea." The Doctor said for Clara. "More fun that way, eh?" He winked at her and she returned it with a grin.

The speakers of the base flared briefly with static before a female voice, likely another crew member, spoke up. _"Stand by, everyone, buckle down. We have incoming and it's a big one."_ Before she finished speaking, the head of security moved over to door "18", now with a look of worried concern, which once again puzzled the TARDIS trio. _"Quake .5 on its way."_

_"Open door 18."_

"Through here." He ordered. The trio blinked as the base alarms started to blare out, but he spoke again, sterner and with more force. "Now! Quickly, come on! Move!" The trio hurried up, moving past the man and through the doorway. The next corridor was rather long, and the end result was door "1".

_"Close door 18."_

Suddenly, the base started to shake, causing the trio to grip onto anything in reach to keep themselves steady. "Move it! Come on!" The man ordered again, making them rush down to the end of the corridor.

_"Open door 1."_ As they stepped through the door, the rumbling of the base subsided, but they guessed it was only for a moment as the alarms kept blaring, and the noise of the storm outside returned in full force. The new room they stepped into however, they guessed to be the main control room of the base, as they found the actual crew here along with a few more of the mysterious aliens. Standing at the center control panel in the room was a dark-skinned man with short black hair, roughly mid 30's of age, blue eyes, dressed in a black jacket with a black shirt and black jeans who, along with the security guards, wore dog tags around his neck. Standing beside him was a woman, also mid 30's with blonde hair, wearing a black button up jumper with a black shirt and jeans. Also in the room were three more crew members, one of which was a late 20's man with short brown hair, dressed in a light blue shirt and dark blue jeans. The second, one who was moving to a nearby table with a chair, was a young woman in her early 20's with dirty blonde hair, dressed in a dark brown shirt with dark blue jeans. The final crew member was a man in his early 30's, with shoulder length black hair, dressed in a black jumper, blue shirt and dull green cargo jeans. And every single crew member stared at the TARDIS trio in a blend of awe and disbelief.

"Oh my god. You meant it." The dark-skinned man said, and his voice sounded just like the Captain on the security man's wrist communicator, so the trio quickly joined the dots in their heads.

Two of the security guards left the room, the third and their leader remaining behind. _"Close door 1."_

"People." The young blonde muttered with a wide-eyed look. "Look at that, real people."

"That's us!" The Doctor beamed. "Hooray!" Clara giggled, shaking her head at his expression.

"Yeah, definitely real." Rose nodded. "My name is Rose." She waved. "Rose Tyler, and this is the Doctor and Clara." The couple gave an imitation of a cowboy greeting.

The man in his 30's shook his head. "Come on, the oxygen must be offline. We're hallucinating, they can't be…" He quickly moved up to gaze at them closer and his eyes widened even more. "No! They're real!"

The Captain groaned. "Come on, we're in the middle of an alert!" He reminded. "Danny, strap up!" He ordered to the man who had just been talking. "The quake's coming in! Impact in 30 seconds!" Everyone of the crew assumed a quick position of sitting in chairs in the room to hold onto the desks while the security head stood in a small compartment with yellow handles and grasped them tight. The Captain then turned to the TARDIS trio with an almost apologetic look. "Sorry, you three, whoever you are. Just hold on, tight."

Clara got it immediately, moving to grasp a nearby railing while the Doctor and Rose blinked. "Hold onto what?" Rose asked.

"A railing." Clara answered before the Captain did. The pair just blinked at her and she rolled her eyes. "Earthquake?" She reminded. Like a lightbulb flickering on, they immediately got the idea and moved to grasp a railing with her. "Sorry about that." She muttered to the Captain.

He shrugged in mere thanks to her before glancing at one of the creatures. "Ood, are we fixed?" He asked, and the Doctor and Clara gave a slow nod to each other.

_So, THAT'S what they are called._ They thought in unison.

_"Your kindness in this emergency is much appreciated."_ One of the Ood said before it returned to grasping onto a railing for support.

"What's this planet called anyway?" The Doctor asked the crew.

"No, don't be stupid." The older blonde woman retorted. "It hasn't got a name. How could it have a name?" The trio just shook their heads at her and she blinked again. "You really don't know, do you-"

"And…impact!" Upon the Captain's report the base started to shake, rattling everyone in their spots as they grasped onto their railings for dear life. And then, it stopped.

The Doctor stood up with a shrug. "Oh, well that wasn't so bad-" The earthquake returned in full force, sending the Doctor flying back into his restrained position as the base shook and rattled with incredible violence, everyone's vision starting to blur as they screamed and cried against the quake. The main console itself started to spark into small flames, steam and smoke rising from the wiring that, rather thankfully, didn't get anyone nearby. Everyone's hands and arms started to sweat and tense from the shaking and their tight grip on the railings and, unfortunately, one slipped. Clara, miss timing the sudden end of the shaking that left everyone catching their breath, had let go of the railing at the wrong time, slipping and banging her head on it before collapsing to the ground, holding a hand to her stinging head. "Clara!" The Doctor exclaimed, quickly letting go of his railing to grab Clara, gently removing her hand to show the cut on her forehead. It wasn't a terrible injury, but it did leave Clara's head throbbing.

The crew of the base however didn't take notice just yet. "Okay, that's it." The Captain sighed, the security head quickly grabbing a fire extinguisher to remove the small flames from the main console. "Everyone all right?" No one answered at that, just a few catching their breaths or coughing from the small intake of smoke the fires had caused. "Speak to me!" The Captain ordered. "Ida?!"

"Yeah, yeah!" The older blonde woman answered.

"Danny?!"

"Fine!"

"Toby?!"

"Yeah, fine!" The young man in the blue shirt answered.

"Scooti?!"

"No damage!" The young blonde woman answered.

"Jefferson?!"

"Check!" The security head reported as he placed the fire extinguisher away after finishing with the flames.

"Oh yeah, we're fine, thanks, fine. Yeah, don't worry about us." The Doctor scoffed as he held Clara. "No med kit would be needed, nah, it'll be all right."

The Captain quickly nodded. "Scooti, get them a med kit!"

"On it!" Scooti quickly came over with a small white container, quickly opening it and rummaging through to grab a small cloth and some medicine for Clara's head.

"The surface caved in." The Captain reported, looking up at one of the many screens on the main console, showing a blue schematic of the entire sanctuary base. It showed a blinking red light on a corridor with four numbers, "5, 6, 7, 8". "I deflected it onto Storage 5 through 8, we've lost them completely." Taking a quick breath, he glanced at Toby. "Toby, go and check the rocket link."

Toby blinked. "That's not my department." He reminded politely.

The Captain sighed wearily. "Just do as I say, yeah?"

Toby gave a sigh before nodding and moved past the TARDIS trio and Scooti to exit the room. _"Open door 1. Close door 1."_

"Ida, how's the life support?" The Captain asked.

"Oxygen holding. Internal gravity 56.6. We should be okay." Ida reported before she glanced at the TARDIS trio, specifically at a dazed Clara. "You all right?" She asked Clara.

Clara shrugged lightly. "That made me feel rather exhausted." She admitted as Scooti treated the cut on her forehead while the Doctor held her from behind.

"You'll be fine." The Doctor reassured, placing a kiss on her head.

"Count yourself lucky." Scooti quipped as she finished, placing her supplies back into the med kit. "Could've resulted in broken bones or sprained muscles."

"Don't worry." Clara smirked lightly. "I'm already used to head injuries."

"In a submarine." The Doctor retorted with a roll of his eyes.

"Watch it." Clara warned wearily.

"You can live through it, Clara. You're more tough than you let on." Rose reassured for her.

"Thank you." Clara said earnestly.

A comfortable silence would've fell in the room for a few moments, however the rumbling rushing sound of the storm outside kept it feeling uneasy, especially for Rose. "Never mind the earthquake, that's…that's one hell of a storm. What is that, a hurricane?" She asked.

"You'd need an atmosphere for a hurricane." Scooti answered as she walked back to the main console. "There's no air out there. It's a complete vacuum."

"Then what's shaking the roof?"

The crew that were still in the room turned to the trio. This time, their expressions were small smiles of…impressed puzzlement, if that was a form of expression. "You're not joking. You really don't know." Ida blinked before shrugging. "Well, introductions." She said, moving around the console to stand properly in front of the trio. "FYI, as they said in the olden days. I'm Ida Scott, Science Officer." She motioned to herself before pointing to the Captain. "Zachary Cross Flane, Acting Captain, sir." She quickly added before pointing to Jefferson, the TARDIS trio nodding in greeting to each of the crew. "You've met Mr. Jefferson, he's Head of Security." She pointed to Danny. "Danny Bartock, Ethics Committee."

"Not as boring as it sounds." Danny interjected with a smirk.

"And that man who just left, that was Toby Zed, Archaeology." Ida said. "And finally, you've received first-hand experience from the lovely Scooti Manista, Trainee Maintenance." She said, placing her hands on Scooti's shoulders with a pat as she walked past said girl.

"There's more where that came from." Scooti winked, earning a giggle from Clara.

Ida walked to the side of the room where a small red and silver lever sat on the wall and she grasped it. "And this…is home." She twisted the lever around and the roof churned into life.

"Brace yourselves." Zach warned. "The sight of it sends some people mad." The TARDIS trio, with the Doctor helping Clara to stand up, watched as the roof retracted away, revealing the faint outline of a thick glass plane underneath that protected them from space. Beyond it however took them all, including the Doctor, by complete shock and bewilderment. Sitting there, in the dark regions of space above the planet, as a large swirl of orange and red light, mixed with rocks and dust that gathered into one single point, tumbling down into darkness and oblivion, absorbed into nothing. It was clear to the trio what it was.

"That's a Black Hole." Rose muttered, pointing at it. She saw Clara echoing her awe filled yet shocked expression while the Doctor's bore shock and fear.

"But that's impossible." He muttered.

"I did warn you." Zach quipped dryly.

"We're standing under a Black Hole." The Doctor said obviously.

"In orbit." Ida inputted.

"But we can't be."

"You can see for yourself, we're in orbit."

The Doctor finally removed his gaze from the Black Hole and glanced at Ida. "But we CAN'T be."

"This lump of rock is suspended in perpetual geostationary orbit around that Black Hole without falling in." Ida shrugged with an indifferent face. "Discuss."

"And…that's bad, yeah?" Rose tried to conclude.

The Doctor would've scoffed, if his fear of the Black Hole had allowed it. "Bad doesn't cover it." He said as the trio returned their gaze to the Black Hole. "A Black Hole's a dead star. It collapses in on itself, in and in and in until the matter's so dense and tight it starts to pull everything else in too." Then his voice turned grim. "Nothing in the universe can escape it. Light, gravity, time, everything just gets pulled inside and crushed."

"So, they can't be in orbit." Rose concluded, her own voice now grim. "We should be pulled right in."

"We should be dead." Clara said grimly.

"And yet…here we are." Ida interjected. "Beyond the laws of physics. Welcome on board."

"But…if there's no atmosphere out there, what's that?" Rose pointed to the dust and swirls of wind outside.

"Stars breaking up, gas clouds." Ida said. "We have whole solar systems being ripped apart above our heads before falling into that thing."

"So, a bit worse than a storm, then." Rose deducted.

"Just a bit." Ida nodded.

"Just a bit, yeah." The base then gave another shake, making everyone just grasp onto something so they didn't stumble over.

Clara shook her head with a smirk as the grogginess started to fade from her head. "Add that to the list of my worries then, eh?" She quipped, pointing to her forehead.

The Doctor sent her a smile, wrapping her in a hug again.

* * *

_"Close door 28."_

Toby entered the long corridor, holding a small stack of white rolls and blueprints in his hand, walking silent and alone. Of course, if a screaming brain full of ideas and plans one would do if they weren't condemned to this hell hole-

**"** _**Toby."** _

Toby blinked. For a small second, he thought he heard something say his name, if only no more than a whisper. As if the universe agreed with his grim theory, the power in the corridor flickered and flared, the lights blinking on and off making Toby shiver in his spot. Then, it fell silent, only filled with his uneasy breathing. "Dan-" He cut himself off. Danny was the team prankster, but he didn't think Danny would do something like this. For once, Toby decided that either he DID hear a voice and he's just going completely barmy or…he mistook a puff of steam for a voice. Either way, he decided to shrug it off as nothing and moved to the other end of the corridor.

_"Open door 1. Close door 1."_

"The rocket link's fine." Toby reported as he entered the room, placing the blueprints aside before joining the team, sans Danny and Scooti, who were standing off to the side, and the TARDIS trio at the main console.

Zach started pressing and clacking away at the computer, bringing up in a hologram, surveillance footage of the Black Hole. "That's the Black Hole officially designated "K37 Gen 5"." He said.

"In the scriptures of the Faltino…" Ida started with an interject, "this planet is called "Krop Tor, the Bitter Pill", and the Black Hole is supposed to be a mighty demon, who was tricked into devouring the planet only to spit it out, because it was poison."

Rose smirked. ""The Bitter Pill". I like that."

The Doctor, while having his right arm around a curious looking Clara, held his left hand under his chin, blinking with puzzlement at the Black Hole. "We are so far out." He muttered. "Lost in the drifts of the universe. How did you even get here?" He asked.

"We flew in." Zach said obviously before pressing a few more keys, now bringing up a green schematic of the planet sending out a pulsing red funnel in the Black Hole's direction and the Doctor immediately took out his "Brainy Specs". "You see, this planet is generating a gravity field. We don't know how, we've no idea but, it's kept in constant balance against the Black Hole." He explained to the even more curious TARDIS trio. "And the field extends out there, as a funnel." He said, pointing his finger along the outline of the red funnel. "A distinct gravity funnel reaching out into clear space. THAT was our way in." Zach finished explaining.

Rose raised her eyebrows. "You flew down that thing? Like a roller coaster." She commented.

"By rights, the ship should've been torn apart. We lost the Captain…which is what put me in charge." He added.

"You're doing a good job." Ida reassured.

He shrugged dejectedly. "Yeah well, needs must."

"But if that gravity funnel closes, there's no way out." Danny interjected.

Scooti chuckled. "We had fun speculating about that."

"Oh yeah." Danny nodded, bopping her on the head with one of the blueprints, making her send a "Watch it, mate" look at him. "That's the word. "Fun"."

"But that field would take phenomenal amounts of power." The Doctor said with a frown. "I mean…not just big but off the scale. Can I?" He asked Ida, motioning to a calculator on the main console.

She quickly nodded. "Sure. Help yourself." She said, taking the calculator and passing it to the Doctor as he and Clara moved closer to work on the calculator in once again, a rather close embrace.

Rose on the other hand received a gentle tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see one of the Ood standing before her, holding a small white plastic cup containing a drink. _"Your refreshment."_ It said politely.

"Oh, yeah, thanks. Thank you." Rose quickly said, taking the cup in one hand. "I'm sorry, what was your name?"

The Ood tilted its head to her as if it was genuinely curious as to why she asked. _"We have no titles. We are as one."_ The Ood then walked away and Rose, blinking in puzzlement, walked up to Danny and Scooti.

"Um…what are they called?" Rose asked.

Danny blinked in puzzlement. "Oh, come on, where've you been living? Everyone's got one."

Rose shrugged. "Well, not me. So…what are they?"

"They're the "Ood"." Danny said.

"The "Ood"?"

Danny and Scooti nodded. "The "Ood"." He repeated.

Rose shrugged again with a smile. "Well, that's…Ood."

Scooti actually sniggered. "They're very Ood, but handy." She quipped.

"And what do they do around here?" Rose asked.

"They work the mine shafts, all the drilling and stuff, supervision and maintenance. They're born for it. Basic slave race." Danny explained.

Rose blinked, her smile fading. "You've got slaves?" She asked.

"Don't start." Scooti groaned. "She's like one of that lot. Friends of the Ood."

"Well, maybe I am, yeah. Since when do Humans need slaves?" Rose asked bluntly.

Danny sighed. "But the Ood offer themselves. Like, if you don't give them orders, they just…pine away and die."

Rose turned to one of the Ood standing nearby and asked, "Seriously, you like being ordered about?"

_"It is all we crave."_

"Why's that, then?"

_"We have nothing else in life."_

"Yeah, well, I used to think like that…a long time ago." Rose muttered. "But that's…starting to slow down a bit."

_"Why?"_

"Family." Rose said simply.

"There we go. Do you see?" The Doctor called up, bringing everyone back to the main console, staring at the couple. "To generate that gravity field and the funnel, you'd need a power source with an inverted self-extrapolating reflex of 6 to the power of 6 every 6 seconds."

"That's a lot of 6's." Rose said obviously.

"And it's impossible." The Doctor concluded.

"It took us two years to work that out." Zack said in shock again.

The Doctor shrugged. "I'm very good."

"Watch the ego." Clara warned.

The Doctor breathed out. "Sorry."

"But…that's why we're here." Ida said, clacking a few keys on the console computer to bring up a green schematic of the planet, showing a red glowing orb as its center and a small red dot a small distance above it. "This power source is ten miles below, through solid rock. Point Zero, we're drilling down to try and find it."

"And it's giving off readings of over 90 stats on the Blazen Scale."

"We could revolutionize modern science." Ida said, making the trio smirk.

"We could use it to fuel the Empire." Jefferson interjected.

The Doctor frowned at that, taking off his "Brainy Specs". "Or start a war." He said grimly.

"It's buried beneath us, in the darkness, waiting." Toby interjected.

"What's your job? Chief Dramatist?" Rose quipped, making everyone, even Jefferson smirk.

Toby shook his head. "Well, whatever it is down there, it's not a natural phenomenon. And this planet once supported life…eons ago, before the Human race had even learned to walk."

"We saw that lettering written on the wall. Did you do that?" Clara asked.

Toby nodded. "I copied it from fragments we found unearthed by the drilling but…I can't translate it."

"No, neither can we." The Doctor said. "And that's saying something-"

"Shh." Clara hushed. "You're spoiling the mood." She quipped lightly, making the Doctor roll his eyes.

"There was some…form of civilization and they buried something. Now it's reaching out, calling us in." Toby continued.

The Doctor smiled. "And you came."

Ida frowned. "How could we not?" She asked as Zack turned off the schematics.

"So…when it comes right down to it, why did you come here?" The Doctor asked. "Why did you do that? Why? I'll tell you why." He quickly said before they could answer. "Because it was there. Brilliant!" He beamed before glancing at Zach. "Excuse me, uh…Zach, was it?"

He nodded with some slight trepidation. "That's me."

"Just stand there, cause I'm gonna hug you. Is that all right?"

Zach shrugged. "Suppose so."

"Here we go. Coming in." The Doctor came around and wrapped Zach in a hug, beaming as he did. "Oh, Human beings. You are amazing! Ha!" He patted Zach on the back before parting away. "Thank you."

Zach smiled. "Not at all."

The Doctor moved back to stand beside Clara. "But apart from that, you're completely mad." He said seriously again. "You should pack your bags, get back in that ship and fly for your lives."

Ida scoffed. "You can talk. How the hell did you get here?"

"Well…um…me and Clara have this…ship. It's hard to explain, she just sort of…appears."

Clara nodded. "We can show. We parked down the corridor from, um…what's it called? HAB?"

"Habitation Area 3." The Doctor corrected.

"Thank you."

"Do you mean "Storage 6"?" Zach asked, his tone also serious.

"Uh, it was a bit of a cupboard, yeah." The Doctor nodded. The crew started to share awkward glances and the Doctor's face fell. "Storage 6, but you said-" The crew lowered their heads and his gaze grew dark. "You said "Storage 5 to 8"." Without another word, the Doctor sprang up from the console, Clara and Rose quick in tow.

_"Open door 1."_

"What is it?! What's wrong?!" Rose called as they raced down the corridor.

_"Open door 19."_ The trio moved through into Habitation 3 towards the other side of the room. _"Close door 19."_

"Ugh, stupid doors, come on!" The Doctor growled as he spun the wheel on the next door.

_"Open door 17. Close door 17. Open door 15. Close door 15."_ The Doctor and Clara then bounded up towards door "16", the one that leads into the storage corridor, Rose standing close behind them. Yet, no matter how hard they tried, the wheel would not move. _"Door 16 out of commission."_

"Can't be! Can't be!" The Doctor exclaimed, letting go off the wheel and opening a small circular latch in the door, letting him see through to the other side.

"What's wrong? What is it?" Rose asked. The Doctor wordlessly stood out of the way to let Clara see. Clara briefly gave the Doctor a bemused look, considering her short stature, and he rolled his eyes before grabbing her waist and hoisting her up to see through the hole. When she did, her worried expression quickly turned to mimic the Doctor's, now one of grim dread. "Doctor, Clara, the TARDIS is in there. What's happened?" Rose asked again.

"The TARDIS is gone." Clara answered, the Doctor setting her down on her feet again and they stepped away from the door to look at Rose's disbelieving face.

_"Door 16 out of commission."_ The computer reminded.

"No, it can't be." Rose muttered with a shake of her head.

"The earthquake." The Doctor said simply. "This section collapsed."

"But it's got to be out there somewhere." Rose moved to gaze through the latch and her face also fell into silent dread. There was no room or corridor beyond this door. It was only the black cragged, scorched rocks and terrain of the dead planet outside.

"Look down." The Doctor said.

Rose looked down as best she could and where the rooms once stood was now only blackened darkness, the earth beneath them having caved away, leaving nothing behind. Not even their beloved blue box.

* * *

"The ground gave way." The Doctor said as the TARDIS trio stood inside the main console room with only Zach and Ida. "Mine and Clara's TARDIS must've fallen right into the heart of the planet. But you've got robot drills heading the same way."

"We can't divert the drilling." Zach said apologetically.

"But we need our ship! Please!" Clara pleaded in interjection. "She's all we have. She's our home!"

"Clara, we have only got the resources to dig one central shaft down to the power source and that's it. No diversions, no distractions, no exceptions. Your home is lost." He concluded grimly, watching apologetically as the Doctor and Clara's faces fell. "All I can do is offer you a lift if we ever get to leave this place and that is the end of it." Zach then excused himself from the room while Ida walked up to the couple.

_"Open door 1."_

"I'll, umm…put you two on the duty roster. I'm sure there's something for you two to do." Ida said gently before moving to leave as well.

_"Close door 1."_

A moment of silence fell in the room, before the Doctor turned around to Clara and wrapped her in a hug. "I'm sorry for trapping you here." He said apologetically.

"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere." She said back, placing a kiss on his shoulder and one just beneath his ear and he smiled. They parted just a bit from their hug to look at Rose and motioned her over.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about me." Rose smirked. The universe quite obviously disagreed with her, so the base rattled and shook in unison with the barren planet outside, which made Rose's smirk fade into a fearful look. "Okay, we're on a planet that shouldn't exist underneath a Black Hole, and no way out." Rose gave a small chuckle that, if only for a moment, managed to lighten the mood. "Yeah, I've changed my mind. Start worrying about me." Rose then quickly moved over to join the hug, while the Doctor and Clara exchanged a small look. For once in all their time together, they truly did not know what to do. And for that, they were afraid.

* * *

_"Entering night shift. Your chosen track for transition is Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson"._

_And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson_

_Jesus loves you more than you will know_

_Wo wo wo_

_God bless you, please, Mrs. Robinson_

_Heaven holds a place for those who pray_

_Hey hey hey, hey hey hey_

For the crew and their newly joined TARDIS companions, the following few hours came by as a bit of a blur. The Ood kept working away in contented silence, Jefferson and the security guards keeping an eye on them. Well…more so the state of the equipment than the Ood themselves. Danny had the wondrous job of monitoring the Ood, as most of his job was, which included assigning groups off into different tasks and keeping his clipboard nearby when he needed to tick them off at the end of their shifts. Rose got paired up with Ida, surprisingly enough taking an interest in some of the science behind the base and the Black Hole, despite some of the teasing Ida may give her due to her lack of knowledge. She still blames all of that on Jimmy what's-his-face. The Doctor and Clara however, were paired up with Scooti, who needed to perform a few moments of maintenance on one of their monitoring machines outside. Scooti had already been suited up in an orange spacesuit when they greeted her, minus a yellow and black helmet that she didn't put on yet.

"How much oxygen do you get in these things?" The Doctor asked as he and Clara strapped themselves into a spacesuit, Scooti helping to make sure their tanks were wired and properly full.

"Depends on how much you breathe." Scooti quipped. "But, roughly speaking, you get about three hours' worth of air." At that, Scooti helped Clara put the Doctor's helmet on before she grabbed Clara's and placed it on her head. "Ooh, your boyfriend's a lucky man." Scooti admired.

Clara blinked in surprise. "Why?"

Scooti smirked. "You're the only one that can make wearing these suits look adorable."

Clara blushed pink, but the Doctor interjected with a laugh before she could say anything. "Trust me, she makes most things look adorable."

"Shut up!" Clara squeaked.

Scooti chuckled as she grabbed her own helmet and placed it on. "All right, we just press the green button on your wrist pads and… _here's to you, Mrs. Robinson. Jesus loves you more than you will know_." They did so while she hummed the song, and the suit began to fill up with a field of air. "There we go. All…aired up?" Scooti tried before shaking her head. "Nah. I'll just leave the jokes to Danny." She winked at the sniggering couple, their voices to themselves bore an echo, almost like they were speaking into a tin can, however to each other, they were connected in audio speakers inside their suits. They each grabbed a large wrench, or Clara who instead grabbed a medium sized wrench and they moved to enter a small airlock compartment.

_"Open door 50. Close door 50."_

"Rather snug in here." The Doctor commented about the closed space of the compartment.

"You don't sound like you're complaining." Scooti flirted, winking at a bemused Doctor.

"He never does." Clara flirted back.

Scooti gave the ghost of cocking an eyebrow before she raised her wrist to her head and pressed a button on her wrist pad to open a communication line. "Zach, we're ready."

_"Isolating the oxygen field now."_ Zach's voice said, and a hissing sound was heard in the airlock before a red light on the door turned green and Scooti then opened the door. The ground outside was almost like a bad canyon, covered with nothing but rocks and dust, the view of the Black Hole ahead partially covered by large mountains of charcoal rock, but the unmistakably sinister void beyond was still sucking away at all the life around it. The trio moved their way out onto the field, towards a large device with small lit red receptors pointing in all directions. "Behold…our monitoring system." Scooti jokingly introduced to the couple as they started to make the repairs needed to a few lights that were deactivated. "It's needed, since there's a Black Hole on our doorstep. Also keeps a focus on the gravity field." She explained.

""Oxygen field"?" Clara asked out of nowhere to a chuckling Scooti. "What's an oxygen field?"

"All sanctuary bases need oxygen. But instead of having a supply, we use generators to create an oxygen field. We just need to maintain the generators themselves, then we don't have to worry about losing air." Scooti informed.

For a brief moment, static flared up in their speakers, making them wince for a second. "Ahh, the hell?!" The Doctor groaned, the trio briefly pausing their work. "We were nearly there!"

_"No pun intended."_ Danny's voice rang and Scooti groaned.

"Danny, stop it." Scooti admonished.

_"Sorry. Checking off Ood after their shifts is rather dull."_ Danny said. _"Hey hey hey, hey hey hey." He hummed. "Ood 7 Gamma 10. Ood 7 Gamma 11. Ood 7 Gamma 12."_

The Doctor and Clara gave each other a look and mouthed "3…2…1." Then in unison, they droned out a long and loud, "Ood!" Danny gave a brief squeak of shock while Scooti just raised her eyebrows at the laughing couple, barely able to contain her giggles.

"Besides, Danny, didn't you say that your job wasn't as boring as it sounded?" Clara asked with an unmistakable grin.

_"That doesn't mean it's never boring!"_ Danny quickly said.

_"We guessed that, Danny."_ Zach's voice rang through.

_"Sorry, sir."_ Danny mumbled.

_"How are you three going out there?"_ Zach asked.

The Doctor and Clara just stood up and clicked their backs as a sign to Scooti, who gave them a thumbs up. "All finished. Heading back inside." Scooti said and the trio grabbed their tools and started on back.

* * *

Toby, sitting alone in a small room, the nearest wall supporting a bunk bed, just worked away on deciphering the symbols, using a blue desk lamp that supported a magnifying glass within, all the while he wore a pair of latex gloves, just in case. Then, for a brief second, the music playing on the speakers was cut off by static and the room filled with silence. Toby gave a brief blink at it, glancing around the empty room, but he decided to shrug it off and returned to work-

_**" _T_ oby."** _

He immediately spun around, re-checking the room but still, nothing was in here with him, so he returned to work. _Maybe's its my mind fooling around. Or Danny doing another prank-_

_**" _I_ can see you."** _

Toby groaned, placing down the shard fragment and his pen and spun around. "Danny, is that you?" He asked, feeling both irritated but also just a tiny bit afraid. _Come on, Toby, it's only a prank._ "It's not funny, all right?" No answer. "Dan?" He got up and moved to the door.

_"Open door 39."_

Gazing outside, despite the hissing steam and the orange lights, he still couldn't see anyone. "I'm-I'm trying to work, Daniel." Still nothing. "Look, if-if that's you, then can you just stop it?" The lights flickered off and on for a few moments, making Toby blink and his heart race before he started to breathe, just to calm himself. Stepping towards the door, he glanced at both ends of the corridor and when he was sure he couldn't see anything, he stepped back inside.

_"Close door 39."_

* * *

"What'd you reckon?" The Doctor asked Clara as they, along with a silent Rose, sat by the symbols on the wall in Habitation 3. Ida and Danny also sat in the room, Danny finishing his meal while Ida ate away at hers and Scooti was at the serving counter getting her own.

"I don't know." Clara shrugged as the Doctor wrote away with a pencil on a small notebook, scrunching his face against his "Brainy Specs".

_"Danny,"_ Zach's voice came on in through the speakers, startling said man, _"check the temperature in "Ood Habitation". It seems to be rising."_ Danny gave a sigh but got up anyway and moved to exit the room.

_"Open door 18. Close door 18."_

Rose clapped her hands together and stood up. "You two want anything? Getting me a bite." She said simply.

They shook their heads. "Maybe later." Clara said, and Rose gave a thumbs up before moving over to the serving counter by Scooti.

"Help yourself." She said to Rose, who immediately grabbed a silver tray and stood beside her at the counter, where a single Ood stared curiously at her, two others keeping work on the cooking of food. Rose leaned over, seeing a few different choices but they all looked rather like beans mixed with rabbit dung. One boiling pot had a blue choice, one had green, one had burnt orange, one had black and the final one seemed to be similar to white sheep fur. Rose looked at Scooti with a radiating expression of puzzlement and Scooti chuckled. "Black is roast chicken with potatoes and gravy. Burnt orange is bacon, eggs and hash browns. And the white is pancakes with maple syrup." Rose gave a nod, having already set her mind on having the black. She adored roast chicken, especially one with gravy. "Just don't have the green. Tastes like mac and cheese." Scooti warned as she finished gathering her food on her tray. Before she moved away however, she quickly glanced down at her tray with a mischievous smirk. "Or the blue. Tastes like seafood." Scooti giggled while Rose grinned as Scooti walked away to sit at a table.

Rose glanced up at the patient Ood and quickly decided her mind. "I'll have some of the black, please." She said. The Ood then took a large spoon and gently put the serving on her tray. "I'll have a bit of the burnt orange and just a tiny bit of the white." She also added and the Ood served it up.

_"Would you like sauce with that?"_

Rose shrugged. "I'll have a go, yeah." The Ood then took a large bottle filled with an orange liquid and poured a spoonful into a small cup in the tray. Rose gave a smirk, for the Ood was bringing back a few memories to her. "I did that job once. I was a…a dinner lady. Not that I'm calling you a lady." She quickly caught herself before frowning. "Although…I don't know. You might be." Nobody said if the Ood had genders. They could all be the same sexed or they could be male or female. Or something completely different. Rose quickly shook her head to clear her inner rant and returned her attention to the still curious Ood before her. "Do you actually get paid, though? Do they give you money?"

_"The Beast and his armies shall rise from the pit to make war against God."_

Rose stared at the Ood in unblinking astonishment. "I'm sorry?" She asked with a light voice.

The Ood blinked, glanced down at its white sphere, rattled and tapped it for a few seconds before glancing back up. _"Apologies. I said: I hope you enjoy your meal."_

Rose nodded timidly. "Yeah." And without another word, mainly due to her confusion and slight nervousness at its words, she grabbed her tray and moved away from the counter.

* * *

_"Drill head now at Point Sixteen."_ The computer said. Zach worked alone in the main control room to monitor the base, every few moments taking a drink from a large flask of water. _"Drill head speed increasing."_

"Keep pressure at 60." Zach ordered before standing up from his leather chair to move to the security computer. As he typed and clacked away at the keyboard, he heard the low sound of a snarl coming from the main console. Turning sharply around, the snarling stopped, the hologram of the planet flickered into static before it switched off. Zach glanced around in trepidatious nervousness. "What?" He muttered to himself.

* * *

_"Open door 3."_

_If only these doors could open and close faster._ Danny mused to himself as he kept walking through the base, only halfway on his route to Ood Habitation.

_"Close door 3."_

Danny sniggered to himself. "Close door 3." He mocked, making him chuckle even more.

_"He is awake."_

Danny blinked. He didn't understand why, but suddenly, as the computer spoke those three words, he found a sinister chill crawling up his spine and his new-found joyful attitude had been drained away into nervous trepidation. Danny quickly pressed a green button on a communication panel on the door. "What did you say?" Danny asked.

_"Close door 3."_

Danny peeled back the view latch in the door, checking to see if anyone was on the other side. There wasn't. He was completely alone. Deciding for once to be a bit brave on his own, he swallowed a gulp down in his throat, breathed out a sigh and closed the latch.

* * *

Toby changed the settings on his work lamp, setting the blue light to a different radiation so he could view the symbols differently through the glass lens. He reached out over the desk to grab another pen-

_**"Toby."** _

Toby felt his insides melt into terrified dread. That voice, what was before a low creepy whisper was now clear and loud, sinister in tone and utterly nerve shaking to listen to. Toby moved to turn his seat-

_**"** **Don't turn around."**_ The voice warned.

"Dan?" Toby whimpered. Even at his low, fearful voice, there was no answer. There didn't need to be. His question was utterly fruitless and moronic, and he knew it. "That's not Dan." He moved to turn-

_**"** ** _D_ on't look at me."**_ The voice ordered.

Toby gulped. "Who-who are you?"

The voice purred in appreciation to his question. _**"Mmmmmmmm…I have so many names."**_

"If-if I could-"

_**"** ** _If y_ ou look at me, you will die."**_ The voice snarled.

"But-but who are you?"

The voice seemed to ignore his question and Toby felt the room began to close in around him, be it in his own fear or something else entirely. _**"I'm behind you, Toby. I'm right behind you."**_ The voice purred. Toby moved to turn his head again, but the voice growled. _**"Don't look. Don't look at me."**_ The voice snarled. _**"One look and you will die."**_ Toby felt his own breath began to quicken in his fear, his heart rate agreeing with his breathing and it began to rise, knotting up in his throat. _**"I'm reaching out, Toby. I'm so close. Don't turn around."**_ The voice quickly said, Toby blinking at its words, as it said it before he could even turn his head. Then, it purred once again, and Toby felt his heart rate quicken more at its words. _**"Ohhh, I can touch you."**_

Toby, without any more forethought, spun around in his seat. The room was empty, and the voice was gone, with no indication or sign that there was anything in the room to begin with. Toby let his breathing calm down before he turned back around to the desk. However, as he glanced down at the fragments in his grasp, he blinked in fearful astonishment. The symbols were completely gone, and the fragments looked as if they never had the symbols to begin with. He placed the fragments down and all of a sudden, he felt a rush of blood in his head, his mind beginning to pound and Toby had no idea where it was all coming from. During the rush of blood in his head, he felt himself pulling his latex gloves off of his hands, which were burning with a sudden pain like a million shards of rock were scratching inside his own body. Once the pounding in his head subsided into a dull throb, he glanced down at his hands with his weary eyes and he let out a frightened gasp of shock. The palms of his own hands bore the symbols of his own work. But they weren't painted or drawn on, instead they were burnt onto his skin, yet nary a scorch mark could be seen, but his hands still throbbed from the pain. Then, he let out a cry as his face began to replicate that same feeling. He quickly grabbed a small circular mirror off his desk and held it up to his face. Every inch of his exposed face and neck was covered in the burned symbols, while his own eye color had changed to a scorching red. Then, without any warning, his hand dropped the mirror onto the floor and he stood up, his legs acting on their own accord. This was quickly followed by his throat constricting hard, almost as if someone was choking him from the inside and his sudden lose of air and the return of the throbbing in his head caused his vision to spin and he collapsed onto the floor, his form motionless and his body no longer breathing. Yet even without all of this, his fists slowly drew into a tight clench.

* * *

The electricity flared in Habitation 3, making everyone blink in concerned confusion. Ida pressed her finger to her wrist pad and brought it up to her mouth. "Zach, have we got a problem?" She asked.

_"No more than usual."_ Zach reported. _"Got the Scarlet System burning up, might be worth a look."_

Ida took her finger away at that and glanced at the TARDIS trio. "You might want to see this. Moment in history." She then went up to the lever and twisted it, revolving away the roof to once again show the Black Hole, still eating away. It's next victim: A red cloud of mist swirling above the planet. "There, on the edge. That red cloud." Ida pointed, and everyone looked at the red cloud, the crew in sadness and the trio in subtle wonder. "That used to be the Scarlet System, home to the Pelushi, a mighty civilization spanning a billion years, disappearing forever…their planets and suns consumed." Ida breathed out a sigh and gave a bittersweet smile. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have witnessed its passing." She then placed her hand back on the lever-

"Uh, no, could you leave it open?" The Doctor interrupted, making Ida blink. "Just for a bit. We won't go mad, we promise."

"How would you know?" Ida asked.

Rose leaned over. "Because they already are." She mouthed to Ida, who shook her head with a smile.

"Scooti, check the lockdown. Jefferson, sign off the airlock seals for me." Jefferson immediately stood up to leave while Ida moved to the other door.

_"Open door 18. Open door 19. Close door 18."_

"Take care, you two." Scooti called to the Doctor and Clara. "Wouldn't want to see you go blind as well." She teased. The Doctor and Clara winked at her and she grinned before leaving the room.

_"Close door 19."_

Now the trio were completely alone in the room, the Doctor and Clara keeping themselves in a hug while Rose sat opposite them. "I've seen films and things, yeah?" Rose perked up. "They say Black Holes are like gateways to another universe."

The Doctor shook his head. "Not that one. It just eats."

"And a long way from home." Rose muttered sadly.

The Doctor shot Clara a look who just smiled sadly, so the Doctor leaned over and pointed his finger up towards space. "Go that way." He pointed to the right of the Black Hole. "Turn right, keep going for…um, about um…500 years, and you'll reach the Earth."

Rose smiled at that while she took out her phone to quickly check it. "No signal." She said with a cocked eyebrow. "That's the first time we've gone out of range. Mind you, even if I could…what would I tell her?" Rose then turned around to look properly at the couple. "Can you build another TARDIS?" She asked.

The Doctor shook his head. "They were grown, not built. And with my own planet gone…we're kind of stuck."

Rose shrugged. "Well, it could be worse. This lot said they'd give us a lift."

"And then what?" Clara asked.

Rose blinked. "I don't know. Find a planet, get a job…live a life same as the rest of the universe."

Clara blinked, and Rose almost giggled at her nervous look. Instead of her however, it was the Doctor that spoke up in a stuttering voice. "We'd have to settle down." He blinked. "Get a house or something, a proper house, with-with-with-with doors and things. Carpets! Me! Living in a house!" He squeaked, and Clara started to laugh at him, Rose just restraining her good mood to small giggles. "Now THAT…THAT is terrifying."

" _And we would have to share a mortgage_." Clara whispered in a sing song voice.

The Doctor blinked at her, now with complete horror. "No."

"Yeah."

"No!"

"Yeah!"

"I'm dying, that's it. I am dying, it is all over." He quipped, leaning back in his seat.

Clara decided to change strategy and just looked up at him with her own puppy dog eyes. "What about me? I'd have to get one, too. Would it really be that bad, sharing a house with me?"

The Doctor gulped. "Please don't." He pleaded rather fruitlessly.

"Come on." Clara pleaded.

Without a word, he wrapped her in a hug, gave her a kiss, then affectionately nuzzled her face into his neck. "Why do you do this to me, Clara?" He asked.

Clara smiled victoriously. "Because I love you." She said obviously. They didn't need to glance over to see Rose rolling her eyes at their behavior, so after a few moments, they decided to change their attention over to Rose. "We did promise Jackie we'd always take you back home."

Rose gave them a sad look. "Everyone does leave home in the end, but…not like this." She said.

"We're sorry." Clara said honestly.

Rose smiled. "Well, stuck with you two, even with all the flirting and the lovey doving…it's not so bad."

"Yeah?" The Doctor asked.

"Yes."

"Even with the "Lovey doving"?" He returned.

"Yes." Rose said with a hint of playful irritation.

_*Rings Rings*_

Everyone blinked, looking at Rose's phone in complete astonishment. Rose timidly held her phone up, pressed the answer button and held it to her ear.

_**"** **_H_ e is awake."** _

Rose immediately tossed the phone to the ground, blinking with a slight shaking breath. She glanced over at the couple, who were giving her bewildered looks. "Look, I know it sounds crazy, but…"

"Rose." Clara interrupted. "You just got a phone call in a place where you don't even have any signal. That's already…"

"Nerve wracking?" Rose finished. They nodded and quickly stood up from their seats.

"Let's pay a visit to Ood Habitation." The Doctor said.

* * *

"Evening!" The Doctor called, making Danny jump as the TARDIS trio jumped down the stairs to stand beside him at a monitor console.

"Only us." Clara reassured.

Danny briefly cocked an eyebrow. "The mysterious couple and their friend. Scooti took a shine to you two." He quipped to the Doctor and Clara, both barely able to contain their mischievous smirks. "How are you then? Settling in?"

"It's all good." Clara said.

"Yeah. Sorry, straight to business. The Ood. How do they communicate? I mean, with each other." The Doctor asked, the group looking over the railing beside them, up above two flights of winding stairs to what was roughly 48 Ood, all split into groups of 4, either sitting or standing in completely peaceful silence.

Danny shrugged. "Oh, just empaths. Ish. There's a low-level telepathic field connecting them." He snorted under his breath. "Not that it does them much good. They're basically a herd race, like cattle."

The Doctor and Clara shot each other a look. They didn't like the way that Danny was talking about the Ood but unfortunately, they had a more important matter to deal with. "This telepathic field, can it pick up messages?" The Doctor asked.

"Because I was getting dinner and one of the Ood said something…" Danny nodded for Rose to continue and she shrugged, "well…odd."

Danny cocked an eyebrow. "Mmm. An odd Ood."

"And then I got something else on my, um…" The Doctor shot her a warning look and she didn't need to ask him to know that they probably didn't use phones like hers anymore. "On my…communicator…thing."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Oh, be fair. We've got whole star systems burning up around us. There's all sorts of stray transmissions, probably nothing." Danny stopped typing at the monitor and grabbed his clipboard and a pen, moving to overlook the Ood to make more notes. He stopped when he felt the trio still staring at him, which briefly made him blink before he sighed. "Look…if there was something wrong, it would show." He motioned to the monitor. "We monitor the telepathic field. It's the only way to look after them." He said, glancing down at the Ood with an apologetic look. "They're so stupid. They don't even tell us when they're ill."

"Monitor the field. That's this thing?" Clara asked, pointing to the monitor, the Doctor and Rose glancing over her shoulder at the blue screen. It read "Basic: 5" and had four lines of pink, purple, red and blue, all of which were moving in either a straight line or a sudden small bump, rather like a heart rate monitor in a hospital.

"Yeah, but like I said, it's low-level telepathy. They only register Basic 5." Danny said.

Yet, as he spoke, the number on the monitor started to count up and Rose glanced away, looking down at the Ood who were spinning around in their seats to stare up at them, holding their spheres in their hands before they just sat there, completely motionless yet unblinking. "Well, that's not Basic 5." The Doctor said. "10…20." After another moment, he glanced back at Danny. "They've gone up to Basic 30."

Danny blinked, moving through them to look at the monitor. "But they can't." He muttered.

"Doctor. Clara." Rose quickly said, which attracted the couple's attention to the Ood, their faces quickly covered in a puzzled frown. "What does Basic 30 mean?" Rose asked Danny.

The telepathy monitor was now jumping up and down violently as Danny took it all in. "Well…it means that they're shouting. Screaming inside their heads."

"Or something's shouting at them." Clara said.

"But…where's it coming from?" Danny asked. "What is it saying? I mean, what did it say to you?" Danny asked Rose.

Rose shrugged, not taking her eyes off the Ood. "Something about the Beast in the pit."

"What about your communicator? What did that say?"

Rose gulped. She really didn't want to say it out loud, but Danny and the couple were staring at her intently and she gave in. ""He is awake"."

_**"** ** _A_ nd you will worship him."**_ The Ood suddenly said in unison, sending shivers down the group's spines.

"What the hell?" Danny muttered in fear.

"He is awake." The Doctor spoke up, quickly taking command.

_**"** **_A_ nd you will worship him."** _

"Worship who?" The Doctor asked. The Ood didn't answer and he clenched his jaw. "Who's talking to you? Who is it?!"

* * *

Scooti jumped joyfully around the corner into the open doorway of Toby's bedroom/work area, holding a blue folder in her hand. "Toby, I've got your expenditure…" She trailed off, noticing the room was empty. Deciding to shrug it off for he may be elsewhere, she placed the blue file down on his desk.

_"Open door 41. Close door 41."_

Scooti slowly turned around with a frown. "Forty…one." With haste, she darted out of the room and down to the exit.

_"Open door 40. Close door 40."_

Moving towards door 41, Scooti pressed the green button on the door panel. "Computer, did you open and close door 41?"

_"Confirmed."_

"But…that's an airlock compartment. Why would you open it? We can only go outside if the Captain gives us permission. Has someone gone out?"

_"Confirmed."_

"But who was it?"

_"Cannot confirm."_

Scooti pinched her nose with a sigh. "Okay. Hold on, I know. Tell me whose spacesuit's been logged out."

_"No spacesuit has been logged out."_

Scooti frowned. "Not even the spares?"

_"Confirmed."_

Scooti inwardly groaned. "But…you're not making any sense. You can't go outside without…" She trailed off, taking her finger off the green button and pressing it instead to a button on her wrist pad. "Zach, I think we've got a breakdown on door 41. It's saying somebody's gone outside onto the planet's surface." The only answer that came through was static and it made Scooti blink. "Zach?" She tried pressing different buttons but all that came through was still static. "Zach?" She tried again but still nothing. Scooti clenched her jaw and pressed her finger back onto the green button. "Computer, trace fault."

_"There is no fault."_

"Tell me who went through that door!" Scooti said irritably.

_"He is awake."_

Scooti, for whatever reason, felt her heart rocket into her throat. Not even thinking back to her enjoyable moments with that adorable couple could help lighten her mood. "What?" She muttered.

_"He is awake."_

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked.

_"He bathes in the Black Sun."_

At that, a shielded window next to door 41 started to roll back its steel cover and Scooti stepped towards it to stare outside. What she saw both astonished and horrified her. It was Toby, without any protection or even a spacesuit, standing out on the rocky surface, his own clothes and hair rippling in the windy ashes of the dying lights around the dead planet. "Toby." She muttered in shock. It was almost as if he heard her, for he turned around to look at her and her eyes widened at the blackened symbols on his face, his red eyes and his radiating smile. However it was a sinister smile that unnerved her to the core. "There's no air, there's no…" She trailed off, not able to find the words. Toby extended his hand outwards and motioned her to join him. For a brief moment, she almost felt the urge to accept. To find the answer to why he could survive outside, or what was wrong with him. But instead, she resisted and shook her head fervently. "No! Stop it! You can't be!" Toby's grin faded into a smoldering glare and he slowly clenched his fist together. Without any waring, the glass started to crack at a rapid pace and Scooti quickly dashed to door 40. She tried to open it, but it was locked, and she started to cry. "Open door 40! Open door 40!" The computer didn't respond, yet she continued despite the hot tears that began to prickle her horrified eyes. "Open door 40! Open door 40! Open door 4-"

**"Goodbye, child."** Toby's cold, distorted voice called to her as the glass shattered. Scooti screamed as she was sucked out into the vacuum of space.

* * *

The base, without a warning, started to rock violently, sending everyone stumbling to the floor. The Doctor, Clara and Rose, who had gone down to look closer at the Ood, helped themselves off the shaking floor to look at a frightened Danny.

_"Emergency hull breach. Emergency hull breach."_ At that, the alarm started to wail loudly, making everyone flinch at it for a brief second as the TARDIS group stumbled up the stairs towards Danny.

Danny pressed a button on his wrist pad and held it up. "Which section?!" He cried.

What answered wasn't Zach's voice through his wrist but through the speakers of the base itself. _"Everyone! Evacuate 11 to 13, we've got a breach! The base is open! I repeat, the base is open!"_

"Run!" The Doctor called, and they raced from the room, rushing through doors and corridors to door 19.

_"Open door 19."_ The TARDIS group raced through Habitation 3 to door 18. _"Open door 18. Close door 19."_ Danny raced to follow them through the door, closing it as he went. _"Close door 18."_

_"I can't contain the oxygen field! We're going to lose it!"_ Zach called.

The group ran down the corridor, turning a corner to see Jefferson holding open a door, rushing wind coming through, almost blinding them as it did. "Come on!" Jefferson called, a panting Ida quickly rushing through the door. "Keep moving!" Jefferson's two security subordinates came through as well and Jefferson then held out a hand for the final person. "And you too, sunshine!" He said, grabbing a perfectly fine yet sweaty Toby's hand and hauled him through before swinging the door shut.

_"Breach sealed. Breach sealed. Oxygen levels normal."_ The wind died off and everyone that had come through sighed in relief, panting to catch their breaths.

"Everyone all right?" The Doctor asked. "What happened? What was it?"

"Hull breach." Jefferson said. "We were open to the elements. Another couple of minutes and we'd have been inspecting that Black Hole at close quarters."

"You okay?" Rose asked Toby, kneeling down beside him as he nodded.

"That wasn't a quake. What caused it?" The Doctor asked. Jefferson shrugged for no one knew the answer.

_"We've lost Sections 11 to 13. Everyone all right?"_ Zach asked.

"We've got everyone here except Scooti." Jefferson said before he pressed another button on his wrist pad. "Scooti, report." Only static answered and everyone, especially the Doctor, Clara and Ida shot him worried looks. "Scooti Manista, that's an order. Report." He ordered.

_"She's all right."_ Zach interrupted, making them sigh in relief. _"I've picked up her biochip. She's in Habitation 3. Better go and check if she's not responding. She might be unconscious."_ Everyone gave small smiles of relief, their panting calmed down, just not completely. _"How about that, eh? We survived."_ Zach remarked.

"Habitation 3." Jefferson repeated. "Come on. I don't often say this, but I think we could all do with a drink. Come on." He ushered and everyone except for the TARDIS trio and a shaking Toby followed him out of the corridor.

"You all right?" Clara asked Toby, her and the Doctor squatting down beside him and Rose. "What happened?'

"I don't-I don't know. I-I was working and then I-I can't remember." He stuttered. "All-all that noise. The room was falling apart. There was no air."

Rose quickly wrapped her arm through his and gently helped him up on his feet. "Come on, up you get. Come and have some Protein 1."

"Ooh, you've gone native." The Doctor commented, shooting Clara a cocked eyebrow as they stood up, letting Rose pass with Toby.

"Oi, don't knock it, it's nice. Protein 1 with just a _*Clicks*_ dash of 3." Rose commented. They followed after the rest of the crew into Habitation 3, where Jefferson, Ida and Danny were gazing around frantically with no sign of Scooti in the room. Rose led Toby over to sit on a stool while the Doctor and Clara stood silent in the room, giving each other frightened, concerned looks over the missing young girl.

"There's no sign of her." Danny said to Jefferson.

"The biochip says she's in here." Jefferson said.

"Scooti, please respond. If you can hear this, please respond." Ida said into her wrist pad.

"Toby, did you see Scooti?" Jefferson asked.

"No, no, no, I don't think so." Toby stammered out.

Jefferson pressed his finger to a button on his wrist pad, everyone quickly silencing themselves as he spoke. "Zach. We've got a problem. Scooti's still missing."

_"But it says Habitation 3."_ Zach said through the wrist pad.

"Yeah, well, that's where I am and I'm telling you, she's not here." Jefferson quickly said in irritation.

"Yes, she is." Clara spoke up, her voice wracked with sadness. The crew and Rose turned to see the Doctor and Clara staring up at the ceiling, so they followed their gaze.

"Oh, my god." Rose breathed, holding a hand to her mouth in shock while the crew just stared on in sorrow. Scooti's own pale, ruined body was floating above the roof, her unblinking, lifeless eyes staring down at them.

"I'm sorry, Scooti. I'm so sorry." The Doctor said sadly, quickly taking Clara's hand.

Jefferson placed his finger back onto his wrist pad again. "Captain." He said with a broken voice. "Report: Officer Scootori Manista PKD…deceased. 43K 2.1."

"She was 20." Ida said in sad bitterness. "20 years old." Without another word, she moved over to the wall and flicked the lever, slowly rolling the roof back into place in their last goodbye to Scooti.

"'For how should man die better than facing fearful odds for the ashes of his father and the temples of his gods?"" Jefferson quoted.

"She was so nice." Clara muttered sadly. "And so kind." The Doctor wordlessly brought her into a soft hug. They didn't get to know her for very long, but they really did like her. And now she was gone, in the blink of an eye. That made them sadder than anything else.

Everyone stood there in respectful silence for a minute before they started to glance at each other, slowly blinking. It was too silent, with one noticeable absent noise. "It's stopped." Ida said.

"What's stopped?" Rose asked.

"That was…" Clara started but the Doctor finished for her.

"The drill."

"We've stopped drilling. We made it." Ida said. "Point Zero."

* * *

_"All non-essential Oods to be confined."_ Zach ordered.

The TARDIS trio, along with Zach, Jefferson, Toby and Ida, had gathered into the capsule room. Ida was already dressed in her orange spacesuit, clearly intending to go down. "Capsule established!" Ida reported. "All systems functioning! The mine shaft is go! Bring systems online now!"

Jefferson and the Ood worked to prepare the capsule while the Doctor and Clara, both dressed back in spacesuits and holding their helmets, walked straight up to Zach. "Reporting as volunteers for the expeditionary force." The Doctor said.

Zach groaned. "You two, this is breaking every single protocol. We don't even know who you are."

The Doctor smirked. "Yeah, but you trust us, don't you?"

"And you can't let Ida go down there on her own." Clara reminded.

"Go on." The Doctor implored as Zach said nothing. "Look us in the eyes." They grinned, spotting the glimmer of what they wanted in his gaze. "Yes, you do. There it is, I can see it. Trust."

Zach shook his head. "I should be going down."

"The Captain doesn't lead the mission. He stays here, in charge." The Doctor said.

Zach scoffed. "Not much good at it, am I?" He retorted.

"You're a lot better than you give yourself credit for." Clara said softly, making him blink. "Besides, you have the rest of the crew to look after as well. And we liked Scooti, so we're not letting anyone else die. You got that?" She ordered.

Zach, after a moment, nodded. "Yes." He quickly shook their hands before moving away. "Positions!" He called. "We're going down in 2 minutes! Everyone, positions!" Zach walked away to help Ida get her suit ready while Rose walked up to the Doctor and Clara.

"The last time I wore one of these was when me and Clara were in a spooky old mansion." The Doctor said, sending a smirking Clara a wink. "Good times."

Rose shook her head as they placed their helmets on. "It's funny, cause people back home think that space travel's gonna be all…whizzing about and teleports and anti-gravity. But it's not, is it? It's tough."

"We'll see you later." Clara said to Rose.

"Not if I see you two first." Rose beamed before wrapping them both in a hug, one at a time.

* * *

"You will remain here." Danny ordered through a speakerphone to the Ood in Ood Habitation, the male subordinate of Jefferson standing guard with him. "No command can override this. Have you got that? My instructions only." Danny placed the speaker back into the monitor with a slight feeling of nervousness. _Why did it seem like they weren't listening to me?_

* * *

The Doctor and Ida first entered the yellow and black capsule to stand at the back, while Jefferson held the door open. "Will you actually fit in there?" Jefferson asked, for the capsule wasn't very big.

Clara snorted. "Course I can. I'm the smallest person here." She quickly moved through to stand inside the capsule in front of the Doctor and Ida and, true to her word, she did indeed fit inside. She beamed back at Jefferson. "See?" Jefferson just rolled his eyes before closing the door.

_"Capsule active."_ Zach said over the speakers as the expedition trio gripped the handles inside the capsule, while the Doctor and Clara grasped each other's hands, sending each other reassuring smiles. _"Counting down in 10…9…8…7…6…5…4."_ On that, Jefferson sent them a salute while Rose waved with a grin. _"3…2…1…Release."_

The capsule shuddered into life, starting its descent down the shaft towards the power source. "Here we go." Ida quipped lightly.

After only a mere minute of traveling in the shaking capsule, their alarms in their suits went off and they quickly switched on their oxygen supply. They now had at least three hours' worth of air. _"You've gone beyond the oxygen field. You're on your own."_ Zach informed through their suits speakers.

_"Maintain your breathing, all right?"_ Rose reminded. _"Breathings good."_

_"Rose, stay off the com."_ Zach said.

_"Fat chance."_ Rose quipped, making the trio snigger.

_"You're about to land in 3…2…1."_ As Zach spoke, the capsule landed with a thud, sending the trio stumbling around in the capsule, groaning loudly as they did. Clara, once again with unfortunate luck, was sent tumbling against the wall. She however had the helmet to protect her head, but that still didn't protect her from the throbbing in her mind.

"Ugh, rough landing." Clara quipped dryly, the Doctor helping her to stand up.

"You all right?" Ida asked while the Doctor just stared in silent concern at her. They could hear distantly Rose and Zach calling for them, but they ignored them just for a moment.

"Yeah. Got rather bad luck against quakes." She said lightly, making them smirk.

_"Ida, report to me! Doctor! Clara!"_ Zach demanded.

The trio pressed their wrist pads to open their line of communication. "It's all right. We've made it." The Doctor said, and they could hear the crew over the line sighing in relief. "Heading out of the capsule now." They opened the door, each grabbing a large torch and turned it on along with the lights in their suit helmets. Stepping out, they could see a large, darkened cave, quite obviously filled with rocks.

_"What's it like down there?"_ Rose asked as Ida reached back into the capsule for something.

"It's hard to tell." The Doctor responded. "Some sort of…cave? Cavern? It's massive!"

"Well, this should help." Ida said as she stepped back to join them, holding a large dark grey sphere in her hands. "Gravity Globe." Ida tossed it up above their heads and it lit up the entire cavern. The sight was astonishing to the trio. The cavern, amidst its strewn rubble and rocks, was filled with marking and symbols like the ones Toby had copied up above. It even had three large statues, carved out from the rock walls, two of which seemed to be large fanged creatures guarding an archway. They didn't have the answers to everything there, but they didn't care. To the trio, it was utterly marvelous. "That's…that's…" Ida struggled as they stared about in amazement. "My god, that's beautiful." She finally said.

"Rose, you can tell Toby…we've found his civilization." Clara remarked despite her wonderous gaze.

_"Oi, Toby! Sounds like you've got plenty of work."_ Rose called in the com, as the trio started to walk away from the capsule and towards the archway, Ida leading the charge, looking at her wrist pad for readings.

_"Concentrate now, people. Keep on the mission."_ Zach reminded. _"Ida…what about the power source?"_

"We're close." Ida said. "Energy signature indicates North-Northwest. Are you getting pictures up there?" She asked.

_"There's too much interference."_ Zach answered. _"We're in your hands."_

Ida scoffed. "Well, we've come this far. There's no turning back."

"Oh, did you have to?" The Doctor groaned with Clara. ""No turning back"? That's almost as bad as "Nothing can possibly go wrong" or "This is gonna be the best Christmas Walford's ever had"."

Ida stopped walking, turning around to look at them with raised eyebrows. "Have you finished?" She asked dryly.

The couple exchanged looks but nodded hastily. "Yeah, finished."

"Most definitely." Clara said, and they quickly walked past a puzzled Ida.

* * *

"Are they always like this?" Jefferson asked Rose.

"Yes." Rose answered dryly. Jefferson sighed but accepted the answer anyway.

_"Captain, sir. There's something happening with the Ood."_ Danny said over the com.

Rose and Jefferson blinked. _"What are they doing?"_ Zach asked.

"They're staring at me." Danny said nervously. _"I've told them to stop, but they won't."_

They blinked again, now in puzzlement, while Zach audibly groaned. _"Danny, you're a big boy. I think you can take being stared at."_

_"But the telepathic field, sir. It's at Basic 100."_ Danny said. _"I've checked. There isn't any fault. It's definitely 100."_

That gained their attention. _"But that's impossible."_ Zach muttered.

"What's "Basic 100" mean?" Rose asked.

_"They should be dead."_ Danny answered.

"Basic 100's brain death." Jefferson reiterated.

_"But they're safe? They're not actually moving?"_ Zach asked.

_"No, sir."_

_"Keep watching them. And you, Jefferson, keep a guard on the Ood."_ Zach ordered.

Jefferson nodded. "Officer at arms." He said, his female subordinate quickly moving into action while he grabbed his rifle.

"You can't fire a gun in here. What if you hit a wall?" Rose asked.

"I'm firing Stock 15, only impacts upon organics." He glanced at his female subordinate. "Keep watch, guard them."

"Yes sir." She said.

_"Is everything all right up there?"_ Clara asked suddenly over the com.

"Yeah, yeah." Rose quickly said.

_"It's fine."_ Zach said.

_"Great."_ Danny added.

_"We've found something."_ The Doctor said, earning everyone's attention. _"It looks like metal, like some sort of seal. I've got a nasty feeling the word might be "Trapdoor". Not a good word, "Trapdoor". Never met a trapdoor I've liked."_

_"The edge is covered with those symbols."_ Ida reported.

_"Do you think it opens?"_ Zach asked.

_"That's what trapdoors tend to do."_ The Doctor said.

Ida scoffed. _""Trapdoor" doesn't do it justice. It's massive, Zach. About 30 feet in diameter."_

_"Anyway of opening it?"_ Zach asked.

_"I don't know. I can't see any sort of mechanism."_ Ida said.

_"Maybe that's what the writing's for."_ Clara perked up. _"The letters that defy translation. Snobby little bastards."_ She quipped lightly, earning a few sniggers.

_"Toby, did you get anywhere with decoding it?"_ Zach asked.

Rose and Jefferson looked over. Toby, despite the good nature of the crew, had spent the last few minutes sitting on a box with his head in his hands. "Toby, they need to know, that lettering, does it make any sort of sense?"

"I know what it says." Toby whispered, yet they could hear his words.

"Then tell them." Rose said.

Jefferson blinked. "When did you work that out?"

"It doesn't matter." Rose almost snapped at Jefferson before glancing back at Toby, who was standing up from his seat. "Just tell them…" She trailed off as he turned to look at her, his eyes a smoldering red and his face covered in the scorching black symbols.

Toby laid his eyes upon them all and he grinned. **"These are the words of the Beast."** He spoke in his distorted voice. As he spoke, Jefferson and his subordinate looked over at him, their eyes widening in shock. **"And he has woken. He is the heart that beats in the darkness. He is the blood that will never cease. And now he will rise."** He grinned coldly upon them as Jefferson came around Rose to stand in front of Toby, cocking and pointing his rifle towards the possessed man.

"Officer, you will stand down! Stand down!" Jefferson demanded, his orders making Toby's grin fade into a glare. Rose tried to use the com but all that came through was a sharp static, while they watched as Toby just calmly stretched his arms out and clicked his neck. "Officer, you've compromised security. You will stand down and be confined, immediately!" He demanded.

Toby looked at him and squinted his eyes. **"Mr. Jefferson, tell me sir. Did your wife ever forgive you?"**

Jefferson, quite remarkably on his part, hid any horror he felt at Toby's words by simply clenching his jaw. "I don't know what you mean." He muttered.

Toby smirked. **"Let me tell you a secret: She never did."**

Jefferson hardened his face into a glare that almost matched Toby's, restraining the shaking in his hands to a small twitch. "Officer, you will stand down and be confined." He repeated.

**"Or what?"**

"Or, under the strictures of Condition Red, I am authorized to shoot you."

Toby's smirk widened into his cold grin once again. **"But how many can you kill?"** He retorted. At those words, he unhinged his jaw and let loose a low growl from his throat, his red eyes lighting up and the symbols on his face dissolving into smoke that floated away from Toby and straight into the eyes of the Ood in the room. Toby, now completely normal, stared around in terror before he coughed and collapsed to the ground, unconscious and silent, but definitely not dead.

The three possessed Ood turned their heads to look at Rose, Jefferson and his subordinate. Then, they grasped their spheres and held it out in front of them and spoke in unison with distorted voices just like Toby, **"We are the legion of the Beast."**

The static over the coms faded, but no one wanted to take their eyes off the unnerving Ood. _"Rose! What is it?! What's he done?! Rose?! What's going on?!"_ Clara exclaimed.

_"Jefferson! Report! Report!"_ Zach demanded. _"Jefferson, report! Someone, report!"_

_**"** ** _Th_ e legion shall be many, and the legion shall be few."** _

Jefferson quickly pressed a button on his wrist before holding his rifle back up in one hand. "Sir, we have contamination in the livestock. They won't adhere us. They won't even listen to us."

* * *

Danny and his male guard looked on in wide eyed horror as the Ood all stood up, their eyes glowing red as they all grasped their spheres, staring dead straight upon them. _**"He has woven himself in the fabric of your life since the dawn of Time."**_ Then, one by one, they started to walk towards and up the stairs to the frightened pair. _**"Some may call him "Abaddon". Some may call him "Krop Tor". Some may call him "Satan" or "Lucifer" or "The Bringer of Despair"."**_

Danny quickly grasped the com link and held it up. "Captain! It's the Ood! They're out of control!" Then, he quickly placed it back and the pair started to move backwards, away from the advancing horde of possessed Ood.

_**""** ** _T_ he Deathless Prince". "The Bringer of Night"."**_ The first Ood that finished climbing the stairs stood in front of the pair and without warning, its sphere shot out of its grasp and struck the guard dead in the forehead, shocking him with thousands of volts of electricity, causing his body to collapse stone dead to the ground as the sphere shot back into the Ood's grasp. _**"These are the words that shall set him free."**_ Danny, with utter horror on his face at what he had just witnessed, turned and fled out of the room, the Ood slowly hot on his trail.

* * *

"Back up to the door!" Jefferson ordered, Rose and his subordinate quickly moving to the door as he backed up with them, holding his rifle up in warning at the slowly advancing Ood.

_**"** ** _I_ am the sin and the temptation and the desire. I am the pain and the loss. I am become manifest. I shall walk in might. The dead will come, and my legions will swarm across worlds and everything shall die in its wake."** _

"Open the door! Quickly!"

_"Door sealed. Door sealed."_ The computer said tauntingly as Rose tried and failed to get it open.

* * *

The whole planet began to shake violently, far worse than the Earthquake from mere hours earlier, causing Zach to grip the console despite still sitting in his chair. "We're moving! The whole thing's moving! The planet's moving!" He exclaimed into the mic, praying that someone would hear what was going on. The roof above his head began to roll away, letting him see the Black Hole beyond their horizon. And it was getting closer. "The gravity field! It's gone! We're losing orbit! We're gonna fall into the Black Hole!"

* * *

The large steel seal, the cause of the planet's shaking and tumbling towards the Black Hole, was opening up with loud, grinding screeches of steel scraping against itself. The Doctor, Clara and Ida tried to help each other to maintain their balance, but the shaking of the planet kept causing them to stumble to their knees as they looked on at the opening slab in terrified bewilderment. Once the seal had given way, all that way left beyond it was a dark, pitch black pit and the trio, including the crew above, heard a clear, booming, snarling voice in their heads laughing. It was cold, heartless, merciless and pure, utter evil. Then, it spoke to them all.

**"I have been imprisoned for eternity, but no more! The pit is open, and I am free!"**

**AN: Oh, to be continued! Goddammit, eh?! XD Bloody hell I love this two parter, partly because I find the Beast to be such a cool and evil villain. One of my favorite one-off villains they've ever done. Anyway, despite you're being left for another couple of weeks on a cliffhanger, thank you so much for reading and leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	38. The Satan Pit

**The Satan Pit**

**Krop Tor**

**"I have been imprisoned for eternity, but no more! The pit is open, and I am free!"**

Jefferson clenched his jaw and raised his rifle at the Ood. "Open fire!" He ordered. The rifles of him and his subordinate shook and rattled with the fire of the bullets, each hitting the Ood dead in the head until they collapsed to the ground, their minds now a fine river of crimson red. Their deaths seemed to act as a calming sacrifice, for once they died, the planet stopped shaking, calming down to a peaceful stillness once more.

 _"We're stabilizing!"_  Zach reported over the speakers.  _"The gravity field is back online! We've got orbit!"_

Jefferson gave a quick sigh at that while Rose rushed down to the monitor and grasped the speaker. "Doctor?! Clara?! Clara, can you hear me?! Clara, Doctor, Ida, are you there?!" She yelled, but only static answered.

 _"Open door 25."_  Jefferson and his subordinate spun around, their rifles raised at the spinning wheel on the door, which opened to reveal, to their relieved surprise, a sweating and fearful Danny.

"It's me!" He quickly yelled, and they nodded, lowering their rifles as Danny spun the wheel on the door.

_"Close door 25."_

"But they're coming. It's the Ood. They've gone mad." He rambled.

"How many of them?" Jefferson asked.

"All of them! All 50!" Danny said.

"Danny, out of the way." He calmly said. Danny went to protest but he grasped his shoulder. "Out of the way!" He ordered, pushing him to the side of the door and he grasped the wheel to turn it.

"But they're armed!" Danny protested. "It's the interface device! I don't know how, but they're using it as a weapon!"

_"Open door 25."_

Standing on the other side was a group of 5 glaring Ood. Before any of the three could react, one stepped through and pressed its sphere on the subordinates forehead, making her scream in agony as the electricity killed her stone dead. Jefferson then raised his rifle and opened fire once again.

* * *

 _"Close door 1."_  Zach turned to rush down the corridor but stopped seeing a large group of Ood walking down towards him from the other side. Giving a low growl in his throat, he turned and rushed back.  _"Open door 1. Close door 1."_

Zach started to press buttons on the door's control panel before pressing a large red button on it with the palm of his hand. "Lockdown! Seal door 1!" He ordered.

_"Seal door 1."_

Zach moved back to the main console, and after providing a quick fix to the static over the coms, he could hear the commotion of Jefferson and Danny exclaiming to seal doors, causing a lockdown in their own location. "Jefferson, what's happening there?!" He ordered.

 _"I've got very little ammunition, sir. How about you?"_  Jefferson reported.

Zach moved to an emergency lockbox on the wall, opened it and took out a yellow and black pistol with a protruding grey bullet. "All I've got is a bolt gun with, uh…"  _Shit. There's only one in there._ "All of one bolt." He said after a moment before groaning and moving back to the console. "I can take out a grand total of 1 Ood! Fat lot of good that is!" He said, tossing the bolt gun down on the console.

 _"Given the emergency, I recommend "Strategy Nine"."_  Jefferson advised.

Zach, with some tired weariness, nodded. "Strategy Nine agreed. Right, we need to get everyone together. Rose, what about Ida, and the Doctor and Clara, any word?" He asked.

 _"I can't get a reply."_  Rose said. "Just…nothing. I keep trying, but its-"

* * *

"Nope! Sorry! Still here!" The Doctor called over the com.

"And perfectly fine, thank you!" Clara added.

Rose growled. _"You could have said something, you stupid fuckwits!"_

"Whoa! Watch the language!" The Doctor remarked. "Anyway, it's the three of us. Me, Clara and Ida, hello!"

"And…" Clara started as an interject, "the seal opened up. It's gone." Just like that, the coms went silent, but not from fault. "All we've got left is this…chasm, like a pit."

 _"How deep is it?"_  Zach asked.

"Can't tell." Clara said, almost straining her eyesight to gaze in further, but all they could see was still pitch black. Not even their torches could illuminate the darkness. "It looks like it goes down forever."

 _""The pit is open.""_  Rose quoted.  _"That's what the voice said."_

 _"But there's nothing? I mean…there's nothing coming out?"_  Zach reiterated.

"No." The Doctor said. "No, no sign of "The Beast"." He said dramatically, earning a snigger from Clara and Ida.

 _''It said "Satan"."_  Rose whimpered.

They sighed, but not in annoyance, but in sadness that they couldn't be there for Rose to help her. "Come on, Rose, keep it together, okay?" Clara reassured softly.

 _"Is there no such thing, Clara?"_  Rose asked. They decided not to answer her question.  _"Doctor, Clara, tell me there's no such thing."_

"Rose, don't let it get into your head." Clara said. "Trust me, you already know that doesn't end well." She said grimly.

Rose gulped.  _"I'm sorry."_

"Not your fault." Clara returned.

 _"Ida?"_  Zach perked up.  _"I recommend that you withdraw immediately."_

Ida blinked. "But…we've come all this way." She protested, with a tiny bit of a childish whine.

 _"Okay, that was an order. Withdraw."_  Zach reiterated.  _"When that thing opened, the whole planet shifted. One more inch and we fall into the Black Hole, so this thing stops right now."_

"But its not much better up there with the Ood." Ida reminded.

 _"I'm initiating Strategy Nine, so I need the two of you back up top immediately, no ar-"_  Ida cut him by switching off their link with the group up top, making the Doctor and Clara cock their eyebrows at her in surprise.

"He's not going to be impressed with that, Ida." Clara remarked.

"Well, what do you think?" Ida returned, switching their attention as she nodded to the pit.

"He did give an order." The Doctor reminded.

"Yes, but…what do you think?" She asked.

The Doctor and Clara shared a look, before he placed his foot on the edge of the pit and leaned his right arm on his knee, the three gazing back into the darkness. "It said "I am the temptation.""

"I-if there's something in there, why is it still hiding?"

"Maybe, we opened the prison but not the cell." The Doctor theorized.

"We should go down." Ida said, earning a small look of surprise from the couple. "I'd go." She said bravely. "What about you two?"

They shrugged. "Oh, in a second, yeah." The Doctor said in brief obviousness before he turned serious again. "But, then again…" He chuckled, sending Clara a small shaking of the head. "That is so Human." He remarked lightly. ""Where angels fear to tread."" He quoted. "Even now, standing on the edge. It's that feeling you get, yeah? Right at the back of your head. That impulse. That strange little impulse. That mad little voice saying "Go on. Go on. Go on. Go over, go on."" He said dramatically. "Maybe it's relying on that." He muttered before he sighed and glanced at the pair beside him, specifically Clara. "For once in my life…Clara," She gave him a small fond look at his words, "I'm going to say…retreat." He said finally after a moment, standing up properly which surprisingly caused a small click in his back making him groan. "Oh, now I know I'm getting old." He grumbled, earning a small giggle from Clara. "Watch it." He warned, and she just giggled harder, while he switched their com links back online again. "Rose, we're coming back."

* * *

Rose grinned in relief. "Best news I've heard all day." She quipped to herself. Then, she and Danny heard Jefferson cocking his rifle and they turned, seeing him aiming it at the terrified, sweating Toby, who was lying on the floor and looking up fearfully at Jefferson. "What are you doing?" Rose asked.

"He's infected. He brought that thing on board. You saw it." He said simply.

Rose moved to stand beside him. "Are you going to start shooting your own people now?" Rose asked sternly. "Is that what you're going to do? Is it?"

"If necessary."

"Well, then, you'll have to shoot me if necessary, so what's it going to be?" Jefferson said nothing, so she knelt beside Toby. "Look at his face. Whatever it was, it's gone. It passed into the Ood, and you saw it happen." She reprimanded. "He's clean."

Jefferson darted his gaze between the terrified Toby and the stern Rose and he relented.  _She's trying to let me give Toby a chance. Fair enough._  He muttered inwardly, and he let his grip on his rifle relax. "Any sign of trouble, I'll shoot him." He warned before walking back to the monitor.

Rose turned to Toby and let her stern expression soften. "You all right?" She asked.

"I…I…I don't know." He stuttered.

"Can you remember anything?"

"Just…it-it-it was so angry. It was…it was fury and rage and…and death." Those last two words made his eyes widen in a form of fearful recognition. "It was him. It was the Devil."

Rose, already knowing from Clara what it was like to have someone mess around with your head, decided to be kind. "Come here." She ushered and wrapped Toby in a hug.

* * *

"What's "Strategy Nine"?" The Doctor asked as they walked back to the capsule.

"Open the airlocks. We'll be safe inside the lockdown." Ida explained. "The Ood will get thrown out into the vacuum."

"So, we're going back to a slaughter?" Clara asked in stern demand.

Ida sighed. "The Devil's work." She said grimly.

"But why?"

"How often have you heard the phrase "It's us or them"?" Ida asked, and she interrupted the couple before they could respond. "Trust me, I don't like it either, no one does. I rather take a third option than that, but right now, it hasn't shown itself to me." She said bluntly, stepping back into the capsule, followed in a dejected pace, by the Doctor and Clara. "Okay, we're in. Bring us up." She said into her suit mic.

 _"Ascension in 3…2…1."_  Jefferson said. On his command, the capsule did not start its journey back but instead, lost all of its power, plunging the three into darkness.

 _ **"** ** _T_ his is the darkness."**_ The Beast spoke with the voices of the Ood through the speakers of both the capsule and the suits. They could also hear the crew above gasping briefly in shock, so they could also hear the voice.  _ **"This is MY domain."**_  It growled. _ **"You little things that live in the light, clinging to your feeble suns, which die and, in the end, only the darkness remains."**_

 _"This is Captain Zachary Cross Flane of Sanctuary Base 6 representing the Torchwood Archive. You will identify yourself."_  He demanded.

_**"You know my name."** _

_"What do you want?"_

_**" _Y_ ou will die here, all of you. This planet is your grave."** _

The Doctor quickly interrupted, his voice bringing some relief to everyone listening. "If you are the Beast, then answer me this: Which one, hmmm?" The Beast didn't answer, and he smiled. "Cause the universe has been busy since you've been gone. There's more religions than there are planets in the sky. "The Arkiphetes", "Quoldonity", "Christianity", "Pash-Pash", "New Judaism", "San Claar", "Church of the Tin Vagabond". Which Devil are you?"

 **"** _ **All of them!"**_  It snarled.

"What? Then you're…the truth behind the myth?"

The Beast chuckled lightly to itself, sending nasty shivers down their spines.  _ **"This one knows me as I know him. The killer of his own kind."**_ It taunted.

The Doctor clenched his jaw into a glare, despite the fact that they couldn't interact with the Beast except for voice. His glare lessened somewhat when Clara softly took his hand, which he silently thanked her for. "How did you end up on this rock?" He asked sternly.

 _ **"** ** _T_ he disciples of the Light rose up against me and chained me in the pit for all eternity."**_ It spat.

Despite their dull expressions, the Doctor and Clara were both guilty as charged to be rather curious as to its history. "When was this?" The Doctor asked.

_**"** **_B_ efore Time."** _

"What does that mean?" The Doctor scoffed.

 _ **"** **Before Time."**_  It growled.

"What does "Before Time" mean?!" The Doctor asked sternly again.

_**"** **Before Time and light and space and matter. Before the cataclysm. Before the ancient lights burned their lives away. Before the Solitract was banished into exile. Before ALL universes were created."** _

The Doctor's face fell into disbelief. "That's impossible. No life could have existed back then."

_**"** **Is that YOUR religion?"** _

The Doctor almost gulped, but he restrained against it. "It's a belief." He said with some trepidation.

The Beast laughed.  _ **"You know nothing. ALL of you. So small!"**_  It snarled.  _ **"The Captain, so scared of command."**_  It taunted.  _ **"The soldier haunted by the eyes of his wife. The scientist, still running from daddy."**_

"What?" Ida muttered.

 _ **"** ** _T_ he little boy who lied."**_ It continued.  _ **"The virgin. The impossible girl,"**_  Clara's jaw clenched at that,  _ **"who no matter how hard she tries, she will never be there when her King needs her most."**_

"Bullshit." Clara spat but the Beast ignored her.

 _ **"** ** _A_ nd the lost girl, so far away from home."**_ It purred, and the couple's hearts plummeted.  _ **"The valiant child who will die in battle so very soon."**_

One small moment of unnerving silence passed before the small voice of a terrified Rose Tyler spoke.  _"Doctor, Clara, what does that mean?"_  She whimpered.

"Rose, please don't listen." Clara said, herself also not getting over the Beast's words about her.

 _"What does it mean?"_  Rose repeated.

The Beast chuckled.  _ **"You will die…and I will live!"**_  It snarled. Then, a loud roar sounded through the coms, making everyone jump with a gasp.

 _"What the hell was that?!"_  Danny exclaimed.

 _"What did it mean?!"_  Rose asked.

 _"What do we do?!"_  Danny asked.  _"Jefferson! Zach, what do we do?!"_

 _"Captain, what's the situation of Strategy Nine?"_ Jefferson calmly asked.  _"Captain, report."_

"Stop!" The Doctor said, but everyone ignored him, still rambling on in terror. "Everyone, just stop!" He demanded.

_"Report!"_

_"Report!"_

_"Report!"_

"Oh, for fucks sake." The Doctor grumbled before he pressed many buttons in unison on his wrist pad, causing loud feedback to screech through the coms, making everyone silence with a wince. "You want voices in the dark, then listen to mine!" He finally said with frustration. "That thing is playing on very basic fears! Darkness, childhood, nightmares, death, all that stuff!"

 _"But that's how the Devil works!"_  Danny protested.

"Or a good psychologist." The Doctor retorted.

"But how did it know about my father?" Ida perked up.

The Doctor sighed, and he decided not to answer that question. "Okay, but what makes his version of the truth any better than mine, hmm? Cause I'll tell you what I can see: Humans. Brilliant Humans. Humans who can travel all the way across space, flying in a tiny little rocket right into the orbit of a Black Hole, just for the sake of discovery, that's amazing!" He beamed. The pair beside him started to smile, especially Clara, yet hers was more in proud love than in reassured relief. "Do you hear me?! Amazing, all of you! The Captain, his officer, his elder, his juniors, his friends. All with one advantage: The Beast is alone, we are not. If we can use that to fight against him-"

***Crack***

The shuttle rocked and shook violently, sending the trio stumbling against the wall as they heard both the coms get flooded by a loud static and a continuous rumbling sound on the roof, which made Ida immediately gasp.

"The cable's snapped!" She yelled.

"Get out!" The Doctor ordered. "Get out!"

The trio dove out of the capsule, not even bothering to slam the doors behind them as they rushed away, hearing the loud crack and slam of the ten-mile cable shattering the capsule into a smoking mess. "Great." Clara muttered. "No way out."

"Come on, Clara." The Doctor whined. "Have a bit of optimism. You never know what's down here."

"Now that sounds creepy instead of reassuring." She admonished lightly.

He shrugged his shoulders before they looked at Ida. "How much air have we got?"

Ida pressed a button on her wrist pad. "60 minutes." She then blinked and double checked with a frown. "55."

* * *

"Doctor?! Clara?! Are you all right?!" Rose yelled into the speaker as Danny and Jefferson peered down the now empty hole, searching fruitlessly for a sign of the cable. "Zach?!"

 _"Coms are down."_  Zach answered calmly.

"Are they alive?!" Rose asked.

 _"I've still got life signs, yes…but we've lost the capsule. They're stuck down there."_  He said grimly.

Rose blinked, opened her mouth but said nothing, so she closed it and placed the speaker back onto the monitor before moving to the ledge beside Danny and Jefferson, peering over the edge. "We've got to bring them back." She said finally.

"We can't." Jefferson said.

"But we have to." She protested.

"They're ten miles down. We haven't got another ten miles worth of cable." He responded. On that, a loud crack sounded at the door, making everyone spin around to look at it, Jefferson with his rifle raised. "Captain? Situation report." He said calmly, slowly marching up towards the door.

 _"It's the Ood."_  Zach said after a few moments of silence.  _"They're cutting through the door bolts. They're breaking in."_

Jefferson briefly peeled back the view latch and sighed. "Yeah, it's the same on door 25." He reported.

"How long's it going to take?" Rose asked.

Jefferson shrugged. "Well, it's only a basic frame. It should take 10 minutes."

***Crack***

He blinked, briefly glanced back at the door and gave another blink. "8."

 _"I've got a security frame. It might last a bit longer, but that doesn't help you."_  Zach reported.

Rose glanced around for a moment before she took a deep breath. If the Doctor or Clara weren't here to take command, she'll have to do.  _God, I hope I don't screw up._ "Right, so we need to stop them, or get out, or both."

"I'll take both, yeah?" Danny quipped. "But how?"

She gave him a "Seriously?" look. "You heard the Doctor. Why do you think that thing cut them off? Cause he was making sense. He was telling you to THINK your way out of this." They blinked at her and she growled low in her throat. "Come on! For starters, we need some lights! Zach, there's got to be some sort of power somewhere."

Zach groaned.  _"There's nothing I can do. Some Captain, stuck in here pressing buttons."_

"That's what the Doctor and Clara meant. Press the right buttons."

 _"They've gutted the generators…"_  Zach trailed off and Rose smiled.

 _I'm getting somewhere!_  She inwardly squealed. "But?"

 _"But the rocket's got an independent supply."_  He finally said after a moment.  _"If I could reroute that…*Clears Throat* Mr. Jefferson. Open the bypass conduits. Override the safety."_

Jefferson quickly moved to the monitor to press the necessary keys. "Opening bypass conduits, sir." He reported.

_"Channeling rocket feed. In 3…2…1…Power."_

The lights then flared on and the crew, even the still nerve wracked Toby, either chuckled gleefully or cracked a relieved smile. "Let there be light." Danny quipped.

"All right, what about that Strategy 9 thing?" Rose asked.

Jefferson shook his head. "Not enough power. Needs 100%."

Rose cleared her throat. "Right, we need a way out. Zach, Mr. Jefferson, you start working on that." Rose walked over to the still sitting Toby. "Toby, what about you?"

Toby stood up and gave a sigh. "I'm not a soldier, I can't do anything-"

"No, you're the Archaeologist." Rose interrupted sternly. "What do you know about the pit?"

Toby opened his mouth, then he blinked. He did it again and again, which made Rose squint her eyes ever so slightly in puzzlement. "Well…it's…its hard to explain." He said finally. "Yes, we don't know much about the planet, we can't even translate the language."

"But?" Rose interjected.

Toby took a few more moments, gazing around in his own puzzlement. "It's like…since that thing got inside my head, it's like…the letters make more sense."

Rose shrugged her shoulders. "Well then, get to work." She quipped lightly before turning back to Danny, trusting Toby would know what to do. "As for you, Danny boy, you're in charge of the Ood. Anyway of stopping them?'

"Well, um…I don't know." He finally said dejectedly.

Rose grasped his shoulder and pulled him to the monitor. "Then find out." She said simply. "The sooner we get control of the base, the sooner we rid ourselves of the Ood AND we get our friends out. Now, get going. Shift." She winked and Danny, after a few moments of bewildered blinking, moved to work. Rose just moved to stand by the edge of the hole and gazed down, giving a silent promise that didn't need to be spoken aloud.

* * *

"Well," Ida started, throwing her arms outwards at the wreckage that formerly was the capsule, "we've got all this cable, we might was well use it. The drum's disconnected, we could adapt it. Feed it through."

"And then what?" The Doctor asked, him and Clara staring at Ida.

She shrugged. "Abseil…into the pit."

They slowly nodded. "Abseil. Right."

"We're running out of air with no way back, it's the only thing we can do…even if it's the last thing we ever achieve."

"We'll get back." Clara reassured. "Our friends are up there. Rose is up there."

Ida almost gave into the itch of groaning in her throat, but she resisted. "Well, maybe the key to that is finding out what's in the pit."

The Doctor shrugged and the three moved to work. "Well, it's half of a good plan."

"What's the other half?" Ida asked.

"I go down. Not you."

"What?" Clara asked suddenly before Ida did.

"Not you either, Clara. I'm going down alone." He said with finality.

Clara scoffed. "Yes, sir. Absolutely, sir." She spat.

"Don't!" He warned with a growl, silencing her immediately. "Clara…please don't." He said in a softer tone.

Clara slouched her shoulders, glancing down at the ground. "I'm sorry." She mumbled. The Doctor immediately went over and wrapped her in a hug. "I didn't mean to-"

"I know." He quickly said. "But we can't go down at the same time, you know that."

"But what if you don't…" Clara trailed off and the Doctor hugged her tighter.

"I WILL, Clara. I WILL come back." He promised. Clara, albeit rather dejectedly, accepted it and they parted. The Doctor started to chuckle low in his throat, making Clara blink at him. "I was going to kiss you for luck, but…you know…" He tapped the glass of his helmet, which made Clara giggle.

"Then if you survive down there and get back in one piece…" Clara shrugged with a mischievous smile, "there will be more than a kiss for a reward." She flirted.

"There better be." He flirted back.

"Jesus Christ." Ida growled with a roll of her eyes, making the couple look at her in childish fright. "Are you two finished?"

"Yeah." They squeaked in unison.

* * *

***Crack***

Everyone had managed to stop flinching at the sound by the 10th time, yet they still fluttered their nervous eyes to the doorway as they worked. "Open junctions 5, 6, 7. Reroute filters 16 to 24. Go." Jefferson pressed the final button and he sighed at the beep of acceptance on the computer, all the while Danny and Rose hung by the monitor and Toby worked by himself with a pen and notepad.

"There's all sorts of viruses that could stop the Ood." Danny said to Rose. "Trouble is, we haven't got them onboard."

Rose almost gave a dry scoff. "Well, that's handy, listing the things we haven't got. We haven't got a swimming pool either, or a Tesco's." She quipped dryly.

Danny rolled his eyes and continued typing. "I have an idea of what we can do, but can it work?" He muttered to himself and he clacked away. It ended with the computer giving a loud beep, bringing up the text "Affirmative" and Danny squealed out a laugh. "Oh my god, it says yes! I can do it!" He squealed.

"Do what?" Rose asked, feeling like she missed out on a hilarious joke.

Danny cleared his throat to collect himself. "Well, hypothetically, if you flip the monitor, broadcast a flare, it can disrupt the telepathy, brainstorm!"

"What happens to the Ood?" Rose asked.

"It'll tank them! Without any actual damage, they'll just spark out!"

Rose beamed. "There we are then, do it!" Danny didn't say anything, and her beaming expression slowly morphed into a clenched jaw. "But?"

Danny glanced down at the floor, almost like a kid who got caught trying to open the jar of cookies. "But…I have to transmit from the central monitor. We need to go to Ood Habitation."

Rose sighed but patted his back anyway. "That's what we'll do, then." She said, moving around him to stand beside Jefferson at another computer, while Danny, after a few moments of bewildered blinking, went to work. "Mr. Jefferson, sir, anyway out?" She asked.

"Just about." He answered, bringing up a blue schematic map of the underside of the base. "There's a network of maintenance tunnels running underneath the base. We should be able to move around the base through there."

Rose smirked with her tongue in her teeth. "Ventilation shafts." She quipped.

Jefferson smiled, but only just. "I appreciate the reference, but there's no ventilation. Well, no air in fact at all. They were designed for machines, not life-forms."

 _"But,"_  Zach interrupted over the coms,  _"I can manipulate the oxygen field from here, create discrete pockets of atmosphere. If I control it manually, I can follow you through the network."_ He said.

"Right." Rose muttered. "So, we go down and you make the air follow us…by hand." She said dryly.

Zach snorted under his breath.  _"You wanted me pressing buttons."_ He retorted.

"Yeah, I did ask for that." Rose muttered under her breath. "Okay, we need to get to Ood Habitation, so if you could please, sir, work out a route."

 _"Working it out now."_  Zach reported.

* * *

"No, I'm the senior officer. I'm the one that goes down." Ida whined as the three placed the full cable drum at least twenty feet, by recommendation from Ida, from the edge of the pit.

The Doctor just scoffed incredulously, turning to look at Ida. "I'm no sort of officer so I can do what I want."

"Doctor, it's my job." She still whined.

"Only on paper." He reminded with a retort. "So, on that, I go down. And that's final." He said, and Ida sighed.

"Fine." She grumbled, grabbing the end of the cable and preparing a hook on the end while the Doctor prepped his belt to also function as a semi-harness, Clara and Ida hooking him onto the cable.

"All right, that should hold it." Ida said, moving back to check the drum while Clara gave the Doctor a quick farewell hug. "If you two lovebirds are finished," Ida quickly said, making them part with a small blush, "how is the cable now?" She pressed her wrist pad and the drum started to slowly spin, loosening the tug it had on the Doctor, but only by a tad.

"Fine. Should work." The Doctor said as he stood on the edge of the pit, looking over his shoulder and down into the dark abyss. "Doesn't feel like such a good idea now." As he started, he felt his nerves begin to twitch in agitation and his glove cladded hands gripped the cable tighter, making him grin. "There it is again. That itch." His gleaming eyes shot to Clara, who was shaking her head. "Go down, go down, go down, go down, go down." He said dramatically, making Clara and Ida snigger.

"The urge to jump." Ida said, giving a last check over on the drum. "Do you know where it comes from, that sensation? Genetic heritage. Ever since we were primates in the trees. It's our body's way of testing us, calculating whether or not we can reach the next branch." Ida explained.

"No, that's not it." The Doctor said. "That's too kind. It's not the urge to jump, it's deeper than that." His grin returned in full force. "It's the urge to fall!" And with that, he jumped over the side of the pit and down into the chasm.

 _"Doctor!"_  Clara yelled, and the cable stopped moving, halting him in his descent and his body quickly swung to the rock face, his feet bracing and planting themselves upon it, the Doctor taking a breath with a light snigger.  _"Are you okay?!"_ She asked with worry.

The Doctor sighed. He didn't like making Clara feel that way, but he just couldn't help himself. "I'm okay, thank you."

 _"Please don't do that."_  Clara muttered.

"I'm sorry." He said earnestly.

Clara gave a breath of relief while Ida stepped in. Well…her voice did anyway.  _"Do you see anything different down there?"_

The Doctor glanced around. The rock face did form a large space around him, but it stopped at least 20, maybe 30 feet beneath his current position. Beyond that was just the blackness of the pit. "The wall of the pit seems to be the same as the cavern just…not much of it. There's a crust about…20, maybe 30 feet down and then…nothing, just the pit." He glanced back up and lessened his grip on the cable, but only enough as not to put too much of a strain on his own hands. "Okay then, lower me down."

 _"Good luck."_  Clara quickly said, her words making him smile softly.

 _"Here we go."_  Ida said, and the cable started to lower him down into the darkness.

* * *

***Crack***

"Danny, come on!" Rose yelled, her, Jefferson and Toby had wrenched back a grate opening in the floor, for their time was up and the Ood were about to get through the door.

"Hold on! Just conforming!" Danny yelled back, still at the monitor. "Come on, come on, come on, come on." He muttered anxiously.

"Danny, we've got to go now!" Jefferson ordered.

Thankfully, as he spoke, the computer had finished its work, slotting out a small golden chip, which Danny took and immediately thrusted into his pocket. "Yeah! Put that in the monitor and it's a bad time to be an Ood!" He squealed in relief as he rushed over to join the group, Jefferson keeping his rifle raised at the door.

"We're coming back, have you got that?" Rose asked sternly. "We're coming back to this room and we're getting our friends out."

"That we will." Jefferson nodded. "Okay, Danny, you go first, then you, Miss Tyler, then Toby. I'll go last in defensive position, now come on, quick as you can!" He ordered and the three quickly piled through the hole and into the tunnel.

The tunnel, almost to their disappointment, was a simple, dull grey tunnel of steel that, while not harmfully bad in anyway, was still uncomfortable considering the enclosed, cramped space. And it reeked, possibly from underuse. "God, it stinks." Rose remarked as Toby climbed in. "You all right?" She asked Danny.

"Yeah, I'm laughing." Danny shot her a thumbs up before pressing his wrist pad to activate his com link. "Which way do we go?"

 _"Just go straight ahead."_  Zach said.  _"Keep going until I say so."_ The three started to crawl through the tunnels as Jefferson entered in last and dropped the grate latch above him, moving quickly with his rifle to join the trio.

"Not your best angle, Danny." Rose quipped, glancing at his backside.

"Oi! Stop it!" Danny protested.

"I don't know. It could be worse." Toby quipped.

"Oi!" Rose squeaked.

 _"Go straight on until you reach Junction 7.1."_  Zach ordered.  _"Keep breathing. I'm feeding you air. I've got you."_  He reassured.

The group kept crawling until their own knees started to protest, but they kept going, right up to reaching the steel door, marked "7.1". As they reached it, they shuffled about to sit, letting their protesting knees breathe while they themselves started to breathe deep. "We're at 7.1, sir." Danny informed.

 _"Okay, I've got you."_  Zach said. They heard him jump, muttering a small "Christ" under his breath, which they attributed to the Ood still cutting through his door.  _"I'm just aerating the next section."_ He said.

"Getting kind of cramped, sir. Can't you hurry up?" Danny protested.

 _"I'm working on half power here."_  Zach said, and they could tell he had shrugged in obviousness.

"Stop complaining." Jefferson half ordered under his breathing.

"Mr. Jefferson said "Stop complaining"." Rose carried on to Danny.

"I heard." Danny waved dismissively.

"He heard." Rose carried to Jefferson.

"Okay, w-well the air's getting a bit thin." Toby protested to Zach.

"He's complaining now." Rose quipped to Jefferson.

"I heard." Jefferson rolled his eyes.

Silence fell for a brief moment, which they realized was Rose scrunching her nose against the smell of sweat. They all had it, but Danny seemed to have it in figurative bucket loads. "Danny, is that you?" She asked.

Danny, despite their current confines, waved his arms up in exasperation. "I'm not exactly happy." Danny said obviously.

 _"I'm just moving the air, I've got to oxygenate the next section."_  Zach informed.  _"Now keep calm or it's going to feel worse."_

_***Clang*** _

They all glanced at each other nervously at the sound of a large door smacking down onto the floor. It was quickly followed by another clang, this one of steel grating against steel grating. Jefferson quickly moved to the right side of the tunnel and pointed his rifle down the tunnel.

"What was that?" Danny asked fearfully.

"Mr. Jefferson, what was that?" Rose asked with more collectedness.

"What was that noise?" Toby asked in the same tone as Danny.

"Captain, what was that?" Jefferson asked.

 _"The junction in Habitation 5 has been opened. It must be the Ood."_  The four strained to listen and they could hear the slapping of the Ood's hands and the shuffling of their bodies as they moved through the tunnels, quite obviously in their direction.  _"They're in the tunnels!"_ Zach reported.

"Open the gate." Danny said.

 _"I've got to get the air in!"_  Zach reminded.

"Just open it, sir!" Danny protested.

"Where are they? Are they close?" Rose asked.

_"I don't know. I can't tell. I can't see them. The computer doesn't register Ood as proper life-forms."_

"Whose idea was that?" Rose quipped sarcastically.

"Open the gate!" Danny demanded.

Thankfully, at least for them, the gate slid open, allowing the four to quickly crawl through towards the oncoming intersection.  _"Danny, turn left! Immediate left!"_  Zach ordered, and they moved down the ordered direction.

"The Ood, sir! Can't you trap them?! Cut off the air?!" Jefferson asked as he crawled in last position, always glancing back behind him for their own sake.

 _"Not without cutting off yours."_  Zach answered. The group kept moving down the tunnel, straight towards another intersection.  _"Danny, turn right. Go right."_  Zach ordered.  _"And go fast, Dan! They're going to catch up!"_  He added, and Danny picked up speed as best he could, turning to his right and moving down the tunnel towards the next gate, 8.1.

"I'll maintain defensive position!" Jefferson called, stopping right at the intersection, turning around to face the other direction and pointing his rifle down the tunnel.

"You can't stop!" Rose protested, stopping her movements to look back past Toby.

"Miss Tyler, that's my job!" He said, cocking his rifle and grasping it with two hands. "You've got your task, now see to it!"

"You heard what he said, now shift!" Toby quickly said and Rose, despite some dejection, moved down the tunnel to catch up with Danny, who had already reached 8.1.

 _"Opening 8.1 now."_  Zach said, and the gate opened up, allowing the trio to rush through. Right on that note, they heard Jefferson opening fire back down the tunnel, the noise carrying right through back to them. They ignored the urge to wince at the sound, continuing to crawl down the tunnel until they reached the next gate, 8.2.

"8.2! Open 8.2!" Danny demanded. "Zach! Open 8.2!"

 _"I've got to aerate it!"_  Zach reminded.

"Open it now!" Danny exclaimed in fear.

_"I'm trying!"_

Danny started to smack the gate, making Rose immediately grasp his arm to stop him. "Danny, stop it! That's not helping!" Rose said.

"Zach, get it open!" Toby demanded.

 _"Jefferson, I've got to open 8.2 by closing 8.1. You've got to get past the Junction, now move."_  Zach ordered. They heard the rifle firing stop, only to be replaced by the firing of a pistol.  _"That's an order, now move!"_  He demanded. The pistol firing had stopped but the trio could still not see Jefferson moving down the tunnel.  _"I'm going to lose oxygen, Jefferson! I can't stop for your dramatics!"_

Danny gave a squeal of relief as 8.2 slid straight open. "That's it!"

"Come on, come on!" Toby said, Danny and Rose rushing through towards another intersection.

 _"Danny, turn left and head for 9.2, that's the last one."_  Zach said.  _"Jefferson! You've got to move faster!"_  He ordered. Before Rose and Toby rounded the corner, they could see Jefferson rushing down towards them, but 8.1 was quickly closing before him. _"John, move! Move!"_

"Mr. Jefferson, come on!" Rose yelled.

"Keep going!" Toby ushered, and Rose moved to join Danny by 9.2. The trio then stopped to rest, and they could hear Jefferson panting over his com, but they could tell that he had failed to get past the gate on time.

 _"Regret to inform, sir, I was a bit slow."_  Jefferson panted.  _"Not so fast these days."_

 _"I can't open 8.1, John. Not without losing air for the others."_  Zach said, his voice starting to break.

 _"And quite right too, sir."_  Jefferson reassured.  _"I think I bought them a little time."_

 _"There's nothing I can do, John. I'm sorry."_ Zach muttered.

 _"You've done enough, sir, and made a very good Captain under the circumstances."_  Jefferson reassured, before taking a deep breath.  _"Might I ask, if you can't add oxygen to this section…can you speed up the process of its removal?"_

 _"I don't understand. What do you mean?"_  Zach asked.

_"Well, if I might choose the manner of my departure, sir, lack of air seems more natural than…well…let's say…death by Ood. I'd appreciate it, sir."_

Zach gulped.  _"Godspeed, Mr. Jefferson."_

 _"Thank you, sir."_ Jefferson said.

For the trio, only silence fell for a few moments, until Zach cleared his throat and spoke.  _"Report: Officer John Maynard Jefferson PKD, deceased, with honors…43k 2.1."_

Danny took a moment to clear his throat from potentially breaking before speaking. "Zach…we're at the final junction. 9.2. And, uh…if my respects could be on record, he saved our lives."

 _"Noted."_  Zach said.  _"Opening 9.2."_

The trio took a breath before turning to the opening gate and they jumped in fright, seeing the red eyed Ood waiting patiently on the other side. "Lower 9.2! Zach, lower it!" Rose yelled.

"Back, back, back!" Danny yelled.

"We can't go back!" Toby protested even while they still moved away from the gate. "They got 8.2 sealed off! We're stuck!"

Rose glanced around, checking for a way out. She glanced up above her head and a piece of the tunnel steel slid away to reveal a steel grate.  _"Get out of there! Now!"_  Zach ordered.

Rose immediately placed her hands on the grate and pushed it open. "Come on! Up!" She yelled, hopping up into the corridor above, feeling somewhat relieved at being free from the confines of the tunnel. "Danny! Get up!" She yelled, grabbing his hand to help hoist him up out of the tunnel. "Toby, come on!" She yelled, hearing the rushing of Toby getting under the open hole.

"Help me! Oh my god, help me!" He exclaimed in terror, Rose and Danny grabbing his arms to hoist him up.

 _"Open door 32."_  They glanced behind them to see the Ood moving through the doorway towards them as the hole beneath their feet slid shut.

"This way! Come on!" Danny yelled, leading them down the corridor to the next door.

 _"Open door 34."_  They raced through into the next intersection and through the entrance into Ood Habitation.

 _"Hurry up!"_  Zach ordered.

The trio sprinted up to the main monitor and Danny quickly fumbled through his pockets to get the golden chip. "Get it in!" Rose demanded, the trio spotting Ood still in their pen down the stairs while also glancing at the door, seeing more Ood getting closer to the entrance.

"Danny, get it done!" Toby demanded. "Stop them!"

"I'm trying! I'm trying! I'm getting it in!"

"Danny, get that thing transmitting!" Danny pulled out the golden chip and slotted it into the monitor. The basic counter went straight from 100 to 0 and the Ood all grasped their heads, stumbling down to their knees as if a loud screeching noise was blaring inside their heads. After a few moments, they fell down to the floor, writhed about in silence before closing their eyes and losing consciousness. "You did it." Rose muttered and the three started to laugh. "We did it!" Rose and Danny gave each other a quick hug before Rose gave one to Toby, then parting and moved to the monitor to grab the speaker as Toby and Danny hugged in relief. "Zach, we did it, the Ood are down. Now we've got to get our friends back." She said.

 _"I'm on my way."_  Zach responded, and they sighed before moving quickly out of the room, now freed from the threat of death.

* * *

"You get representations of the horned beast right across the universe." The Doctor said as he was still being lowered into the ever-black chasm. "In the myths and legends of a million worlds. Earth, Draconia, Vel Consadine, Daemos…the Kaled god of War. It's the same image over and over again. Maybe that idea came from somewhere…bleeding through…the thought at the back of every sentient mind."

 _"Emanating from here?"_  Ida asked through his com.

"Could be."

_"But if this is the original, does that make it real? Does that make it the actual Devil, though?"_

"Well, if that's what you want to believe." The Doctor said.

 _"That could be all it is in the end."_  Clara inputted over his com.  _"Just an idea."_

Then, without warning, his descent stopped, the cable halting him in his tracks.  _"That's it."_ Ida said.  _"That's all we've got. Are you getting any sort of readout down there?"_

The Doctor checked his wrist pad, but he sighed. "Nothing. Could be miles to go yet. Or…" He started with a blink, "could be 30 feet and no way of telling. Without the TARDIS, I could still survive 30 feet." He muttered to himself.

 _"Oh no you don't."_  Clara growled.  _"You're coming back up."_ The cable starting to revolve back but the Doctor just pressed his own personal control of it to halt its progress.  _"Doctor, what are you doing?!"_  Clara demanded but her tone was more of worry than anger.

"Clara, if you bring me back, we're just going to sit there and run out of air. I told you, I've got to go down."

 _"But you can't."_  Clara protested.  _"Doctor, please, you can't."_

"Call it an act of faith." He said calmly, starting the slow procedure to unbuckle his own harness from the cable.

 _"But…I don't want to die without…"_  Clara trailed off and the Doctor sighed sadly.

"I'm sorry." The Doctor unbuckled another latch before stopping for a moment. "Ida, do you have any faith?"

 _"No, not really."_  Said person responded.  _"I was brought up Neoclassic Congregational. Cause of my mum, she was…"_  Ida trailed off before sighing sadly. _"Oh, my old mum."_ She gave a sad chuckle under her breath before sniffing. _"But no, I never believed."_

"Neoclassic." The Doctor muttered. "Has that got a Devil?"

_"No, not as such, just, um…the things that men do."_

The Doctor shrugged dejectedly. "Same thing in the end." A small moment of silence followed until the Doctor sighed again, this time in a somber attitude. "Clara, I never did ask. Have you got any sort of faith?" He asked.

 _"I…I used to, for a time."_  Clara answered sadly.  _"Not that I was truly religious or anything, I just…I don't know. Something about it seemed…peaceful."_

"What made you stop?" The Doctor asked.

Clara sniffed.  _"You know what it was."_  The Doctor sighed at that, now wishing he could take it back, but he couldn't. It was already said.  _"I remember, before Danny died, he wanted to go on vacation. Go to another country like New Zealand or Italy, maybe Rome, enjoy some peace. But I thought he was being insulting, since my parents wanted to do it as well but…you know."_  Clara sniffed.  _"I don't remember exactly what I said to him but…I wish I could take it back now."_

"Why?"

 _"Because he didn't deserve it."_  Clara let out a small sob and the Doctor wished he could be back up there with her, but he couldn't right now.

"And you didn't go in the end." He deducted. "Why didn't you say anything? We could have gone there."

 _"It just…slipped my mind."_  Clara said simply.

The Doctor sighed. "We could have gone to Hobbiton, did you know? They made it a permanent place now, you can have tours down there, go to the Green Dragon. Have second breakfast." He added, and Clara let a small chuckle out.

 _"What about you?"_  Clara asked after a moment to compose herself, yet her voice was still sad. "Do you believe in anything?"

The Doctor, for a few moments, was at a loss for words.  _What do I believe in? I honestly have no idea._  "I…believe…I believe I haven't seen everything? I don't know." He gave a light chuckle and briefly stopped to hold the cable. "It's funny, isn't it?" He asked rhetorically. "The things you make up, the rules. If that thing had said it came from BEYOND the universe, then I'd believe it, but BEFORE the universe?" He shook his head with a small frown. "Impossible. Doesn't fit my rules."  _Well, I do like the impossible. Oh Clara, my Clara._ "Still, I guess that's why I keep travelling. Or one of the reasons why. To be proved wrong." The Doctor glanced at his harness to see only one clasp left, leaving him to grasp the cable just in case. Once that clasp goes, he falls. But not yet. "Thank you, Clara."

 _"No, don't go!"_  Clara whimpered.

"I AM coming back, you know that?" He reminded her reassuringly.

_"But what if you don't? Please, don't do this."_

The Doctor glanced up, seeing the entrance of the pit so far ahead, it almost was hard to see it amongst the darkness. "Smile for me." Clara didn't answer, and he sighed. "Go on, Clara Oswald. Just one smile."

 _"How can I smile? You can't see me."_  She muttered.

The Doctor smirked. "When do I not see you?" He asked earnestly. No answer came but the Doctor unconsciously beamed. "There you go." He said warmly.

Clara sniffed.  _"How did you…"_

"I know you Clara. My Clara." The Doctor said.  _Her smile. She is so beautiful._  "I'll see you soon." With that, the Doctor unclasped the final latch and plunged into the darkness.

* * *

Rose, Danny and Toby raced back into Habitation 5, quickly joined by Zach. Rose dashed up to the monitor to grasp the speaker. "Doctor? Clara, are you there? Can you hear me?" She asked worriedly.

"The coms are still down." Zach said, moving up to the monitor. "I can patch them through the central desk and boost the signal, just give me a minute."

Zach worked for, while it was quite literally a minute, it felt like an eternity until Rose was allowed to talk again. "Doctor? Are you there? Clara?"

All that came through was Clara's silent sobbing, so Ida was the one that spoke up.  _"He's gone."_

Rose stared in disbelief. "What do you mean, "He's gone"?"

_"He fell. Into the pit. And we don't know how deep it is, miles and miles and miles."_

"Well…what do you mean he fell?" Rose asked.

 _"I couldn't stop him."_  Clara whimpered, and Rose gulped, not liking the sad tone of her friend. _"He wanted to go down, see if it could give us a way out but…I don't know."_

 _"Hey, it's all right."_  Ida cooed, and they could figure out that she was hugging Clara for comfort.  _"He'll come back. He did promise."_

Rose glanced down in sadness and wordlessly allowed Zach to take the speaker. "Ida, Clara, there's no way of reaching you two. No cable, no backup. You're 10 miles down and…we can't get there."

 _"You should see this place, Zach."_  Ida said softly.  _"It's beautiful. I wanted to discover things and…"_  Ida's voice broke at that,  _"and here I am."_ She said sadly.

"We've got to abandon the base." Zach informed. "I'm declaring this mission unsafe. All we can do is make sure that no one ever comes here again."

 _"But we'll never find out what it was."_  Ida pointed out.

"Well, maybe that's best."

 _"Yeah."_  Ida agreed.

Zach's shoulders slumped, and he cleared his throat to stop his voice breaking. "Officer Scott-"

 _"It's all right."_  Ida interrupted.  _"Just go. And good luck."_ She added warmly despite her sad tone.

"You too. And you Clara."

Clara sniffed.  _"Take care."_  She said simply.

Zach placed the speaker back onto the monitor before briefly burying his face in one hand. Then, he gave a small sad sigh before clearing his throat. "Danny, Toby, close down the feed links. Get the retrotropes online, then get to the rocket and strap yourselves in. We're leaving." He ordered, proceeding to walk away from the monitor.

"I'm not going." Rose said.

Zach turned back with a slight tinge of confusion. "Rose, there's space for you."

Rose shook her head. "But I can't leave her." Rose's voice broke. "She's my friend. I can't leave her alone."

"Ida's my friend too." Zach said sadly. "But we can't do anything more for them. I'm sorry."

"Even so, how can I leave her, all on her own, without the Doctor, without anything?" Rose asked, holding back a sniff. "No, I'm…I'm going to stay. I want to help her."

Zach sighed. "Then I apologize for this." He said sadly. "Danny, Toby, make her secure." He ordered, taking out of his pocket a small grey tranquilizer syringe.

Danny and Toby grasped her arms, making her wrestle to try to break free. "No! No! Let me go! Get off me!"

Zach took the syringe into her left arm, currently held by Toby, and pierced it in, quickly sending her into unconsciousness. "I have lost too many people. I am not leaving you behind." He said before grabbing her legs and hoisting her up over his shoulder. "Let's get her on board."

They moved to exit out of Habitation 5, right into another corridor where a few unconscious Ood lay. One of them twitched, making Toby jump. "Did that one just move?" He asked nervously.

The Ood twitched again. "It's the telepathic field. It's reasserting itself." Danny answered.

"Move it. Get to the rocket. Move!" Zach ordered.

* * *

The Doctor rolled and shifted in his sleep.  _Mmm. Barcelona. Fantastic._  The Doctor rolled with a groan.  _I'm not hindering you. If you both want to make fools of yourselves, I suggest you do what you said you'd do. Go and find a policeman._  The Doctor eyes started to flicker open.  _Clara. My Clara. Clara!_  The Doctor shot up with a gasp, feeling the glass, or rather what was left of it, in shards on the ground beneath where his head lay, his helmet loose on his head and the glass completely shattered. And yet, he could breath. "I'm breathing." He muttered, taking off the helmet to glance around properly. It looked like he was in a very dark cave with dark brown rocky walls and matching dirt all over the ground. He also saw the torch attached to his suit laying on the ground, but its own glass had survived intact, despite a few cracks in it. His body ached dully, most likely from the landing, but nothing felt broken, thankfully.  _The air. It feels…heavy. Like a cloud. It's an Air Cushion, supporting my fall._  The Doctor pressed his wrist pad to turn on his com. "You can breathe down here, Clara." He said but only static responded and he sighed. "Clara? Can you hear me?" He asked but still no answer.

* * *

"Dislocating "B" Clamp and "C" Clamp." Zach reported as he, Danny, Toby and the sleeping Rose sat in the cockpit of their rocket. "Raising Blu-Nitro to maximum. Toby, how's the Negapact feedline?"

"Clear and ready to go, sir." Toby reported. "For god's sake, get us out of here!" He exclaimed in fear.

"Captain!" Danny called. "I think we're going to have a problem passenger!" He said, motioning to Rose who was waking up from her forced slumber.

"Keep and eye on her." Zach ordered.

"What's…what's going on?" Rose asked.

"It's all right, Rose. We're safe." Danny said.

Rose quickly deduced where she was, and the ever-increasing rumbling of the room helped to support it. "I'm not going anywhere!" Rose exclaimed, fumbling fruitlessly at her seatbelt. "Get me out of this thing! Get me out!"

The rocket's shaking grew more violent until Zach yelled, with the accompaniment of Danny and Toby's whooping, while Rose protested fruitlessly, "And…lift-off!" Through the screen in front of them, they could see the Black Hole at the side sliding away as the rocket took off from the planet and began its journey into space.

"Take me back to the planet." Rose demanded. Zach blinked, glancing behind his shoulder to see Danny and Toby staring at Rose with wide eyes as she raised the bolt gun directly at him. "Take me back!" She growled.

"Or what?" He asked dully, turning to look back in front of him.

"Or I'll shoot." Rose muttered.

Zach just blinked with a sigh. "Would you though?" He asked. "Would you really?" Silence fell for a few moments, making Zach glance back to see Rose's shoulders slump and she placed the bolt gun back where she found it. "Sorry, but it's too late anyway. Take a look outside. We can't turn back." He said apologetically as Rose stared out a window beside her seeing the planet still in her view and close to the rocket but starting to shrink ever so slightly as they moved away. "Toby, give me the stats."

Toby cleared his throat. "Stats at 53, funnel stable at 66.5. Hull pressure constant." He reported. "Smooth as we can, sir, all the way back home. Co-ordinates set for planet Earth."

* * *

The Doctor paced through the cave, flickering his lit torch at the walls of the cavern. They bore drawn artwork, depicting what would be history, or myth, of this planet and the Beast. The Doctor in his mind went into his storm room, or mind palace, but kept the door open, considering he was all on his own.  _"What do you reckon, Clara?"_ He asked the figment of his imagination, standing by a blackboard in the TARDIS console room.  _"They, whoever they are, depicted some great big battle in their history on the wall. It's a bit confusing to look at. It seems like your stereotypical Devil was fighting against an army. But the "Artwork" doesn't make it clear if its man or some form of angels. If it's man, then the Beast was lying about being before the universe. If its angels, then it wasn't."_

Scratching came from the blackboard, making him look over. "The Beast could have been telling the truth that it was man. Maybe there was another universe before everything in existence." The message said on the board.

The Doctor shrugged, but it was more of dejected weariness. _"I'll be honest, I have no idea what it is or what the meaning and history of these are. But the basic summary of it was the Beast lived and reigned, then people, or angels, or both, rebelled against it. Then they imprisoned it here, on this planet. If there's one thing I can say about all this, these people or things or whatever should have had an actual artist doing this work because honestly, it's truly horrendous-"_

 _"Doctor, you're being rude."_  Clara's voice chastised in his head.

The Doctor breathed out.  _"Sorry."_  Then, the Doctor spotted on the wall and part of the "Art", two small dull golden urns, or was it vases, the Doctor briefly questioned to himself, that were sitting before a slouching and chained red creature. Exiting out of his storm room, the Doctor glanced around the cave before seeing the very two urns before him, sitting on two stands of worn grey stone, marked with more inscriptions like that of the pit entrance.  _"Maybe that is the key."_  The Doctor muttered in his head, moving up and gently brushing his hand against one of the urns. At his touch the two urns flickered a bright yellow light within that made him frown. _"Or the gate. Or the bars."_ He offered. Stepping in between the two small stone stands, the Doctor glanced again around the cave and then, he stopped. Straining his ears, he heard the small rumbling of a bestial growl, breathing softly to itself. The Doctor turned around and…there it was. Standing tall past a cliff beyond the two urns was the Beast in all its glory. Blood red wrinkled and scarred skin, long claws at the end of its hands, both of which were chained up to the wall of the cave by very large, black chains. It had two large, charcoal horns, one of which had its end broken off while the other was still intact, yet also chained to the cave wall. Its eyes were a simple glaring fire of orange, surrounded by pitch black in its sockets. Its own mouth was an array of horrific, fang like teeth, with no traces of any lips, just dried wounded tearing around the mouth and a long black tongue that hid away within. The Beast however was so large in its own cave prison that the Doctor could only see its upper chest to its head, the rest of the body was completely hidden from view. To the Doctor's own nervous astonishment, the Beast raised its head up and looked straight at the Doctor and gave a low, unnerving roar.

 _"Don't get caught up in it's physical existence."_  Clara's voice spoke to him.  _"Remember: Whoever placed that Air Cushion here was expecting you in this place. The question is: Who was it and what do they want with you?"_

The Doctor gazed at the Beast, his nervous yet awe-filled expression slowly turned into a frown. "Okay, I accept that you exist." He said calmly. "I don't have to accept what you are but your physical existence, yes, I'll give you that." The Beast snarled which made the Doctor blink. "But…I don't understand." He said, moving forward just a bit to get closer to the Beast. "I was expected down here. I was given a safe landing and air. Was it you? If you need me for something, what is it?" The Beast raised its arm and tried to lash out at the Doctor, but the chains caught it before it could reach him, and it was wrenched back with a growl. "Have I…have I got to…I don't know, beg an audience or…is there a ritual? Some sort of incantation? Summons or spell maybe?" He scoffed to himself. "All these things I don't believe in, are THEY real?" He asked but the Beast just stared at him and he waved his arms up in exasperation. "Speak to me! Tell me!" He demanded. It just titled its head at him in rather…animalistic curiosity.

 _"He won't talk."_  Clara's voice said.  _"Or…he can't talk."_

The Doctor's frown started to turn into deep concentration. "Hold on, hold on." He muttered. "Wait a minute, just let me…" He trailed off before beaming. "Oh! Wait, no!" He frowned. "Yes!" He beamed before blinking and frowning again. "No." He muttered. "Come on, think it through. You spoke before. I heard your voice. An intelligent voice. No!" He took that back. "More than that, brilliant!" Then his gaze turned into squinting scrutiny. "But…looking at you now, all I can see is…beast. The animal. Just the body." His eyes widened in realization. "You're just the body, the physical form. What's happened to your mind, hmm?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. "Where's it gone? Where's that intelligence?" The Beast didn't respond, so the Doctor turned back to the drawn history on the walls. "Let's get this straight. You were imprisoned a long time ago." He quickly scoffed. "Before the universe, after, sideways, in between, doesn't matter." He quipped sarcastically. Glancing back at the "Art", he could see the drawn urns were sending a small form of funnel into a swirling mist of darkness. "Oh yes! Open the prison, the gravity field collapses! This planet falls into the Black Hole!" He deducted, walking away from the wall and back to stand in front of the Beast. "You escape, you die, brilliant!" He beamed. "But that's just the body." He quickly added, the Beast still staring at him in curiosity, despite its low growling. "The body is trapped, that's all. You see, the Devil is an idea. In all those civilizations, its just an idea. But an idea is hard to kill. An idea can escape." His eyes squinted at the Beast. "The mind." He deducted. "The mind of the great Beast. The mind can escape…" The Doctor trailed off for a few moments before his eyes widened and he laughed. "Oh, but that's it!" He beamed. "You didn't give me air, you jailors did! They set this up all those years ago!" He deducted. "For they need me alive. Because if you're escaping, then I've got to stop you!" He exclaimed and the Beast, whether to mirror his own mood or in mocking fear, roared at him as he grabbed a large stone from the floor of the cave and moved up to one of the urns. "If I destroy your prison, your body is destroyed. Your mind with it." He raised the stone above his head, keeping his hard glare on the Beast. However, he faltered. The Beast was staring at him in what seemed like the ghost of a taunting, "Go on then". That made the Doctor rethink it and he dropped the stone back to the ground and placed his hands on either side of the urn, his glare fading into a dull look. "But then you're clever enough to use this whole system against me." He said with a slouch. "If I destroy this planet, I destroy the gravity field. And even if my friends up there are already in the rocket, they will still be vulnerable. It will lose protection and fall into the Black Hole. I would have to sacrifice them. I would have to sacrifice Clara." The Beast started to laugh heartfully and tauntingly at him and the Doctor clenched his jaw, walking back to stand in between the two urns. "So that's the trap. Or the test or the final judgment, I don't know." He shrugged dismissively. "But if I kill you, I kill her." The Beast laughed again, finishing with a taunting growl towards the Doctor. However, the Doctor started to smile mischievously to himself and placed his hands together behind his back. "Except that implies that in this big grand scheme of gods and devils, that she is just a victim." The Doctor shook his head. "But I've seen a lot of this universe. I've seen fake gods and bad gods and demi gods and would be gods and out of all that, out of that whole pantheon, if I believe in one thing, just one thing…I believe in her!" The Doctor then picked up the rock again, raised it above his head and brought it down onto one of the urns, smashing it into pieces. The planet started to shake violently around him, the very rocks of the cave starting to come down in small, scattered rain around him and he dashed over to the final urn and smashed it to pieces, the Beast roaring in protest as he did. Then, with a dash of flaring victory, he tossed the rock back down to the ground and glared at the Beast. "This is your freedom! Free to die!" The Doctor taunted. "You're going into that Black Hole and I'm riding with you!"

The Beast started to shake and rattle against its chains in furious protest, and, surprisingly to the Doctor, started to spit fire out from its mouth and its own veins lightning up to match the scorching light, but all the Doctor did was grin and taunt it even further.

* * *

The rocket started to suddenly shake and rumble violently around them, causing Rose and Danny to grasp the side of the room to brace themselves, while Toby was left grasping his own chair. "What happened?! What was that?!" Danny demanded.

"What's he doing?! What is he doing?!" Toby demanded.

"We've lost the funnel! Gravity collapse!" Zach reported.

"What does that mean?!" Rose demanded.

"We can't escape! We're heading straight for the Black Hole!" True enough to his word, the ship started to spin around until the Black Hole was brought back into their sights again and they helplessly started to be pulled towards it, but the flying of the ship kept making the Black Hole disappear and reappear in their field of vision.

Rose looked out of her side window to see the shaking planet starting to move with them towards the Black Hole. "It's the planet. The planet's moving. It's falling." Rose muttered, moving back dejectedly into her seat as she turned to glance at Toby. But Toby's form had brought back the unnerving symbols and the glaring red eyes, making her jump back in shock.

 **"I am the rage and the bile and the ferocity!"**  Toby exclaimed in his modulated voice that attracted Danny to look at him, who then jumped back with a gasp in his seat.

"It's Toby! Zach, do something! Just do something!" Rose yelled.

**"I am the prince and the fall and the enemy!"**

"Zach, it's him!" Danny yelled, attracting Zach's attention, whose eyes widened as he saw Toby's possessed form. "It's him! It's him!"

**"I am the sin and the fear and the darkness!"**

"Stay where you are, the ship's not stable!" Zach ordered. Toby suddenly unhinged his jaw and a gout of flame burst out of his mouth, shocking the three in complete astonishment. "What is he?! What the hell is he?!" Zach demanded.

**"I shall never die! The thought of me is forever! In the bleeding hearts of men, in their vanity and obsession and lust! Nothing shall ever destroy me! Nothing!"**

Rose acted quickly, grabbing the bolt gun and aimed it at the front glass. "Go to hell." She growled and fired, the bolt shattering the glass into pieces and the air started to rush out of the room and into space. Rose then released Toby from his seat belt and without it to restrain him, he was sent flying into space, exclaiming in rage as he was dragged away by the Black Hole.

"Emergency shield!" Zach yelled, pressing a button on the console above his head to slide up a dark grey glass, stopping the rushing air and allowing them to briefly relax before they returned their attention back to the oncoming Black Hole. "We've still lost the gravity funnel. We can't escape the Black Hole!"

"But we stopped him." Rose added. "It's what my friends would have done."

"Some victory." Zach quipped dryly. "We're going in."

* * *

The Beast continued fruitless to rage and rattle and shake against its chains, writhing in rageful agony as it was consumed in its own fire. The Doctor raced away through the cave before a sudden shake and a burst of smoke sent him flying against a panel of blue wood, making him groan. Then, his eyes widened, and he looked above him to see it standing there. The box. His home. Clara's home. He beamed, and he laughed with such glee and relief, especially when the door was immediately opened by the TARDIS itself and he sprang inside.

* * *

"The planet's lost orbit." Danny said grimly. "It's falling into the Black Hole." He glanced over at Rose as the red emergency lights flared and blared in the cockpit. "I'm sorry." He said earnestly.

"We did our best." Zach added.

"It's not your fault." Rose reassured.

"But hey…first Human beings to fall inside a Black Hole, that's…how about that?" He quipped and the two gave a small smirk at it. "History."

The ship continued to rattle and shake as they got closer to the Black Hole and as they reached its outer horizon, it stopped. It all stopped. The ship stopped moving, completely suspended in space and the alarms quickly shut themselves off. "What happened?" Rose asked as her, Danny and Zach stared at each other in bewilderment.

The ship started to turn around and move away from the Black Hole. "We're…turning." Zach blinked. "We're turning around. We're turning away? How-"

Static flared through the room before a single voice sent joyful relief through their veins.  _"Sorry about the hijack, Captain, this is the good ship TARDIS."_ The Doctor beamed, and Rose grinned.  _"Now, first things first, have you got a Rose Tyler on board?"_

"I'm here! It's me!" Rose exclaimed. "Oh my god! Where are you?! Have you got Clara?!"

_"Oh I'm just towing you home. Gravity schmavity. My people practically invented Black Holes. Well…in fact they did. Speaking of Clara, she is perfectly fine."_

"Oh, thank god." Rose beamed.

_"In a couple of minutes, we'll be nice and safe. Oh and Captain, can we do a swap? Say, if you give me Rose Tyler, I'll give you Ida Scott. How about that?"_

"She's alive?!" Zach exclaimed.

 _"Yeah."_  The Doctor said obviously. Zach and Danny started to laugh in relief at his words.  _"She, rather like Clara, had a bit of oxygen starvation but they both will be all right."_ Then his tone went suddenly somber.  _"I couldn't save the Ood. I only had time for one trip. They went down with the planet."_ Danny and Zach checked the readings and they could indeed tell that in their conversation with the Doctor, they had missed the planet falling and disintegrating into the Black Hole. A loud ringing sound was heard, and the Doctor clicked his tongue.  _"Ah. Entering clear space, end of the line, mission closed-ah."_

A couple of minutes did indeed pass by before the TARDIS stopped towing the rocket and then materialized within the hull of the ship. The Doctor carried the unconscious Ida out and into Danny's arms, all the while said man stared at the box in complete astonishment. Rose then shrugged at him before she bounded over and wrapped the Doctor in a hug. "Oh! Good to see you!" She beamed.

"You too." He returned before they parted. "Come on, gotta be there for Clara." He quickly said, and they entered the TARDIS to see Clara groaning as she woke up, standing up from the Captain's seat and glancing at her surroundings in some puzzlement. "Ah, you up now?" The Doctor asked as he stepped up to Clara.

"Doctor, what…" Clara trailed off as the recent events came back to her and her eyes slowly widened, but the Doctor took it as a different meaning.

"See?" He beamed. "I told you I'd be back-"

Clara interrupted by smacking him across the face, making him blink in confusion at her. She smacked him again and again and before the Doctor could deduce it all, she sniffed and blinked back a tear. "How dare you." Her voice broke.

"Clara, I'm sorry." He said earnestly, and she allowed him to wrap her in a hug, burying her face into his chest.

"Please don't do that again. Please." She whimpered as he stroked her hair.

The Doctor kissed her head before nuzzling his head against hers. "I promise. Okay?" He asked, and Clara nodded. He gave her a warm smile before pressing a kiss against her lips. "You all right now?" He asked.

Clara nodded and gave him a small smile. "Yeah, I am now."

He bopped her nose with his finger. "Told you so."

Clara blinked. "Did you just-"

"Yes. Your nose was too cute to avoid it." He purred, and she blushed.

"Stop it."

"I'd agree with that but not for the same reason." Rose interjected, and the couple parted. Rose and Clara shared a beaming grin. "Come here." Rose ushered, and Clara wrapped her in a hug. "Good to have you back."

"You too." Clara returned before they parted and moved over to the console as the Doctor reinitiated the com link with the rocket.

 _"I don't know."_ Ida muttered. _"I…I can't remember."_

 _"Well, it looked like a box."_  Danny said, and the TARDIS trio had to hide their sniggers behind their hands.

 _"What do you mean, "A box"?"_  Zach asked.

 _"Down in the hold. A big blue box."_  Danny said obviously.  _"It just appeared. I don't know."_

"Zach?" The Doctor interrupted, and they could hear the crew jump with a small gasp, which made them snigger. "We'll be off now. Have a good trip home. And the next time you get curious about something-oh." He stopped himself with a roll of his eyes. "What's the point, you'll just go blundering in. The Human race." He jabbed.

"Watch it." Rose defended.

 _"But Doctor, what did you find down there?"_  Ida asked.  _"That creature, what was it?"_

The Doctor shrugged dismissively. "I don't know. Never did decipher that writing. But that's good." He added. "The day I know everything, might as well stop."

"What do you think it was, really?" Clara asked.

"I think…we beat it. That's good enough for me."

"It said I wouldn't be there when you'd need me the most." Clara pointed out.

"And that was a big load of bull if I ever heard it." The Doctor retorted.

"It said I was gonna die in battle." Rose interrupted grimly.

The Doctor and Clara shot each other sad looks before glancing at Rose. "Then it lied." The Doctor said, earning a small smile from Rose. "Right, onwards, upwards. Ida, see you again maybe." The Doctor said to the crew.

 _"I hope so."_  Ida returned.

"And thanks boys!" Rose called.

_"Hang on though, Doctor. You never really said. You three, who are you?"_

"Oh…" The TARDIS trio shot each other bright grins, "the stuff of legend." The Doctor said after a moment for obvious dramatic pause before motioning for Clara to pull the dematerialization lever.

 _"This is the final report of Sanctuary Base 6."_  Zach said as the Doctor hovered his hand over the button to cut off the com connection.  _"Officer Tobias Zed, deceased, with honors. 43k 2.1. Also, Ood 1 Alpha 1, deceased, with honors. Ood 1 Alpha 2, deceased, with honors."_

The Doctor pressed the button and cut off the connection, deep in thought over the Beast's words. He didn't believe its words about Clara for the life of him but Rose? He hoped that Rose wouldn't actually die in battle, because she was his and Clara's friend. She would be fine. Wouldn't she?

**AN: DUN DUN DUNNN! I've said it already but goddammit I love this two parter. It was my favorite, until "Heaven Sent" was released. Still, ugh, Rose's time is getting close and I'm so not ready. But still, I'm looking forward to the next episode. It's not the greatest episode but I still think it has quite a bit of fun with it and ends in a rather cheesy manner, but that will all be for next time.**

**Also, side note, since Series 11 has come to an end, I can say that I love Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor and her new TARDIS fam-I mean gang-I mean team. One of my favorite moments of this season was the end of "The Ghost Monument". No spoilers in case you haven't seen it, but its just so heartwarming and endearing and Jodie just sold it for me, even though I was on with her as the Doctor from the first episode. It's also one of my favorite episodes of that season, including the first and the "Demons in the Punjab" and the creepy spiders one. Also Alan Cumming as King James was one of the funniest performances I've ever seen, talking about "Saten!". Also is it me or is something up with all those heart eyes that 13 and Yas keep sharing? Hmmm…(¬_¬)…new pairing, eh?! XD Anyway, as always, thanks for reading and leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	39. Fear Her

**AN: Tee hee hee. If you thought I was referencing "Love & Monsters" last time, well…I wasn't. XD That chapter has actually been moved to another point in this timeline. As for where and how I'll be doing it, well…you'll have to wait and see. ;) Anyway, past that little note, on with the chapter.**

**Fear Her**

**Dame Kelly Holmes Close, Stratford  
** 26th July 2012

Closing the door to her brown bricked, two story home, Trish, a dark-skinned woman of 37 years, dressed in a cream three button shirt with black jeans, walked to the front of her driveway to place a large red rubbish bag onto the ground, where it will sit for a while until the rubbish truck came down the street. Moving to stand in front of her, staring in fearful scrutiny around the street was Maeve, an elderly lady with white hair, wearing a blue jacket, blue button up shirt, blue track pants and trailing a blue roller bag. "Maeve? Are you okay?" Trish asked, blinking curiously at Maeve's squinting eyes.

Maeve spared her one glance but still kept looking around the street. "No, love, I'm not."

Trish's gaze darted from side to side in confusion. "You want me to call a doctor?"

Maeve scoffed. "A doctor can't help."

"So…what's the matter?" Trish asked.

"Can't…" She trailed off before sighing, turning around to gaze at her properly. "Can't you feel it, Trish?" She asked.

Trish shook her head. "Can't feel anything."

Maeve turned to look across the small street, seeing two boys, a blonde in a yellow shirt and a dark-haired boy in a shirt made after the British Flag, playing football in their front yard while the Dad of the flag boy was cleaning his small red and silver car nearby. "Boys, get indoors!" Maeve called, moving across the street without her bag, trying to usher the smiling yet puzzled children into the house. "Get inside! Get them inside!"

The Dad, Zack, blinked. "What's up with you? They haven't done nothing wrong." He said, putting his sponge into the bucket momentarily.

"It's happening again!" Maeve said.

Trish turned back to her house to the upstairs window, seeing the silhouette of her daughter, Chloe, staring with blank eyes and a hand against the glass into the street.  _Oh please, no. Not again._  Trish blinked, moving back into the house and closing the front door, pressing her back against it.  _How am I supposed to tell her to stop? She won't listen to me. I don't even know how she's doing it, or why._ She mentally whimpered.

 _"They're not safe!"_  Maeve called, her voice slightly muffled by the closed door of Trish's house.

 _"They're in the garden!"_  Zack argued.

_"That's what it likes! It likes it when they're playing! Get them in, I'm begging you!"_

" _Kookaburra sits in the old gum tre_ e." Chloe hummed to herself upstairs. The song felt like a painful stab in the heart to Trish, since that song was what helped Chloe to sleep whenever…well…her father was alive, at least. But now, it almost felt practically insulting, as if Chloe was resenting her, and Trish still didn't know why. " _Merry, merry king of the bush is he. Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh. Kookaburra, gay your life must be._ "

 _"All right, I've got my beady eyes on them."_  Zack said, obviously trying to usher Maeve away.  _"Come on."_

 _"No!"_  Maeve cried, and Trish knew that it wasn't to Zack.

 _"T-Tom?"_  Zack asked, Trish already figuring out what happened to Tom, the kid wearing the flag shirt.  _"Where's he gone?"_

 _"What are you?!"_  Maeve cried into the street.  _"What do you want with our children?!"_

" _Merry, merry of the king is he. Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh. Kookaburra, gay your life must be._ "

27th July 2012

The TARDIS materialized with a slow thud between two large blue steel containers and the doors opened. "Ah." The Doctor's voice muttered before he closed the doors. Then, the TARDIS started to dematerialize before reappearing, still in the same spot but now with the doors properly exposed, which swiftly opened. "Ah!" The Doctor beamed, moving out of the TARDIS with Clara at his side as Rose followed behind, closing the doors as she did. Clara had comfortably changed back into her "Teacher" outfit while Rose wore a blue Levi jacket, a yellow Diesel shirt, dark blue Topshop trousers and a brown Diesel belt.

"Took you long enough." Clara teased as she took his hand.

"Oi! I know how to pilot my TARDIS, thank you very much." He whined.

""Basic mode"." Clara reminded with a mischievous smile.

"Stop it." He warned.

"So, near future, yeah?" Rose interrupted, making them spin around with a jump, as they saw Rose standing by a temporary wooden wall, looking at advertisements for a new musical album.

"Well…I had a passing fancy. Only, it didn't pass, it stopped." The Doctor quipped lightly as they walked off into the nearby street named "Dame Kelly Holmes Close". "Now, look at that!" The Doctor beamed, looking at an Olympics banner hung between two houses, saying "London 2012". "30th Olympiad." The Doctor proclaimed.

"No way!" Rose beamed. "Why didn't either of you think of this before?! That's great!"

Clara rolled her eyes a bit while the Doctor chuckled. "Only seems like yesterday. A few naked Greek blokes were tossing a discus about, wrestling with each other in the sand and crowds stood around, bai-no, wait a minute. That was Club Med." The Doctor quipped, bumping Clara with his shoulder. Clara bumped him back and he wrapped an arm around her with a grin. "Just in time for the opening doo-dah, ceremony tonight. Thought you'd like that." He said to Clara.

Clara giggled. "I do like it." She confirmed.

"Last one they had in London was dynamite. Wembley, 1948, I loved it so much, I went back and watched it all over again. And…the fella carrying the torch…" He trailed off with a frown, "lovely chap. What was his…Mark? John Mark?" He muttered, scratching his cheek beside his ear. "Legs like pipe cleaners, but strong as a whippet."

"Doctor." Rose called from behind them, but they kept walking as if they didn't hear her.

"And in those days, everyone had a tea party to go to."

"Clara!"

"Did you ever have those little cakes with the…crunchy ball bearings on top?"

"It's been a while, but I did." Clara said before frowning. "Oh, now you've got me hungry for sweets." She whined, and the Doctor laughed.

"You two should really look at this!" Rose called with a growl and they turned around to walk back to Rose, who was standing by a grey lamp post beside an orange brick wall that had four paper posts on it.

"Did you know that nobody else in this entire galaxy has ever even bothered to make edible ball bearings. Genius!" He beamed but it quickly melted away into a frown which Clara quickly mirrored as they stood beside Rose. The three paper posts were about missing children, "Danny", "Dale", "Jane" and "Tom". "What's taking them, do you think?" The Doctor asked. "Snatching children from a thoroughly ordinary street like this."

"And why is it so cold?" Clara muttered with a shiver, making the Doctor rub her arms. "Is someone reducing the temperature?" It was indeed cold, colder than London usually was.

"It says they all went missing this week." Rose said, still looking at the posts. "Why would a person do something like this?"

"What makes you think it's a person?" Clara asked.

They heard a front door open, turning around to see a woman walking out with a terrified expression as she placed a red trash bag down at the front of her drive way before quickly, almost running, back into her house and sharply closing the door. "Whatever it is, it's got the whole street scared to death." Rose muttered. "What do you reckon?" She asked but received no answer. "Clara?" She turned around, seeing the Doctor and Clara down at the other end of the street and Rose rolled her eyes. "Of course." She muttered before starting to walk down the street towards them. She walked past a white van on the other side of the road, its boot open clearly showing lots of hand and power tools inside as a dark-skinned man in a blue uniform with a green hi-vis vest was placing a large brown broom back inside. Rose also saw a small red and black car with a white top coming down the street towards them, before slowing down to a sudden halt. The driver tries to start it, but only gets the sound of engine grinds, causing the worker to roll his eyes as he walks over to the car.

"There you go. Fifth today." He remarked to the driver. "That's not natural, is it?"

The driver shrugged. "Don't know what happened. I had it serviced less than a month ago."

The worker shook his head. "Nah, don't even try and explain it, mate. All the cars are doing it, and you know what? Its bonkers. Bonkers. Come on then, pal. I'll help you shift it." He said, and the driver got out of the car to stand by his closed door while the worker braced himself against the boot of the car. "Quicker you're on the way, happier you'll be." They both breathed and panted as they slowly, inch by merciless inch, pushed the car forward in the hope that it will start it up. "There we go." The worker muttered amidst his panting.

"Do you want a hand?" Rose asked.

The worker shook his head, even though the strain of it was obvious on his face. "No, we're all right, love." He breathed.

Rose shook her head and moved up beside him. "But you're not. I'm tougher than I look, honest. Come on." She nudged, and he begrudgingly moved aside to let her brace herself against the boot of the car. The three of them pushed and shoved through their panting against the car until it gave a sudden start and a jolt, sending the worker stumbling to the ground while Rose hobbled about to maintain her balance as the car throttled back to life again.

"Cheers, mate." The driver said, hopping back into his car and driving off as the worker and Rose gave him a wave.

"Does this happen a lot?" Rose asked as they regained their breaths.

"Been doing it all week."

"Since those children started going missing?"

The worker blinked with a shrug. "Yeah. I suppose so." He turned to walk back to his van, so Rose moved to follow him. "I mean…every car, and I mean EVERY car cuts out. The Council are going nuts. They've given this the street the works, renamed it. I've been tarmacking every pothole." He said, placing a hand on his chest with obvious pride that made Rose snigger. They stopped in front of the van where a small patch of smooth charcoal black lay in the road. "Look at that. Beauty, isn't it? Yep, and all this is because that Olympic Torch comes right by the end of this Close. Just down there." He pointed behind him to the end of the street. "Everything's got to be perfect, right? Only…it isn't."

"It takes them when they're playing." Maeve interrupted, making them blink just a tiny bit in shock before Rose frowned.

"What takes them?" She asked.

"Danny, Jane, Dale, Tommy, snatched in the blink of an eye."

"We are police officers!" The Doctor called, making Rose blink as she saw him and Clara backing away from Zack. "That's what we are. We've got a badge and a…police car. See? We can prove it, just hold on." The Doctor reached into his pockets for his psychic paper.

"We've had plenty of coppers poking around here and the both of you don't look or sound like any of them." Zack accused.

"And we have a colleague." Clara said, nudging Rose as they moved to stand beside her and the worker.

"Lewis." The Doctor added, Rose briefly blinking before shrugging at the name.

Zack scoffed. "She looks less like a copper than you do."

"Training. New recruit." Clara quickly said. "It was either that, hairdressing or cheerleading, so-"

"Don't." Rose warned as the Doctor held up his psychic paper.

"See? Voila!" The Doctor beamed.

"What are you going to do?" Trish asked, stepping up from the driveway of her house.

"The police have knocked on every door, looked everywhere, appealed on TV. No clues, no leads, nothing." Maeve said.

"Well, kids do run off sometimes." Trish shrugged. "That's what they do. The coppers will find them."

Rose blinked.  _That's a weird response. And not in a good way. More like a…frightened way._

"I saw it with me own eyes." Maeve said to Trish. "Dale Hicks in Zack's garden, playing with his Tommy and then…" She let her eyes widen and blink for a few moments to echo how she felt yesterday. "Right in front of me, he was gone, like he was never there. You're all too scared to face the truth. There's no need to look any further than this street, it's right here amongst us."

"Why don't we-"

"Why don't we start with him?!" Zack interrupted the Doctor, pointing an accusing finger at the worker. "There's been all sorts like you, Kel, working in this street, day and night."

"Fixing things up for the Olympics!" Kel defended.

"Yeah and taking an awful long time about it." Zack retorted.

Maeve scoffed. "It's nothing to do with the Council."

"And for the record, I've been interviewed by the old bill twice this week." Kel added.

"I'm of the opinion that all we've got to do-"

"What you just said, that's slander!" Kel retorted, interrupting a now pouting Doctor.

"I don't care what it is, my son is missing!" Zack growled.

"I think we need to just-"

"I want an apology from you!" Kel retorted.

"Stop picking on him." Maeve said to Zack.

"Yeah, stop picking on me!" Kel reiterated.

"And stop pretending to be blind. It's evil." Maeve continued.

Zack scoffed. "I don't believe in evil. Only people who are messed up in the head."

"Oh no, you just believe in tarmackers with sack loads of kidnapped kiddies in their van." Kel said sarcastically.

"That's not what he's saying." Trish muttered.

"Would you stop ganging up on me?!"

"Are you feeling guilty, are you?!" Zack growled.

"Shut up!" Clara roared. "All of you, shut the fuck up!"

Everyone blinked. "But-"

"Be quiet!" Clara snapped at Zack. "Fingers on your lips! Now! Do it!" She ordered. Everyone hesitantly followed suit, including a now calmer yet stunned Zack and an impressed Rose.

"Thank you." The Doctor said to Clara.

"Ah, ah." Clara tutted, and he quickly muttered a "Sorry" before following suit. "Now, in the last six days, three of your children have been stolen. Snatched out of thin air, right?" Everyone nodded. "Now, that will either mean that a someone actually stole your children or a something did. You can't go around accusing anyone and everyone unless you observe everything." Clara said calmly.

A moment of silence followed before Maeve gave a small clearing of her throat. "Can I?" She asked, and Clara nodded. "Look around you." She said, motioning to the whole street. "This was a safe street till it came. I'll definitely say it if no one else will, it's not a person, it is most certainly a THING. Maybe you three are coppers, maybe you're not. I don't care who you are, can you please help us?" Maeve asked.

"Yes." Clara said simply. "Now, all we ask is you remain calm and inside your houses. Kel, stay by your van. Do not come out into the open, no matter what. Okay?" The people nodded, and Clara sighed. "All right then. Off you pop." She said gently, and they quickly dispersed to their houses. Once they had disappeared inside them, Clara breathed out loudly, turning to a smirking Doctor. "I'll say I think that went rather well." She quipped lightly.

"Proud of you." The Doctor said, giving her a brief kiss before they looked at Rose, who was staring distantly at the empty 2nd floor window of Trish's house. "Rose?"

Rose jumped a bit and shook her head slightly. "Sorry. Day dreaming there a bit. Right, where shall we start?" She asked.

"Front garden of Zack's house. That's where we were before we were rudely interrupted." The Doctor explained, and they moved to stand on the empty lawn.

"Now, stand right here." Clara motioned to Rose by the football goal.

"Woah." Rose muttered, feeling a sort of tingling sensation wash over her suddenly.

"See? Odd, isn't it?" Clara mused, pulling Rose out of the spot. They almost jumped as the Doctor appeared beside them, sniffling in the air. "You need a tissue?" Clara quipped.

"Can you smell it?" The Doctor asked. Clara and Rose started to breath through their nose before quickly blinking. "What does it remind you of?"

"Umm…" Clara stuttered. "Uh…sort of…uh…metal?" She said finally.

"Mm-hmm." The Doctor nodded, and Clara giggled. "Come on, there's another spot." He ushered, waving a hand to the confused Zack as he walked with them to a small walkway behind the houses. "Danny Edwards cycled in one end but never came out the other." The Doctor informed as they walked down it. "Woah!" He said suddenly with a stop, causing Clara to bump into his back. "There it goes again!" He said, holding out his hand, the hairs on it standing up on end. "Look at the hairs on the back of my manly, hairy hand." He quipped.

"It's a nice hand." Clara flirted, putting her hand in his.

"No flirting while I'm around, please, thank you." Rose groaned, starting to sniff. "There's that smell." She muttered. "It's like a, um…burnt fuse plug or something."

The Doctor, with Clara's hand in his, led the three back out of the walkway and into the street. "There's a residual energy in the spots where the kids vanished. Whatever it was, it used an awful lot of power to do this."

* * *

Trish paced back and forth in her living room, absentmindedly biting her nail amidst the tense silence in the house.  _I need to try to get through to her. Maybe she'll start to listen._

_No, she won't! She never has, so why would she do it now?_

_Because I'm scared!_  Trish suddenly stopped, taking a deep breath with her face in her hands.  _I'm scared for her._  She admitted before sighing aloud and moving out of the room, up the stairs and knocking on her daughter's bedroom door. "Chloe?" She asked, opening the door slowly to see her small, 12-year-old daughter, dressed in a purple t-shirt and a pair of black trousers, hunched over her desk and drawing away with a pencil. "You have to come down sometime, Chloe."

"I'm busy, Mum." Chloe muttered, still drawing away.

Trish sighed, moving softly into the room. The wall beside Chloe was covered in used colored papers, all which bore drawings of all kinds on it, from the fantastic to the mundane. "Look at it in here. You must've used up half a rainforest." Trish quipped lightly. Moving to stand behind Chloe, she looked down to see three sheets of paper, all of which bore, to her frightened yet unsurprised knowledge, the three missing children. One had Dale, along with the outline of what seemed to be a ginger cat. "That's Dale." Trish said, gently taking the paper from Chloe to look closer at it. Dale's expression was slouched and dejected, gazing off into some kind of distance sadly. "Why did you draw him so sad?"

"I didn't draw him like that." Chloe said, finally lifting her face up to look at Trish. She, despite everything that had happened, was perfectly yet strangely calm. "Dale made himself sad, so I'm going to draw him a friend." Chloe held out a hand for the paper and Trish reluctantly gave it back to her. "That's what he needs. More friends."

Trish sighed as Chloe returned to her drawing, so she decided on a different approach. "Have you seen the TV?" She asked, sitting down on the bed. "Today is the final lap of the Torch, and it'll pass right by our street. Then, they'll light the Olympic Flame in the Stadium and the whole world will be looking at our city. Doesn't that make you feel part of something?" Trish asked. Chloe didn't respond, and Trish's smile faded. "Sweetheart." Chloe still didn't respond, and Trish gulped. "Chloe."

"I'm busy, Mum." Chloe said simply.

"Chloe." Trish said softly. "I…I heard you calling out again last night."

"It's fine." Chloe shrugged.

"Nightmares? Chloe, whatever they are, they're just dreams, you do know that? They can't hurt you." Chloe didn't respond again. "Chloe-"

"I'm busy." Chloe interrupted. "Unless you want me to draw you, Mum." Chloe warned without glancing at her.

Trish's eyes widened, and she stood up from the bed. "If you want to stay cooped up in here, fine." Trish said but her words bore no bite as she walked out of the room, closing the door as she did. Once she walked downstairs to be alone, she let a sniff out, holding a hand over her mouth. "My baby." She cried quietly.

* * *

"Aren't you a beautiful boy?!" Rose beamed suddenly as they walked through the street.

Clara and the Doctor shot each other bewildered looks until they saw Rose moving up to a ginger cat, sitting on the sidewalk. "That makes more sense." The Doctor said.

Rose petted the cat, which gave a delightful meow to her as she glanced at the couple. The Doctor was frowning while Clara gave a jealous expression to Rose. "What?" Rose asked.

"I like cats too." Clara said. Then, she let her jealous expression drop into a dreamy look. "Still, no one beats George." She said.

"Who?"

"George."

"Who's "George"?"

"The clockwork squirrel in our library. We called him "George"." Rose gave a "Oh" expression at that while Clara shrugged.

"I thought about calling him "Dash"." The Doctor inputted, still frowning at the cat. "But I thought Clara might not appreciate the constant references to what's-her-face."

"And I don't." Clara agreed with a smirk. Her smirk faded however as she saw the Doctor's expression. "What?" She asked.

He shook his head with a slight shiver. "I'm not really a cat person anymore." He admitted. "Once you've been threatened by one in a nun's wimple, it kind of takes the joy out of it."

Clara just gave him a soft look. "I'm sure I can convert you back." She said.

He blinked. "Even with George?"

Clara giggled. "Even with George." She confirmed.

"Oi! You two!" Rose called, ushering them over with a frown. They moved over to Rose, who was squatting down beside a large, open cardboard box.

The Doctor went to pick it up and immediately recoiled. "Whoa!" He exclaimed. "Hoo hoo hoo hoo! Iron residue! Blimey! Hoo!"

Clara picked up the box and observed it. "Did the cat come in here?" She asked Rose.

"Yeah and…well, you know the rest."

"That takes some doing, all just to snatch some living organism out of space and time." The Doctor commented. "This baby is just like "I'm having some of that!" Admittedly, I'm a bit impressed, but also far too curious."

"So, the cat's been transported?" Rose asked.

The Doctor shrugged. "Whatever it is, it can harness huge reserves of ionic power. We need to find the source of that power. Find the source and you will find…" The Doctor spun around, glancing at the street with a frown, "whatever has taken to stealing children and fluffy animals. See what you can see." He said, grabbing Clara's hand to lead her with him.

"Keep those beads peeled, Lewis!" Clara called, and Rose gave a small two finger salute as they walked off.

Rose gave a small sigh as the couple moved off to gaze at some other houses nearby.  _Time to play hide and seek with…whatever is doing this-_

***BANG***

Rose almost jumped as a nearby garage door was whacked by something on the other side. The loud force, or whatever it was, banged again, and the garage door rattled forward just enough to let Rose know that the door was unlocked but whatever was inside still couldn't get out. "Is that you, pussy cat? Are you trapped?" Rose called, and the only answer was another loud bang. "Okay, Rose, it's obviously not the cat." She muttered to herself with a small eyeroll as a large metal lid rolled around inside the garage before spinning on the ground right to a stop. "Okay, not gonna open it. Not gonna open it." Rose muttered but her fingers twitched and tingled in irresistible curiosity and before she knew what she was doing, she grasped the latch on the door, twisted it and heaved it up and open. Almost as if on cue, a large, blurry mass of fizzing black, hissing with static electricity, dove out of the garage and knocked Rose flat on her back.

"Rose!"

"Stay still!" The mass stopped, hovered in the air for a second, then it twitched and instantly shrank into a small ball the size of a cat scratch ball and it fell into Rose's grasp, cold and…stringy? The feeling felt rather weird to Rose, but she didn't contemplate it as Clara dove in front of her and grasped her arms, hauling her back up to her feet. "You all right?" Clara asked as the Doctor moved up beside them, his sonic still in his hand.

"Yeah." Rose nodded with a thankful smile. "Cheers."

"No probs." Clara shrugged. "Doctor did all the work." She added, gazing down at the small black lump in Rose's grasp.

"All I did was flash out my wand and cast a spell." The Doctor shrugged and then the three instantly got disgusted faces. "Okay, that right there without the right context sounds…" He shook his head with a shiver.

"Yeah, okay, moving on." Rose quickly said, and Clara nodded.

"Know what this is?" Clara asked the Doctor.

"Nope." He quickly answered. "You?"

"Nope. Rose?"

"Nope. All I know is that you just killed it." Rose said.

The Doctor shook his head. "Nah, it was never living. It's animated by energy." He said as he took it out of Rose's grasp to look at it closer, ever so slightly squinting his eyes. "The same energy that's snatching people." He tossed it up a bit before he caught it with a grin. "That is so dinky!" He beamed. "The go anywhere creature. Fits in your pocket, makes friends, impresses the boss, breaks the ice at parties." He commented, making Clara shake her head. "Come on, let's go have a closer look at it."

* * *

Entering the TARDIS, the Doctor pulled the monitor over, took out the small black mass and placed it into a small circular mesh in the console. The monitor started to show three symbols in Gallifreyan that spun around and around as the Doctor took out his "Brainy Specs". "Oh, here we go. Let's have a look." He said as the symbols stopped moving and came together with a click, which, too Clara and Rose's puzzlement, made his jaw drop. "Get out of here." He muttered.

"What does it say?" Clara asked.

Instead of answering the question, the Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out a pencil. Then, he took the small mass and rubbed the eraser over it for a few moments. The action caused some of the mass to blur and smudge away into nothing. "It is." The Doctor said, briefly blowing on it to remove some of the particles of smudged pencil. "It's Graphite." He said. "Basically the same material as an H.B Pencil."

Clara's eyebrows raised while Rose's furrowed. "I was attacked by a…pencil scribble?"

"Scribble creature." The Doctor corrected. "Brought into being with ionic energy." He took off and pocketed his "Brainy Specs". "So, whatever we're dealing with, it can create things as well as take them." He quickly furrowed his eyebrows. "But…why make a scribble creature?"

"It could've been a mistake." Clara offered. "It's what children do when they make a mistake while drawing. They'll just scribble over it to cover it up." The Doctor nodded at that.

"Wait…" Rose muttered, which instantly drew their attention.

"What?" They asked.

Rose blinked to herself for a few moments before clicking her finger at them. "You said it was in the street. Everyone did."

"Most likely, yeah." Clara agreed.

Rose shrugged. "Well…the girl." She said obviously.

"Of course!" The Doctor and Clara beamed before they quickly shook their heads. "Nope, don't get it." They said in unison, turning their attention back to a mildly frustrated yet amused Rose. "What girl?"

Rose's eyebrows furrowed. "I don't know, just…something about her gave me the creeps. Even her own Mum looked scared of her."

The Doctor and Clara shot each other an impressed look. "Rose, did you just deduct something important?" Clara asked.

Rose smirked. "I think I did. Permission to follow up?" The couple giggled, for they didn't even need to answer that.

* * *

The doorbell rang again, making Trish draw her breath. She could tell through the glass of the front door that the people behind was the odd trio from earlier, who wanted to help with the missing children. But Trish just couldn't admit about her daughter, because even if she did, no one would believe her. One of them, who looked like they wore a long brown overcoat, raised their fist and knocked on the door. So, Trish, with a sigh that bore some shaky fear, steadied herself and moved to open the door, seeing indeed the odd trio on the other side, all bearing bright beaming smiles at her.

"Hello! I'm Clara." The short yet very pretty lady greeted. "This is the Doctor and Rose." The pair with her waved in turn. "Can we see your daughter?" She asked.

Trish shook her head. "No, you can't-"

"Okay." Clara interrupted with a shrug. "Bye." She waved and the three turned around.

Trish blinked at their sudden words. "Why?" She blurted unconsciously, inwardly cursing herself for doing so as the trio turned around to look at her.

"Well…" Clara started, "there's some interesting stuff going on in this street and we just thought that she might like to give us a hand."

"Sorry to bother you." The Doctor quickly added.

"Yeah, sorry. We'll let you get on with things…on your own. Bye again!" Clara beamed, and the trio turned around to leave.

Trish blinked.  _They DO know about her! But…not in a…well…a bad way, like some creepy government officials._  "Wait!" She blurted, making them once again stop to turn to look at her. "Can you help her?" She asked.

Clara's smile turned from bright and bubbly to a soft, warm smile. "Yes, we can." She nodded.

Trish quickly smiled in relief. "Please, come in." She said, and the trio moved to enter the house, going into her living room and she motioned for them to take a seat. Rose did so while Clara and the Doctor just gave a no thanks as Clara helped the Doctor take off his overcoat and gently place it on a small sofa, all the while the TV played the news of the Olympic Torch's current position, but all of them just droned it out into background ambience.

"Now then…where do you want to start?" Clara asked Trish.

Trish gave a small sigh and wrung her hands together. "She stays in her room, most of the time. I try talking to her but…it's like…"

"Talking to a brick wall." Clara finished for her. "Unless she just wants you to leave her alone."

Trish blinked. "Yeah." She muttered.

Clara just smiled warmly. "I was a teacher." She said, and Trish quickly nodded at the reasoning.

"What about Chloe's dad?" Rose inputted. "Does he also know of-"

"Chloe's dad died a year ago." Trish said coldly.

The trio blinked at her tone. "Trish-"

"Don't be sorry." Trish said. "You wouldn't be if you knew who the bastard was."

"So, we can take it that after he died, things got better for you two? At least, for a while?" The Doctor asked.

Trish nodded. "Yes, they did."

"Well…" the Doctor beamed, "let's go and say hi."

Trish drew in a sharp, shaking breath. "I should check on her first. She might be asleep."

Clara sighed. "Why are you afraid of her, Trish?"

Trish gulped. "I want you to know before you see her that…she's really a great kid."

"I'm sure she is." Clara reassured.

"She's never been in trouble at school." Trish continued. "You should see her report from last year. A's and B's." She smiled.

Rose quickly stood up with some slight agitation. "Sorry, can I quickly use your loo?" She asked.

Trish nodded. "Go ahead." Rose quickly moved from the room. "She's in the choir. She sings in the old folks home. Any mum would be proud, you know." She trailed off into a mutter. "I…I want you to know these things before you see her because right now…she's not herself." She admitted.

The thumping of soft footsteps came down the stairs and into the kitchen, making Trish shoot them a nod about the person's identity. Her daughter, Chloe. So, the Doctor and Clara moved into the kitchen, Clara first, as they saw Chloe fishing out a bottle of milk and taking a drink. "Hello. I'm Clara Oswald. This is the Doctor." Clara greeted.

Chloe put the milk back in the fridge, closed it and turned to look at them. "I'm Chloe Webber."

"How are you, Chloe?"

"I'm busy. I'm making something." She shot Trish a rather dull look. "Aren't I, Mum?"

Trish stiffened but decided not to answer it. "And like I said, she's not been sleeping." Trish said.

"But you have been drawing, though." The Doctor inputted. "Personally, I'm rubbish." He said with a small scrunch. "Stick men are about my limit. I can do this, though." He held his left hand up, parting his fingers but keeping them pressed in pairs with his own thumb stuck out on its own. "Can you do that?" Chloe didn't answer. "No? Yes? No?" The Doctor brought his hand back down with a dejected sigh. "Blimey, they did just reboot the series a few years ago."

"They don't stop moaning." Chloe said, ignoring everything they just said.

"Chloe." Trish muttered sadly.

"I tried to help them, but they don't stop moaning." Chloe said, ignoring her Mum.

"Who don't?" The Doctor asked.

"We can be together."

"Sweetheart." Trish started forward, but Chloe glared at her.

"Don't." Chloe growled, making Trish stop her movements. The Doctor and Clara shot each other a look as Chloe's glare dulled, and she glanced back at them. "I'm busy." She said, then she moved off the counter and back to the foot of the stairs.

"Come on, Chloe." Clara called. "What's the big project you have up there?" She asked.

 _"Doctor! Clara!"_ Rose cried, making them dash past Chloe and up the stairs and into an open room, Chloe's bedroom, where Rose was standing at Chloe's opened wardrobe and being bathed in a blood red light.

 _ **"** ** _I_ 'm coming to hurt you."**_ A sinister voice called from within the wardrobe, the Doctor immediately closing it while Clara hauled Rose away by her arms.

"Look at it." Rose said, taking her eyes away from the closed doors and onto Clara's face.

"No, thank you." Clara quickly said as Trish and Chloe entered the room, while the Doctor turned to get a closer look at all the drawings on Chloe's wall, taking out his "Brainy Specs".

"What the hell was that?" Trish asked Rose.

Rose sighed, leaning back against the wardrobe doors. "A drawing. The face of a man."

"What face?" Trish asked, moving to grasp the door handles but Rose moved to cover it.

"Yeah, best not." She quickly shook her head at Trish.

Trish turned to Chloe with a frightened face. "What have you been drawing?" She asked.

"I drew him yesterday." Chloe simply said.

"Who?"

"Her dad." Clara interrupted from beside the Doctor before Chloe could speak. "Dad up and dies, family gets better, then Chloe gets nightmares and draws a picture of it. Best answer: Dad." Clara concluded.

Trish's eyes widened. "Chloe, I thought we were putting him behind us. What's the matter with you?"

"We need to stay together." Chloe simply said.

Trish nodded. "Yes, we-"

"No!" Chloe growled. "Not you. US. We need to stay together, and it'll be all right." Trish started forward, but Chloe flinched back. "Don't touch me." She warned.

A very tense silence followed before Rose spoke up. "Trish, the drawings. Have you seen what Chloe's drawings can do?"

"What?" Trish muttered. "No, of course not, they're kids pictures."

Rose shook her head. "Chloe has a power, and I don't know how, but she used it to take Danny Edwards, Dale Hicks. She's using it to snatch the kids.'

"She can't have." Trish tried to deny.

"Have you seen those drawings move?"

 _Yes!_  "I haven't seen anything."

"Yes, you have, out of the corner of your eye." The Doctor inputted, putting down the drawing of Dale and the ginger cat. Before Trish could protest, the Doctor interrupted. "Yes, you have, and then you dismissed it, because what choice do you have when you see something you can't possibly explain?"

"But she's just a child!" Trish protested.

"And you're terrified of her." The Doctor added calmly. "But there's no one to turn to cause who's going to believe the things you see out of the corner of your eye? No one…except us."

Trish blinked. "Who are you? Either of you?" She asked, flittering her gaze between him and Clara.

"We're help."

Trish stood there, contemplating for a few moments before she sighed. "Come back downstairs with me." She said, turning to Chloe. "You can come down." She offered but Chloe didn't say anything, so they decided to wordlessly leave the room. Moving down the stairs and back into the kitchen, the Doctor immediately grabbed a jar of marmalade, took off the lid, dipped two fingers into the contents and slipped them into his mouth.

"Oi!" Clara snapped, making him jump. "What are you doing?! Put that back!" She admonished.

The Doctor, with a guilty face like a caught puppy, put the lid back on the jar and replaced it back onto the kitchen counter. "Sorry." He muttered after gulping down the marmalade, using a tissue to wipe his fingers.

"Those pictures, they're alive." Rose said after a few moments. "She's drawing people and they end up in her pictures."

"Ionic energy." The Doctor said, crossing his arms. "Chloe's harnessing it to steal those kids and place them in some kind of holding pen made up of ionic power."

"And what about the dad from hell in her wardrobe?"

"How many times do I have to say it?" Trish groaned. "He's dead."

Rose shrugged. "Well, he's got a very loud voice for a dead bloke."

"If living things can become drawings, then maybe drawings can become living things." Clara said ominously before blinking with a small shudder. "Sorry about the tone." Clara apologized.

"Chloe's real dad is dead," The Doctor started, "but not the one who visits her in her nightmares. That dad seems very real, that's the dad she's drawn, and he's a heartbeat away from crashing into this world."

"She always got the worst of it when he was alive." Trish said sadly.

"So, how can a 12-year-old girl be doing any of this?" Rose asked the couple.

They shrugged. "Don't know." The Doctor answered. "Let's find out." He then led Clara back to the stairs, Trish and Rose following behind.

"I feel like that one skunk that kept going back and forth in front of green crates." Rose muttered as they all re-entered Chloe's room, finding the silent girl sitting on her blue bed, which had planets all over it, to the Doctor's amusement and Clara's puzzlement.

Chloe raised up her right hand to mimic the Doctor's hand signal from earlier and he nodded slightly. "Nice one." He commented, and Chloe returned her hand back to her lap. The Doctor knelt in front of her and pressed his fingers to her temples, closing his eyes. Chloe briefly stiffened and rolled her eyes back into her head before she sighed and slouched, and he let her calmly drift down onto the bed. "There we go. Now we can talk." He said.

"I want Chloe. Wake her up." Chloe said, her voice now bearing a rasping echo inside it. "I want Chloe."

"Who are you?" The Doctor asked.

"I want Chloe Webber." She raised her fist and slammed it against the bed, rather like a spoilt child that was denied a piece of candy.

"What have you done to my little girl?" Trish muttered.

"Doctor, what is it?" Clara asked.

"Not Chloe." The Doctor simply said before turning his attention back to the girl. "I'm speaking to you, the entity that is using this Human child." She said nothing. "I request parley in compliance with the Shadow Proclamation."

"I don't care about shadows of policies." The girl said.

"So, what do you care about?"

"I want my friends."

The Doctor sighed and knelt down beside the bed. "You're lonely, I know. What is your name?"

"I am one of many." She said, almost avoiding the question. "I travel with my brothers and sisters. We take an endless journey, a thousand of your lifetimes. But now I am alone, and I hate it! It's not fair and I hate it!"

"Name yourself." The Doctor demanded.

""Isolus"."

The Doctor raised his head in a "Oh" expression. "Isolus. No wonder."

Isolus reached into her pocket and pulled out a red pencil and started to draw on a white piece of paper, all the while her eyes remained closed. "Our journey began, in the deep realms, when we were a family."

"What's that?" Clara asked, kneeling at the base of the bed and the Doctor shifted to be beside her as they watched Chloe draw out the outline of a large creature, rather similar to a flower.

"The Isolus Mother, drifting in deep space. She jettisons millions of fledgling spores, her children. The Isolus are empathic beings of intense emotion. When they're cast off from their Mother, they form an empathic link with each other, and their need to be together is what sustains them. They NEED to be together, they cannot be alone." The Doctor informed.

"Our journey is long." Isolus added.

"Each of the Isolus children travel inside a pod and they ride the heat and energy of solar tides. And it takes thousands and thousands of years for them to grow up."

"Thousands of years, just floating through space?" Clara muttered in a soft tone. "How do you avoid getting bored?" She asked.

"We play."

Clara blinked slowly. "You…play?"

"Yeah." The Doctor answered as Isolus nodded. "While they travel, they play a game. They use their ionic power to…literally create make-believe worlds in which to play."

"Seriously?" Clara asked in fondness.

The Doctor nodded. "Helps keep them happy. While they're happy, they can feed off of each other's love. Without it, they're lost." He added grimly. "Why did you come to Earth?" He asked after a few silent moments of him and Clara staring adoringly at each other.

"We were too close." Isolus stopped drawing, flipped the paper over to create a blank slate and then proceeded to draw the sun.

"A solar flare." The Doctor deducted. "Would've made a tidal wave of solar energy that scattered the Isolus pods."

"Only I fell to Earth." Isolus said. "My brothers and sisters are left up there and I cannot reach them. So alone."

"Your pod crashed. Where is it?" Clara asked.

"My pod was drawn to heat, and I was drawn to Chloe Webber. She was like me: Alone. She needed me and I her."

"You empathized with her." The Doctor said. "You wanted to be with her because she was alone like you."

"I want my family." Isolus whined. "It's not fair."

"We understand. You want to make a family." The Doctor said. "But you can't stay in this child, it's wrong. You can't steal anymore friends for yourself."

"I am alone."

 _ **"Chloe!"**_  The voice from her wardrobe rang out, the doors beginning to shake while Chloe started to sweat and whimper.  _ **"I'm coming to hurt you!"**_

"Trish, how do you calm her?" Clara asked.

"What?" Trish muttered.

"When she has nightmares, what do you do?" Trish stammered, and Clara inwardly groaned. "Trish, what do you do?"

"I sing to her." Trish finally said.

"Then start singing." Trish quickly moved to sit on the bed beside Chloe, laying a hand on her hair to stroke it.

_**"** **Chloe! I'm coming!"** _

" _Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree._ " Trish hummed, holding back any shaking in her voice to be soothing for Chloe. " _Merry, merry king of the bush is he._ "

_**"** **Chloe!"** _

" _Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh._ "

_**"** **Chloe!"** _

" _Kookaburra, gay your life must be._ " The voice roared in wailing agony before the shaking stopped and it disappeared once again. Trish sniffed and rolled Chloe over into her arms. "He came to her because she was lonely. Chloe, I'm sorry." Trish cried, hugging Chloe close.

* * *

After they came downstairs once Trish had calmed both herself and Chloe down, Trish started to gather up all the pencils she could find and place them inside a large black bag. "Chloe usually got the brunt of his temper when he had more than a few drinks. The day he crashed the car, I thought we were free. I thought it was over."

"Did you talk to her about?" Clara asked.

"I didn't want to." Trish whimpered with a gulp.

Clara sighed. "Then that's why Chloe feels so alone. You need to be there for her."

Trish blinked. "How do you know all of this?"

Clara's gaze just fell down to the floor. "Making up for what I can't have." She said simply, quickly earning the Doctor's hand in hers.

"It won't stop, will it?" Rose asked to divert the topic. "They'll just keep pulling kids in."

"It's desperate to be loved." The Doctor informed. "And it's used to a pretty big family."

"How big?" Rose and Trish suddenly asked in unison, shooting apologetic looks at each other.

The Doctor shrugged with a small sigh. "Say around…four billion?" Their eyes widened, and the Doctor moved over to the other side of the room to grab his overcoat. "We're going to need that pod." He said as Clara helped him place it back on.

"And it's definitely not destroyed. If it likes heat, it must have been attracted to a nearby source." Clara added. "Knowing us, they'll be tons of it around here, or if we're lucky, just a few sources."

"And hopefully, it should keep it in a fit state to launch." The Doctor concluded as he and Clara moved to leave, motioning for Rose to follow. "We'll be right back." He called to Trish as they left the house. "It must be close. It should have a weak energy signature the TARDIS can trace. Once we find it, then we can return the Isolus back home." He said as they rushed down the street and back towards their parking spot. "We can scan for the same trace that I picked up from the scribble creature. Just need to widen the field a bit." He said, Clara quickly fishing out her key as they walked up to the TARDIS and quickly entered. "Just need to assemble a small device." The Doctor muttered, throwing his overcoat onto a coral arch before grabbing a small glass sphere and an array of small gadgets to help. "Clara could you-" Before he could continue, Clara, with a handful of small mechanic trinkets, held out a little glass bottle to him and he smiled. "I bloody love you." He said, him and Clara hopping onto the Captain's chair to assemble the device. "Fear and loneliness." He informed as Clara took out her sonic to help speed up the process. "Some of the most terrible acts ever committed have been inspired by them. Cause we're not dealing with something that wants to conquer or destroy or kill. There's a lot of things you need to get across this universe. "Warp Drive", "Wormhole Refractors", but you know what you need most of all? You need a hand to hold."

"You also need a gorgeous girlfriend to live with you." Rose said, winking at Clara.

"Shut up." Clara blushed, and the Doctor laughed, wrapping an arm around her.

"Gorgeous girlfriend whose hand I can hold." He added, kissing her cheek.

They looked up to see Rose pointing behind her to the console and they blinked. "What?" They asked in unison.

Rose groaned. "Get up off your asses and look." She said, and they stood up to look at the monitor.

"It's the pod!" The Doctor beamed, seeing a pulsing orange light in a blue schematic of the street.

"And it IS in the street." Clara deducted.

"Everything's coming up doctor." The Doctor winked, bumping Clara's shoulder as he moved to grab his overcoat again.

"Wait, haven't you-"

"Yes, I have finished it." The Doctor interrupted her. "Well…we did, really. Come on." He said, picking up the device as Clara and Rose followed him out. "Okay, the pod is about two inches across, dull gray, like a gull's egg, very light." The Doctor said as Clara wrapped her arm through his while Rose gained pace ahead of them.

"So, these pods, they travel from sun to sun using heat, yeah? So it's not all about love and stuff. Doesn't the pod just need heat?" Rose asked. What answered her was the smashing of glass onto the ground behind her. Rose turned to see the Doctor, Clara and the TARDIS gone. Completely disappeared from view, the only trace being the broken device, smashed to pieces on the ground. "Doctor! Clara!" Rose called with fear in her heart, but the only answer was just the rattling of the nearby trains. Rose, with widening eyes, guessed the answer as to their disappearance, so she raced back up to Trish's house and burst through the front door.

"Rose?" Trish asked in puzzlement as she bounded up the stairs. "It's okay, I've taken all the pencils off her!" She called but Rose ignored her as she moved straight into Chloe's room and snatched the paper the girl was working on, which, too her unsurprised yet chilling realization, bore the Doctor, Clara and the TARDIS on it.

"Leave me alone!" Isolus exclaimed. "I want to be with Chloe Webber! I love Chloe Webber!"

"Bring them back now." Rose growled.

"No."

Rose rolled her hand over her head with a snarl of frustrated anxiety. "Don't you realize what you've done? They were the only ones that could help you now bring them back!"

"Leave me alone! I love Chloe Webber!"

Whatever it was, being Rose's own choice, or Isolus's words, it made Rose snap out of it with dreadful realization at what she was doing. So, she blinked and sighed, slouching to calm herself and the stiffened Isolus. "I know." She muttered. "Sorry." She quickly added before standing up and looking at the piece of paper in her hands. "If you two can hear me, I'm going to get you out of there. I'll find the pod. I promise." She said softly, pressing a kiss to the paper before placing it down. "Don't leave her alone, no matter what." Rose said to Trish before she moved out of the house and into the street, seeing Kel out of the corner of her eye rubbing a small completed tar patch on the road with obvious pride. "Heat. They travel on heat." She muttered to herself.  _Wait. Tar. Tar needs heat to work. Tar._  Rose turned and rushed over to kneel beside Kel, who gave her a beaming smile.

"Look at this finish! Smooth as a baby's bottom. Not a bump or a lump."

"Kel, was there anything in this street in the last few days giving off a lot of heat?"

"I mean, you could eat your dinner off this. Beautiful." Kel said, almost as if he didn't hear Rose's question. "So, you tell me why the other one's got a lump in it when I gave it the same love and craftsmanship as I did this one."

Rose blinked, almost sniggering at his words. "Well, when you've worked it out and put it in a big book about tarmacking, cool. But before you do that, think back six days."

Kel nodded. "Six days." He smiled. "When I was laying this the first time round."

"What?" Rose muttered but he heard her.

"Well, that's when I filled in this pothole for the first time."

The gears began to click together inside Rose's brain. "Six days ago?" She reiterated.

"Yeah."

Rose slowly smiled. "Hot, fresh tar."

"Blended to a secret Council recipe." Kel quipped. "Good thing too, the Torch is coming up to brush along side this street in a matter of minutes." He said, pointing down to a recently set orange barricade that was already guarded by Police and was even starting to get a few people standing around it, patiently waiting. Rose, without another word, shot up from the ground and sprinted over to Kel's van. "No, I don't keep it in the van." Kel called but Rose ignored him as she opened the boot and dove inside to grab a pickaxe. "Hey, that's a Council van. Out." Kel said, standing up but Rose immediately got out of the van with the pickaxe and raced back over to the patch. "Whoa, wait, wait a minute. You just removed a Council axe from a Council van. Put it back or give it to me." Rose ignored him, and, with a beaming mischievous smile, she raised the axe over her shoulder, her target being obvious. "No, don't, wait! No!" Rose struck down, the axe burying itself in the patch with a grunt from the bearer. "No! Stop!" Kel protested but Rose started to repeat the process of lifting the axe and striking it back into the patch. "You just took a Council axe from a Council van, and now you're digging up a Council road! I'm reporting you to the Council!"

After a few strikes, Rose placed the axe down beside her as she squatted down, searching through the small rubble of rock before finding a small dull gray egg like rock and she beamed. "It went for the hottest thing in the street. Your tar!" Rose said, bursting out into laughter.

"What is it?!" Kel demanded, still torn up about Rose literally tearing a whole in his patch.

"It's a spaceship." Rose answered as she stood up. "Not a Council spaceship, I'm afraid." She quickly added with obvious sarcasm before hopping up with the pod and axe in her hand and straight back inside Trish's house. "I've found it!" She called, immediately getting Trish's attention. "I don't know what to do with it but maybe the Isolus will just hop on board." Rose slowly lifted her head towards Trish with scrutinizing eyes. "Hang on, I told you not to leave her." She said. Before Trish could say anything the TV, that was still on the news regarding the Olympic Games, suddenly went absolutely quiet.

 _"My god!"_  The commenter exclaimed, Rose and Trish looking towards the TV.  _"Uh, what's going on here?"_  The commenter asked. The stadium was completely empty, not a single soul was inside.

"I don't care if you've got Snow White and the seven dwarves buried under there!" Kel said, storming into the house. "You don't go-"

"Shut up and look!" Rose snarled, silencing Kel as he, with widening eyes, looked at the TV.

 _"The crowd has vanished! Uh, um…they're gone. Everyone is gone. Thousands of people have just gone. Uh…um…right in front of my eyes. It's…it's impossible. Bob, can-can we join you, um, in the box?"_  The commenter received no answer.  _"Bob? Not you too, Bob?!"_

"The stadium won't be enough." Rose muttered. "The Isolus has four billion brothers and sisters." Rose and Trish shared a wide-eyed look so they and, surprisingly an eager Kel, sprinted up the stairs to find Chloe's door shut. Rose twisted the handle, but the door was barred from the other side. "Ugh, you've got to be kidding." Rose growled low in her throat.

"Chloe!" Trish called.

"Chloe, it's Rose! Open the door! We've found your ship! We can send you home! Open up!" No answer. "Right, stand back." Rose said to Trish and Kel. They stepped back while Rose used the pickaxe to break a hole right through the door.

 _ **"** **Chloe!"**_  The hellish dad called. _ **"I'm coming to hurt you!"**_

Once Rose had destroyed a hole large enough for her arm to get through, she tossed the axe to the floor, reached her arm through and tossed aside a small white chair before swinging the door open. "Chloe!"

The wardrobe doors rattled, making Rose and Trish stop as they looked at it and Chloe, who was currently using crayons to draw an outline of the Earth on the wall.  _ **"I'm coming to hurt you!"**_

"I've got to stop her." Rose muttered, starting forward until Chloe turned her head to glare at her, all the while still drawing.

"If you stop Chloe Webber, I will let him out." Isolus warned. "We will let him out together. I cannot be alone. It's not fair!"

Rose held out her hand to show what she had found. "Look, I've got your pod."

"My pod is dead."

"No, it-it only needs heat." Rose reassured.

"It needs more than heat."

Rose blinked with a scoff. "Well, what then?"

"I'm not being funny or nothing, but that picture just moved." Kel pointed out.

"We can't worry about the pictures right now." Rose retorted.

"And that one!" He said. "The one with the blue box!"

Rose looked at him with a frown before moving to the bed to pick up the paper. It bore Clara pointing to the Doctor who was currently carrying the Torch with the most beaming and prideful grin on his face. "Chloe didn't draw that, they did. It needs more than heat, you two." Rose whimpered low in her throat. She placed the paper down on the bed with a sigh before suddenly, she just stopped.

"What?" Trish asked.

 _Pride. Love. Support. That's what the Isolus is about, and right now we have people giving their love and support and pride to the Olympics. And the Torch is the start of that._  Rose's eyes widened, looking at the Doctor's obviously prideful smile, and thinking back to Kel's own attitude to a simple patch. And the TORCH. "I think I've got it." Rose muttered, sprinting from the room.

"What?" Trish called, her and Kel rushing down with her. "What do you mean?! Got what?!"

"I don't know! I just had an epiphany!" Rose said. "I mean, I hope it's a good one. Please be a good one." Rose muttered to herself as she sprinted to the TV, where the news was focusing on the current position of the Torch. "Stay with her!" Rose ordered to Trish, who sprinted back up the stairs.

_"The Torch is still on its way. I suppose it's…it's much more than a Torch now. It's a beacon. It's a beacon of hope and-"_

Rose rolled her eyes at the cheesy words of the commenter. "Yeah, yeah, cool, I already figured that out. Now where is it?" Rose growled.

_"The Torch Bearer is still running, and he is about to run straight past "Dame Kelly Holmes Close"."_

"There we go." Rose said. "Took him long enough." Rose sprinted straight out the door, past a watching Maeve and towards the orange barricade at the end of the street, where a group of people had gathered to watch the Torch Bearer run past. Rose saw no way to actually go up to the Torch to place the pod in the flame, since, of course, there's policemen guarding him.  _I can't even chuck the pod into the Torch; my aim isn't that good._  All of a sudden, Rose started to feel the pod shifting and tingling in her hand and she looked down to see a small dim light within the pod. "You felt it, didn't you?" She whispered, even through the cheering of the crowd. The pod began to pulse and hover in her hand and Rose smiled, cupping the pod in two hands and brought it up to her lips. "Feel the love." Rose whispered before flinging the pod up in the air. After a few moments, the Torch flared with a sudden burst of heat, making the crowd cheer and the Bearer stumble for a few moments before he regained his footing and continued back on the path. "Yes!" Rose cried, joining in with the cheering crowd, just not for the same reason.

* * *

Trish watched as Chloe suddenly stopped drawing the world, stiffening up with a shaking breath. "I can go home." Isolus said. "Goodbye, Chloe Webber. I love you." Then, her eyes rolled back into her head and she sighed. Out of her mouth came a small little white flower that floated in front of her before disappearing out of the open window without a trace.

Chloe blinked, looked at the crayon in her hand and dropped it to the floor as she stared around the room. "Mum?" She whimpered.

Trish, for the first time in six long days, gave a warm and loving smile to her daughter. "I'm here." She said.

Chloe turned to look at her and beamed brightly. "Mummy!" She raced up to her and Trish wrapped her in a tight hug.

"I'm here." Trish said, kissing her cheek. "I'm here."

* * *

Rose walked back into the street, followed by a very bewildered Kel. "Well, I did it." Rose sighed as the disappeared kids came rushing up to their parents, including Zack, being relieved to be reunited with his son Tommy.

"Great." Kel quipped before shaking his head. "Wait, what was it that you did?" He asked.

Rose sniggered. "Long story."

"Darling." Maeve called behind Rose, making her turn to see the elderly lady bearing a bright smile. "I don't know who you are or what you did, but thank you, darling!" Maeve beamed, bringing Rose into a hug and kissing her cheek. "And thank that funny little couple for me, too!" Maeve said before walking away.

Rose glanced around, her eyebrows furrowing as she tried to see them, but she couldn't. "Where are they? They should be here. All the drawings came to life. That means…" Rose's eyes widened as she looked at Trish's house to see the window of Chloe's bedroom glowing blood red. "Oh no." Rose muttered, rushing over to the house's front door. Without a warning, the door slammed shut before she could get inside, and she tried to wrench it open but found it locked. "Trish!" Two pairs of hurried footsteps came down the stairs to the door but even they couldn't open the door from the inside. "Trish, get out!" Rose demanded.

"I can't! The door's stuck!"

"Mummy!" Chloe cried.

 _ **"Chloe!"**_  The voice called as they heard her wardrobe shatter into pieces upstairs.  _ **"Chloe, I'm coming to hurt you!"**_

"Please, dad, no more!" Chloe whimpered.

"Chloe, listen to me!" Rose said. "It isn't real like the others, it's just energy left over by the Isolus, but you can get rid of it, Chloe!"

"I can't!" Chloe cried.

"It's cause you're so scared that he's real but he's not! You just need to believe it, Chloe! You can do it!"

A loud thumping noise like footsteps started upstairs, the destination of the source obvious to the three of them. _ **"Chloe! I'm coming! Chloe!"**_

"Mummy, please!" Chloe cried.

"I'm with you, Chloe." Trish reassured. "You're not alone! You'll never be alone again!" She promised.

_**"** **Chloe! I'm coming!"** _

"Trish, Chloe, you need to sing! It's how you helped her before, it can help you again, now sing!" Rose said.

" _Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree._ " Chloe hummed.

_**"** **_C_ hloe!"** _

" _Merry, merry king of the bush is he._ " Chloe hummed, yet it was stronger now as Trish joined in with her.

 _ **"** **Chloe!"**_  The voice cried but now it was filled with pain and the thumping on the stairs stopped.

" _Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh. Kookaburra, gay your life must be._ " The voice cried and roared, until the light from inside the house vanished, a single echoing roar being the last words of the entity. Chloe and Trish burst out into relieved giggling, yet they kept singing. " _Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree. Merry, merry king of the bush is he. Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh. Kookaburra, gay your life must be._ "

When the house fell into a calm silence, Rose slouched back against the front door, finally able to calm down and take a breather. All she needed was her friends with her. That thought made her sigh.  _Where are they? I'll even have them flirt with each other if they can just be here._  Rose pleaded.

* * *

Rose, Trish, Chloe and Kel gathered into the house to see the stadium on TV once again filled with people, to their own sighing relief.

 _"Just look at this!"_  The commenter beamed.  _"Utterly incredible scenes at the Olympic stadium. 80,000 athletes and spectators, they disappeared, and they've come back. They've returned. They're reappeared. It's quite incredible."_

"80,000 people." Rose muttered. "But where are my friends?"

 _"But hang on, the Torch Bearer seems to be in a bit of trouble. We did see a flash of lightning earlier that seemed to strike him. Um, maybe he's injured. He's definitely in trouble."_  The commenter said as the TV flicked to a new camera, showing a profusely sweating Torch Bearer stumbling down to the ground, the crowd around him halting their cheering as they looked on in anxious worry. _"Does this mean that the Olympic dream is dead?"_

"Hell no!" The four spun around to see a grinning Clara standing in the door way. "Didn't go with him. He's wanted to do this for a long while." She informed. They turned back to see a figure in a brown overcoat reaching down to pick up the Torch before running off, the crowd cheering once again as he did.

"Oh, that bastard." Rose grinned, going over to wrap Clara in a hug. "Good to see you two all right." She said.

"Oh, it's fine." Clara shrugged as they looked back at the TV.

 _"There's a mystery man."_  The commenter said as the Doctor, bearing a bright beaming grin, waved at the crowd as he kept running for the last stretch to the stadium.  _"He's picked up the flame. We've no idea who he is. Um, he's carrying the flame. Yes, he's carrying the flame, and no one wants to stop him. It's more than a flame now, Bob. It's more than heat and light. It's hope and it's courage and it's love."_

Trish and Kel shot Rose raised eyebrows and she shrugged. "What? It's still cheesy." Rose said, and they laughed.

"Eh?" Clara asked.

"I'll explain later." Rose simply said, and Clara nodded.

* * *

The Doctor raced right across the stadium to the other side, up the stairs and towards the Olympic Cauldron. He turned around and whooped loud and heartily towards the cheering crowd, even with the blinding spotlight in his eyes. "That's one off the bucket list." The Doctor quipped, raising the Torch and placing it into the cauldron, setting it on fire. Amidst the cheering of the crowd, he could hear the pod within the flame chirping as if to say thanks. "Go on." He reassured. "Join your brothers and sisters. They'll be waiting." Then, the pod shot out of the flame and straight up into the sky and the Doctor smiled, giving a two fingered salute as it disappeared from view.

* * *

The Doctor, having cheated in travel, using the TARDIS to catch up with the Torch Bearer, came back to Dame Kelly Holmes Close, seeing all the townspeople, mainly kids and teenagers running about the street, chucking footballs and tennis balls at each other. He stood there, bathing in the slightly chilly air with a delightful sigh.

"Cake?"

The Doctor spun around, seeing Clara bearing a beaming and beautiful smile, holding out a small cupcake with white icing and small edible silver ball bearings on it. The Doctor burst out laughing, going straight up and wrapping his favorite girl in a warm hug. "Top banana!" He beamed, giving her few adoring kisses before taking the cupcake and biting into it, grinning at the delicious treat. "Mmm! I can't stress this enough!" He said with his mouth full. "Ball bearings you can eat? Masterpiece!" He hugged her tighter before they parted to see Rose standing there with her hands on her hips.

"Well, we didn't save the day, now did we?" Clara quipped. They looked at Rose and shot her beaming grins. "Come here!" Rose dove over and wrapped the two in a hug.

"Oh, I thought I lost you two." Rose said earnestly.

"Nah!" They denied in unison.

"Not on a night like this." The Doctor said after swallowing a mouthful of cupcake. "This is a night for lost things being found. Come on." He said, Clara linking into his side while Rose walked in front of them, but more specifically walking backwards so she could see them for herself.

"What now?" Rose asked as Clara snuck a bite at the cupcake.

"Wanna go to the games!" The Doctor said obviously. "What we came for."

"Is this your first time going to the Olympics together?" Rose asked.

"Yes." They said in unison.

"And, the next time we go, Clara's taking the Torch." The Doctor said.

"What?" Clara asked with wide eyes. "Seriously?"

"Yeah." He said obviously. "I got the first round, you get the next round. It's only fair."

Rose shook her head at them, but she was glad to have them back. "Give us a clue then." Rose said. "Which events do we do well in?"

"Don't ask me." Clara shrugged. "Never paid attention to the Olympics before. I have no idea how it works.

"Clara!" The Doctor whined. "It's sports and…stuff. I don't know either." The Doctor quipped, and Clara giggled. "Although, I will tell you this: Papua New Guinea surprises everyone in the shot put."

"Really?" Rose asked with blinking eyes. "You're joking, aren't you?" He shrugged, him and Clara sharing the last bite of the cupcake. "Doctor, are you serious or are you joking?"

He groaned. "Ugh, wait and see!"

In the sky above their heads, the nearby neighborhoods started to blare up with fireworks that lit up the sky in a multitude of colors, with the addition of the usual loud explosions of said fireworks that made them wince just a tiny bit. "You know, they keep on trying to split us up, but they never ever will." Rose said with a smile as they stopped walking to admire the fireworks.

"Never say "Never, ever"." Clara warned lightly.

"Nah, you two will always be okay. Otherwise people will feel like they're missing something in their lives." Rose said earnestly.

"Thank you, Rose." Clara said, taking her hand. "It's good to have you as a friend. Truly." She said.

Rose smiled. "I reckon I'll always be okay, especially if you two are around. Don't you reckon?"

Clara didn't answer, looking to the Doctor who was still staring up at the sky, but his face bore an expression of worry, and dread. "Doctor, what is it?" Clara asked.

"Something in the air, something coming." He muttered.

"What?"

"A storm's approaching."

**AN: Well, goddammit. Rose's time is right around the corner, and as I've repeatedly said, I'm so not ready. But it has to come to an end sometime. I do hope that all you dudes/dudettes had a great Christmas/Year, for I sure did. Also, thank you to all the readers who commented and reviewed on my story. If you haven't reviewed on my story but are still reading it, once again, thank you so much. It means a lot to me. :D And with that, I'm going to back into the world of Middle-Earth and finish off my marathon and I shall see you again…whenever I finish the next chapter. As always, thank you so much for reading and leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	40. Army of Ghosts

**Army of Ghosts**

**Tyler Residence  
** 11:00am, 7th November 2007

"Mum!" Rose called into the flat, causing Jackie to stop her cleaning of her kitchen with a wide grin. "It's us! We're back!" The front door closed shut and Jackie rushed to the door, seeing Rose, wearing a blue Punky fish hoodie, an American Apparel black vest, Topshop trousers, wearing a large red and black backpack, while Clara and the Doctor stood patiently behind her.

"Oh, I don't know why you bother with that phone. You never use it!" Jackie admonished.

Rose shook her head. "Shut up. Come here."

The two embraced in a warm hug, parting as Jackie patted Rose on the cheek. "Love you." She said as Rose walked past her and Jackie turned to Clara. "Nice to see you, gorgeous." Jackie said.

Clara blushed. "Shut up-"

"No, you are gorgeous." Jackie bluntly stated in an interruption.

Clara smiled. "Thank you. Why…are you wearing all blue?" She asked.

Jackie looked down at her blue vest and jeans and she shrugged. "What's wrong with blue?"

Clara smirked mischievously. "Nothing."

Jackie shook her head and wrapped her in a hug. "It's not because of the box. Blue is just a nice color." Jackie defended.

"It is." Clara agreed as they parted, seeing the Doctor trying to wordlessly shuffle his way past them.

"Oh no, you don't. Come here!" Jackie said, grabbing him by the suit and wrenching him forward into a hug, kissing him on the lips and cheeks all the while.

"No, just-just-just put me down!" The Doctor whined while Clara laughed at him. "Clara, help me!"

"Hell no." Clara giggled, moving past them to join Rose in the living room.

"Oh, you lovely big fella. You brought her back, safe and sound." Jackie mewled, giving him one final kiss on the lips before parting to follow the two girls, while the Doctor with a scrunching face of disgust, wiped his mouth with his hand as he timidly followed her into the room.

"I've got loads of washing for you." Rose said, taking off her backpack and placing it down beside the small sofa. "And, I've got you this." Rose said, reaching into her pocket. "If I can get it." She muttered.

"Clara." The Doctor whimpered, moving straight over to his girlfriend. "Can I-"

"No." Clara said, popping an Altoid into her mouth and placing the tin box back inside her pocket.

"But-"

"No." Clara said simply before moving to lean back against the wall.

"Here we go." Rose said, pulling out a small golden device, which Jackie blinked at in puzzlement. "It's from the market on this asteroid bazaar. It's made of, um…um…what's it called?" Rose asked the couple behind her.

""Bezoolium"." The Doctor said with a mouthful of Altoids.

"It's a form of-wait." Clara stopped, looking at the Doctor and the tin box in his hands. "How did you-"

"Revenge is best served with sweets." The Doctor quipped, making Clara's jaw drop incredulously.

She pointed her finger at his face and, after a few moments of him staring smugly at her, just sighed in frustration. "I'm going to get you for that." She said, snatching the box out of his hands and thrusting it back into her pocket.

Rose looked at Jackie and rolled her eyes. "Complete and utter bonkers."

"Obviously." Jackie said simply.

"Anyway, when this…" She said, holding up the device again, "gets cold, it means it's going to rain. When it's hot, it's going to be sunny. You can use it to tell the weather!" Rose beamed.

Jackie gave her a somewhat lazy smile. "Well, I'm sure it'll be better than the forecasters on TV." She grumbled.

"Oi! They don't-" Jackie interrupted Rose with a simple stare. "Okay, they're pretty…hit and miss."

"And that's putting it lightly." Jackie said, swatting her arm. "I've got a surprise for you too. Guess who's coming to visit? You're just in time, he'll be here at 10 past. Who do you think it is?"

Rose shrugged. "I don't know."

"Go on, guess." Jackie said but Rose shook her head.

"No, I hate guessing. Just tell me."

Jackie smiled. "It's your grandad. Grandad Prentice. He's on his way, any minute." Jackie blinked as if she just realized something. "Cup of tea." She quickly said as she disappeared into the kitchen.

"She's gone mad." Rose muttered as the couple stepped up from the wall to stand behind her.

"Tell us something new." The Doctor quipped but Rose interrupted him.

"No, grandad Prentice. That's her dad." Rose informed. "But he died like 10 years ago." That made them slowly melt their smiles into a bewildered frown. "Oh my god, she's lost it. Mum." She called, moving to step inside the kitchen door, while the Doctor and Clara peeked over her shoulders. "What you just said about grandad-"

"Any second now." Jackie nodded.

"But…he passed away." Rose said obviously. "His heart gave out. Do you remember that?"

"Course I do."

"Then, how can he come back?" Rose asked.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Jackie checked her watch for the time. "10 past. Here he comes." A small rushing sound like wind in a tunnel flowed through the room and, walking right through the window and into the kitchen to stand beside Jackie was a pale grey, blurry figure, yet still noticeably Human in appearance. "Here we are, then. Dad say hello to Rose. Hasn't she grown?" Jackie asked while Rose just stared at the ghostly figure in utter amazement. Jackie however, blinked in surprised puzzlement. "Where did they go?" She asked.

Rose turned around to see neither of the couple in the flat, but the front door was wide open, and she gave a low sigh of exasperation. "They'll be outside." She said, and she rushed out of the door, followed slowly by Jackie as they headed down the apartment staircase and down to the ground floor to see the Doctor and Clara gazing around at the grey ghostly figures in the street in wonder, which Rose quickly joined in with.

"They're everywhere." The Doctor muttered with a frown.

"Clara, look out!" Rose called, and the Doctor turned to see a ghost walking straight through Clara, who stiffened and gasped in shock that quickly faded as the ghost walked away.

The Doctor bounded straight over to her and placed his hands on her arms as she stared at him in wide eyed shock. "Are you okay?" He asked, and she slowly nodded her head. "What happened?"

"It felt…cold and…sad." She said, and he quickly drew her into a hug. "Ugh, I don't want to live in Hogwarts anymore." She quipped lightly, to which he gave her a grateful and warm smile.

"They haven't got long." Jackie informed as she joined them. "Their shifts only last a couple of minutes. They're about to fade."

"What do you mean, "Shift"?" The Doctor asked, his frown returning as he and Clara, still giving a loose hug, stared back around at all the ghosts. "Since when did ghosts have shifts? Since when did shifts have ghosts? What's going on?"

"Oh, he's not happy when I know more than him, is he?" Jackie quipped lightly to Clara who just gave a small shrug.

"But no one's running or screaming or freaking out." The Doctor continued.

"Why should we?" Jackie asked as she checked her watch. "Here we go, 12 minutes past." And right on cue, the ghosts quickly stopped walking, shimmered slightly and, as if they were never there to begin with, they were just gone, not a single trace of them left behind. "If you want more of the scale of it, check the news." Jackie said, and the couple immediately raced ahead of Rose and Jackie towards the staircase. "What are they full of?" Jackie quipped to Rose, who giggled slightly as they followed them back into the flat to find them sitting down on the sofa and the TV already on. The Doctor already had his "Brainy Specs" on his eyes, as a brown-haired man wearing a black jacket and blue jeans sitting on a white desk with a few pieces of paper in his hands appeared on the screen.

_"On today's "Ghostwatch", claims that some of the ghosts are starting to talk along with reports of a regular formation gathering around Westminster Bridge, in something rather akin to a military display."_

"What the hell's going on?" The Doctor muttered beside Clara as he flicked the channel, while Rose and Jackie moved to sit with them.

 _"And tonight, we're expecting very strong ghosts."_  A middle-aged weather man said in front of a map of Britain that was covered in stereotypical ghost pictures.  _"From London, through the north and up into Scotland."_

"They'll be having fun with that." Clara commented as the Doctor flicked the channel.

""Trisha Goddard"?" The Doctor asked with a frown at the talk show as said TV hostess appeared on screen in the middle of her audience.

 _"So basically, Eileen, what you're telling me is that you are in love with a ghost?"_  She asked, the camera cutting to a crying black haired woman with glasses sitting in a red chair while a singular ghost stood in front of a red chair beside her.

 _"He's my ghost,"_  She sobbed,  _"and I love him, 24/7."_ The audience shared a "Aww" before they broke out into applause.

"Doesn't look like that will last." The Doctor quipped as he flicked the channel to a grey-haired man being drowned in blue light. "Who the hell is this?" He asked.

"Spiritual medium." Jackie answered.

 _"Well, no one needs me anymore."_  The man said in obvious distress while Clara just laughed at him.

"Tough luck." She said, the Doctor switching the channel while giving her a bewildered look.

"That's rude." He said before looking back at the TV. "I like happy mediums." He muttered, making Clara snigger as he glanced back at the TV. "What?" He muttered, the screen now showing a blonde woman wearing a flower apron with her hands behind her back and a really badly animated ghost beside her.

 _"My ghost was pale and gray until I discovered…"_  She pulled her hands out into view, carrying a small cannister saying,  _""Ectoshine"."_  She said, her and the ghost giving beaming smiles.

"Ew." The four said in unison as he changed the channel.

"French reporters?" The Doctor muttered, changing the channel again. "Ghosts at the Taj Mahal?" He flicked the channel again, showing three Japanese women wearing black shirts with smiling ghosts on them, the three girls squealing and screaming that made their ears wince. "Ghosts being franchised." The Doctor muttered, shaking his head as he flicked the channel. "It's all over the world. Wait…what's this?" He asked, him and Clara getting bewildered looks as the TV showed a blonde woman wearing a blue vest, standing behind the bar at a pub, looking off screen with a scowl.

 _"Listen to me, Denn Watts! I don't care if you have come back from the grave, get out of my pub! The only spirits I'm serving in this place are Gin, Whiskey and Vodka. So, you heard me! Get out!"_  The lady snarled, and Clara quickly snatched the remote to turn it off.

"Soap Operas hurt my head." She said simply, and the Doctor nodded in agreement as they placed the remote down and turned to look at Rose and Jackie. "When did it all start?" Clara asked.

"Well," Jackie started, "first of all, Peggy heard this noise in the cellar, so she goes down-"

"Jackie," Clara muttered, "I meant worldwide."

"Oh." Jackie said simply, earning a giggle from Rose and a small admonishing whisper from Jackie to her daughter. "That was about two months ago. Just happened. Woke up one morning and there they all were. Ghosts, everywhere. We all ran around screaming and that, whole planet was panicking. No sign of either of you, thank you very much." Jackie admonished, earning an awkward glance between the couple. "But then, it just sort of sank in. Took us time to realize that…we're lucky."

"What makes you think it's grandad?" Rose asked.

"It just feels like him." Jackie said somberly. "There's that smell, those old cigarettes. Can't you smell it?"

Rose just gave a sad sigh. "I wish I could, Mum, but I can't."

"You've got to make an effort." Jackie said softly. "You've got to want it, sweetheart."

"The more you want it, the stronger it gets?" Clara inputted dully.

"Sort of, yeah." Jackie muttered, and Clara's gaze turned sad.

"Jackie, I'm sorry, but there's no smell, no cigarettes, no presence. It's just a memory." Jackie didn't nod or shake her head in answer, but she did remain silent which made Clara just rub her forehead with her hand in tiredness.

"But, if they're not ghosts, what are they then?" Rose asked.

"But they're Human." Jackie protested, earning a slowly furrowing look from both the Doctor and Clara. "You can see them, they look Human."

"Mum has a point." Rose agreed. "I mean, they're all sort of blurred, but they're definitely people."

"Maybe. Maybe not." The Doctor muttered. "They're pressing themselves into the surface of the world. But a footprint doesn't look like a boot. Come on." He ushered and the Tyler's followed him and Clara out of the flat.

**The Deep Centre of Torchwood Tower**

Staying completely alone within the massive white and black chamber, he sat at his desk with his reading glasses on, gazing at a Sudoku book in his left hand with a blue pen laying lazily in his right. Every single silent, boringly aggravating second passed, making him sigh before he checked his watch, realizing he had spent nearly two hours on this book and not having even finished it due to the throbbing boredom in his mind. With a sudden jump, his ear piece sounded off a ringtone that made him take a few small breaths before answering, hearing the voice of his boss and the head of Torchwood: Yvonne Hartman.

 _"Rajesh? You got anything?"_  She asked, and he answered with a tired sigh.

"It's so busy down here." He quipped tiredly. "I'm on Sudoku book 509."

 _"Well, we just had a great ghost shift."_  She said.

Rajesh restrained his want to roll his eyes, blaming that instinct on that damned black sphere, looming ominously and silently in the room, almost as if it was taunting him. "I know. But we had nothing." Placing the pen inside the book and laying it on the desk, then pocketing his reading glasses and standing up from his chair, he moved over to a large white console that bore the logo and symbol of Torchwood, where he flicked a few switches to change some of the settings of the devices present in the room, all in fruitless hope to stop the boredom the sphere had brought down upon him. "Did they tell you?" He asked Yvonne as he worked on the panel, glancing nervously at the large black sphere, still sitting there, still glaring down at him. "R&D came up with a new Spectrometer yesterday. Barged in here, all full of themselves. Said they could detect the heat off a single protozoa through half a mile of steel."

 _"And what did it find?"_  Yvonne asked, and Rajesh didn't have to answer because Yvonne did it herself.  _"It found nothing, just like every other device they have made, or anyone has made for that matter."_  Yvonne said with a sarcastic teasing manner that helped to make Rajesh grow a smile on his face.

"I'm afraid so." Rajesh agreed with a slight snort. "It's the same as ever. The machines keep saying the sphere can't exist." Rajesh stopped his work and moved up to stand before the, quite admittedly, imposing sight that was the sphere, hovering many inches above a large staircase ladder at the end of the room, right in front of a golden wall and surrounded on either side by grey. "But there it is. Still there. Still the same as ever."

 _"Anything we can do?"_  Yvonne asked, any sweetness or quippy sarcasm dropped for actual worry and concern which made him give a soft smile.

"No, I'm all right." Rajesh answered. "It's just…" He trailed off, trying to figure out his feeling on the sphere.

_"It's just what?"_

Rajesh sighed. "It gets into your head, this thing, like it's…staring at you."

 _"I'm sorry about that, Rajesh."_  Yvonne said honestly. _"All right, we'll catch up later. Thanks for everything, Raj."_

"No problem." Rajesh let Yvonne hang up before he closed his eyes, ran his hand through his brushed back black hair and took a deep breath to calm himself before reopening them to stare back up at the sphere.  _Maybe…hmm…there's one experiment no one has tried._  Rajesh moved to the base of the ladder, grasped the side railings and looked up at the sphere. He stared at it, and with each passing second sounding off with a loud "Tick-Tock" in his head, his composure and any bravado he had in just thinking about touching it was wiped from his mind. He withdrew his hand, used the back of it to wipe the sweat from his brow and he walked back to his desk, trying to avert the feeling that something, be it the sphere or inside the sphere, was staring at his back, and not in a friendly manner.

* * *

Yvonne, a 5-foot 5 blonde woman wearing a black suit dress, with three silver necklaces with a small black diamond across her collarbone and complete with high heels, stood within the central and top office of the Torchwood Tower, one side being a simple white wall with two massive levers raised up and pointing to the ceiling on either side. On the back end by the only entrance into the room, that is if you excluded the sheer drop from the windows, was her personal office, sealed away from her co-workers and employees by a thin glass wall with two glass doors, both of which bore the Torchwood logo on them. Past that was a series of desks, two on the left wall and three on the right, every person here wearing a beaming smile after their remarkable ghost shift. Yvonne walked up to the second desk on the left, where a black haired, dark skinned woman in a nice brown suit dress, who just like herself and everyone at Torchwood, wore a silver earpiece.  _I blame the age of Bluetooth on that._  Yvonne remarked to herself as she peered over at the desk belonging to Adeola Oshodi. "Adi." She said, immediately earning a sweet smile from Adi, who paused her typing work. "Any sign of that power loss?" She asked with a twinkle in her eyes, referring to the power drain needed for the ghost shift.

Adi, who had at once caught the mischievous twinkle in her eyes, just smirked. "No problems. Must've been a glitch." Adi winked, and Yvonne chuckled.

"Thanks, Adi." Yvonne said before moving over to the third desk at the opposite wall of the room, to a black-haired technician by the name of Matt Crane, who wore a black suit with a blue shirt and matching tie. "Matt." Yvonne said, drawing said man out of his work as he glanced up at Yvonne. "Get on to hospitality and send Rajesh something, will you? He's going mad down there. Not alcohol." She quickly added with a mischievous smile, walking away towards her office as Matt chuckled behind her before she entered and took a seat at her desk. Yvonne went back to her work, typing away at her laptop for a couple of minutes before transitioning over to pen and paper before she took a moments break to stretch her back, noticing one of her employees, spikey brown-haired Gareth Evans, walking up to her office and knocking on her door. "Yes?" She called, allowing the man to open the door and pop his head inside.

"I'm going to double check the stacks. Just in case." Gareth said, and Yvonne shrugged, but inwardly, she was smirking like mad.

"Sure." She said, and Gareth closed the glass door before walking away. Yvonne leant back in her chair, still fighting off her devilish smirk.  _5\. 4. 3. 2. 1._  Right on cue, Adeola got up from her desk, walked over to her office door and knocked politely. "Yes?"

Adeola opened the door and popped her head inside. "Yvonne, I'm just going to cross-reference the levels with the sphere."

"Okay, fine." She nodded and Adeola grinned before closing the door and walking away, almost but not completely succeeding at hiding her excited pace in her walk.  _And those two think I haven't noticed. Either way, they better come back in time for the next shift._

11:40am

"Hello?" Rose called as she entered the TARDIS, carrying a newspaper in her hands. To her own personal irritation, she could see the Doctor and Clara huddling down underneath the console, their giggling, despite their best efforts to be quiet, still reached Rose's ears.  _Those two better be snogging and not making me the source of an inside joke, I swear to god._  She groaned mentally as she walked up to the console. "According to the paper, they've elected a ghost as M.P for Leeds. Now, don't tell me you both are going to sit back and do nothing." She said, placing the paper on the console and looking down at the backs of the couple.

Then, the Doctor sprung up without warning, earning a gasp from Rose as he carried a large brown backpack and a small trumpet in his hands, all the while Clara played an instantly familiar song off her phone. " _If there's something strange, in your neighborhood, who you gonna call?_ "

" _Ghostbusters!_ " Clara and Rose said in unison with the phone as the Doctor raced to the door with Clara quick on his toe.

" _If there's something weird, and it don't look good, who you gonna call?_ "

" _Ghostbusters!_ "

Rose followed them outside, their chosen parking place being a currently unused public playground, which they blamed on it being the middle of the week and still during school terms, to see Jackie looking at the giggling couple with a bewildered expression on her face. "I know." Rose quickly said, interrupting Jackie from asking what would be a rather obvious question, so said woman just decided to give a shrug as the couple set up a small triangle, its three points consisting of small golden pods, all linked by cables that the Doctor was gathering together.

"When's the next shift?" Clara asked Jackie as the Doctor placed a small black console on the ground and hooked the three cables into it before hooking a large separate cable from a large cable drum into the console.

"Quarter to." Jackie said after checking her watch. "But don't go causing trouble." She quickly added.

"Nah!" They said in unison, making Jackie roll her eyes.

"What's this lot do?" Rose asked, motioning to the improvised triangle.

"Triangulates their point of origin. Yeah?" The Doctor asked with a beaming grin. "TRIANG-"

"No." Clara admonished, earning a small whine from the Doctor.

"I don't suppose this is the Gelth?" Rose asked to get them back on course.

"No. They were just passing through a rift, remember?" Clara said. "All these boys and girls, if they have genders that is, are appearing all over the whole planet."

"You two are always doing this." Jackie huffed. "Reducing it to science. Why can't it be real?" She asked. "Just think of it. All the people we've lost, our families coming back home. Don't you think it's beautiful?"

"I think it's bloody horrific." Clara bluntly said, earning a shocked look from Jackie, but her eyes showed a small level of sadness at Clara. "Rose, give us a hand." Clara motioned for said girl to follow her back into the TARDIS and up to the console monitor as the Doctor took the wire drum and began to unravel it. "Soon as the cone-pyramid-pod things, whatever they're called, activate, then the monitor will tell you with this line." She said, pointing to a sort of blue tube on the monitor. "If it goes into the red, press this button here." She said, pointing to a blue button beneath the monitor. "If it doesn't stop when you do so…one moment…" She muttered, searching her pockets for her sonic. "Was it setting 15A or 15B?!" She called.

"15B!" The Doctor yelled back as he entered the TARDIS, still rolling out the cable as fast as he could, Jackie following in slowly after him to lean against one of the coral arches.

"Well, there you go." Clara shrugged, placing her sonic in Rose's grasp. "Use it against the port for 8 seconds then stop."

Rose nodded. "15B, 8 seconds."

"If it goes into the blue, activate the deep scan on the left." Clara pointed to the panel on the left of the monitor.

"Is it that one there?" Rose asked, pointing to a small brown button.

"Close."

 _*Beeps*_  (Ish)

"Hey!" Rose retorted with a smirk, the TARDIS giving a giggling sound around her. "That one?" She asked, placing her hand on a large silver pod with a red button on top.

 _*Beeps*_  (Now you've endangered everyone)

"Leave her alone!" Clara retorted with a smirk.

"That one?" Rose asked, pointing to a smaller silver pod with a golden button on top.

"Yes." Clara nodded. "You got it." She patted a grinning Rose on the back.

 _*Beeps*_  (Finally)

"Stop it." The Doctor warned playfully as he tossed the empty cable drum aside before hooking the cable into the console. "Now, what've we got? Two minutes to go?" He asked Jackie who went to check her watch.

* * *

"Come on, then!" Yvonne said with a clap of her hands as her employees rushed to get everything ready. "Two minutes to the next shift. Let's make it a good one, people." Yvonne looked over at the door to see Adeola and Gareth walking back into the large room, with rather void expressions on their faces but Yvonne couldn't really care. They were late enough as it was. "Come on, you two." She grumbled.

"I'm sorry we're late." Adeola apologized before moving to her desk.

"Save it till later." Yvonne growled.

"Sorry we're late." Gareth apologized before taking a seat at his desk.

"All right." Yvonne quickly cleared her throat and looked at everyone in the room. "Everyone ready?" They all gave either an enthusiastic "Yes ma'am!" or a thumbs up with a grin and Yvonne beamed as two scientists with white jackets and white gloves grabbed the two levers and began to raise them up, a blinding white light shining from the far wall causing everyone except for Adeola and Gareth to put on sunglasses to protect their eyes. "And...we're into ghost shift." Yvonne proclaimed as she placed on her glasses.

* * *

"What's the line doing?!" The Doctor exclaimed as he and Clara finished powering up the cone created triangle.

 _"It's all right! It's holding!"_  Rose yelled from within the TARDIS.  _"The scanner says: Delta 1-6!"_

The Doctor placed his hands in his pockets with a massive grin. "Come on then, you beauty-ah!"

Clara just snorted at his behavior, making him bump her with his shoulder. "Oi!" Clara bumped him back and he laughed.

"I can't help it!" He beamed. Right at that moment, the triangle cone sparked to life, creating a small electrical field as a singular ghost appeared inside of it, standing completely still yet quite obviously staring straight at them. The Doctor took out a pair of 3D glasses, staring at the ghost through them with furrowing eyebrows, which he noticed got a puzzled Clara's attention, even when she still returned it to the ghost in front of them.

"Doctor, why-" The Doctor cut her off by taking them off and placing them over her own eyes and she looked at the ghost with a frown. "What?" She muttered, for the glasses showed the ghost looking even more blurred than it already was, with a large mass of tiny particles floating in conjunction with its body. "What?" She muttered again, still unable to understand it.

"Void stuff." The Doctor explained. "Well…it doesn't have a name, but it's the mass you soak up when you've been through the Void."

"Really?" Clara asked, glancing over at him before her eyes widened to see himself also caked in Void matter and she looked down at her own hand to see the same result. "We've both been through the void." She deducted. "That parallel world with the…" Clara trailed off and the Doctor nodded. "So, where have these guys come from?"

"I don't know." The Doctor muttered, kneeling down to play around with the settings on the small black console, causing the ghost to flare up and shudder, rather like it was getting an electric shock, a rather appropriate remark for the couple considering the ghost's current position. "Don't like that much, do you?" The Doctor asked with a chuckle. "What are you? Where have you all come from?" The ghost tried to lash out at them but considering the sizable distance between the couple and the field, they just looked at each other with a laugh. "It's not so friendly after all!" The Doctor quipped.

"Doctor." Clara pointed, and they both saw the ghost shimmering out of existence, the field turning off with it to a complete stop. "What happened?" She asked as she gave back the "Void Specs" to the Doctor, who quickly pocketed them away.

"We just triggered something for whoever's behind all of this." The Doctor explained. "But we just needed to do that to figure out where they are." The Doctor and Clara quickly began rushing about to gather up the equipment and stash it away back inside the TARDIS. "I said so, didn't I?!" The Doctor remarked as they closed the doors and he tossed his overcoat on one of the coral arches, before racing back over to the console with Clara. "Those ghosts have been forced into existence from one specific point and now we can track down the source. Allons-y!" He exclaimed, sharply lowering the dematerialization lever to send them tumbling into the Vortex.

* * *

An alarm began to flare all of a sudden, causing Yvonne and her employees to glance at each other in bewilderment before Matt motioned Yvonne to come over to his desk, which she did so without hesitation. "Turn that alarm off! We'll go deaf with that blaring in our ears!" Yvonne said and one of the employees moved to do so as she leaned over Matt to look at his computer. "What have we got?" She asked.

"Quite obviously, something's interfering with the ghost field. However, it's rather close. It's within in the city." Matt reiterated as he went to work.

"Close it down! Close it down!" Yvonne ordered, and the two scientists grasped and lowered the levers, allowing everyone to take off their sunglasses with a sigh of relief, their eyes briefly flaring up with a small haze which they simply fought off with a few blinks. "All right, Matt, talk to me." Yvonne said as she returned her attention to her employee.

"It was a very specific excitation of the ghost field, but that makes it easy to pinpoint." His computer showed a map of the Earth quickly zooming in on Britain. "We're almost there. South London." He muttered. "Southeast 15…a…it's a council estate, "The Powell Estate"." He said, the two of them briefly shooting each other puzzled looks at the odd location choice for a piece of science but they just shrugged it off. "SU15 7G0, a public area." He went to work, clacking away at his keyboard. "Let's see if they still have an active CCTV network." What he brought up was a single camera's vision of an unused playground in the area. "Here we go. We've got a camera within 50 yards." Matt reported, using his keyboard to turn the camera around, seeing nothing worthwhile right until they saw IT. The blue box of the TARDIS. Everyone at Torchwood would know immediately who it was behind the TARDIS and the two of them were no exception.

"Oh my god." Yvonne muttered in shock.

"Is it them?" Matt asked in the same tone as he zoomed the camera in closer to the TARDIS.

"It's them." Yvonne nodded. And right there, in front of their very eyes, the TARDIS dematerialized, and they immediately deduced what they had been up to and where they're going to now. "He's coming. She's coming." Yvonne muttered before she broke out into a massive grin. "They're both coming here!" She almost squealed in joy before racing from the room, her hand immediately opening a line to Rajesh. "Rajesh! It's them! They're coming here!"

* * *

"I love that! "Allons-y!"" The Doctor beamed as he and Clara piloted the TARDIS while Rose sat patiently on the Captain's chair. "I should say "Allons-y" more often. "Allons-y." Look out, Clara, my Clara, Allons-y!" Clara just burst out into laughter while he grinned, coming around to her as he wrapped her in a hug from behind. ""In the name of all that is good, Allons-y!"" Clara just laughed harder while he chuckled. "And then, it would be really brilliant if I met someone called "Alonso" because then I could say "Allons-y, Alonso!" every time!"

"Allons-y." Clara tried to say but all that came out was a weird stutter of giggles and words, which made the Doctor, unabashedly so, feel really nice in his hearts.

"You get it, my girl!" He proudly said, turning her head to kiss her lips, which quickly turned into a full-blown snog of passion for the couple that was interrupted by Rose blaring a soccer horn right in their ears, making them revolt back with a cry as they held their ears in protection. "What the hell?!" The Doctor cried as he massaged Clara's ears, said person burying her face in his chest with a small groan.

"My mum's still on board." Those five words made them fall into silence before they slowly turned around to see a furiously glowering Jackie glaring at them as she leaned against one of the coral arches with her arms crossed.

"If we end up on Mars, I'm going to kill the both of you." She snarled, the couple gulping in obvious nervousness while Rose bit her lip to hide a snigger before they scurried away to quickly land the TARDIS without another word.

"Well, look at that." Jackie quipped as she walked over to the console and glanced at the monitor, showing the outside view of the TARDIS where a team of 11 soldiers were pointing their rifles at the TARDIS doors, the first five kneeling in the front. "There goes your advantage of surprise." Jackie bluntly said.

"Still…" The Doctor started as he scratched the back of his head, "it cuts to the chase. Come on Clara." He ushered, taking her hand. "Stay in here, look after the terror of London." He said to Rose while Jackie's jaw dropped.

"How am I the terror of London?!" Jackie exclaimed but neither of the couple answered, they just sent each other winning smiles.

 _"We are so not finished in getting even with her."_  The Doctor quipped in Clara's mind, earning Clara's low giggle in her throat.

"I am not looking after my Mum." Rose protested, earning a scoff from Clara.

"Well, you did bring her along." Clara retorted.

"I was kidnapped!" Jackie protested.

Rose ran straight in front of them to bar the doorway with her own body. "They have got guns." Rose pointed out.

"And neither of us haven't, we much us the better people than them." The Doctor retorted as Clara pulled Rose away from the door effortlessly. "They can shoot us dead, but the moral high ground is ours. I go first, Clara." He quickly added.

"Well, the high ground did help Obi-Wan after all." Clara shrugged.

"That's because lazy Anakin didn't want to just step onto land and walk up to the bastard. Look what happened to him in the long run." The Doctor quipped as he opened the door and stepped outside. The soldiers cocked their rifles and the Doctor calmly raised his hands above his head.

"Oh!" The Doctor blinked as the sound of high heels came clacking into the room, the source being a grinning Yvonne, who walked straight through the soldiers to stand in front of the Doctor. "Oh, how marvelous! Oh, very good!" She began clapping her hands and the Doctor blinked again, a silent sentiment that the soldiers shared, even as Yvonne glanced at them, a silent motion for them to join in with her, albeit rather timidly. "Superb! Happy day!" Yvonne laughed.

Once the applause died down, the Doctor lowered his hands and glanced at everyone in utter bewilderment. "Um…thanks. Nice to meet you. I'm…the Doctor."

Once he said his name, the soldiers gave a radiating unison expression of realization and begun to clap again with much more heartful vigor. "Oh, I should say! Hooray!" Yvonne said as she joined in with clapping.

The Doctor, still confused, gave a small chuckle in his throat as the applause died down again. "You-you've heard of me then?" He asked dumbly.

"Well, of course we have." Yvonne smiled. "And I have to say, if it wasn't for you, none of us would be here. The Doctor AND the TARDIS."

The Doctor found it almost amusing that they started to clap once again, making him give a small smile, but he just shook it off to return to his puzzled look. "And you are?" He asked but Yvonne just gave a shrug.

"Oh, plenty of time for that. But according to the records, you haven't been traveling alone for quite a while. "The Doctor and his Carer", isn't that right? So, where is Clara?" Yvonne asked.

A clearing of a throat sounded from behind the Doctor, making him turn around to see Clara coming up beside him with a smile that did blend into a rather confused gaze in her eyes. "Hi." She waved.

"There she is!" Yvonne beamed, creating yet another round of applause which Clara just blushed at.

"What's going on?" Clara asked the Doctor.

"No idea." He replied as the applause calmed down.

"Well, true to the records, you are quite the fitting couple." Yvonne remarked which made them briefly glance at each other with a soft look. "But on a final note, you two are not ones for traveling alone. The Doctor, Clara and their friend or friends. Isn't that the pattern, right?" Yvonne asked, earning silence from the couple which made her sigh. "There's no point in hiding anything, not from us. So, where is she?"

The couple exchanged a small look before they smiled once again. "Yes, sorry, good point." The Doctor said as he walked back and reached a hand into the TARDIS. "She's just a bit shy, that's all. Here she is. Rose Tyler." He introduced as he pulled Jackie out of the TARDIS and closed the doors. Jackie gave a confused expression mixed with a light glare at the Doctor which quickly turned into a smile at the sight of their new company. "She's not the best I've ever had." Jackie gave him an incredulous look while Clara bit her lip to restrain her giggling. "Bit too blonde. Not too steady on her pins and a lot of blah blah blah." He said with a matching hand motion which earned a deeper glare from Jackie. "And just last week she stared into the heart of the Time Vortex and aged 57 years, but she'll do."

"I'm 40!" Jackie protested.

"Deluded." Clara inputted, earning an incredulous look from Jackie. "We may have to trade her in. Do you need anyone?" She asked a very amused Yvonne. "She can do tea…ish." Jackie just glared at her while Clara raised her eyebrows in silent challenge.

"Anyway, lead on." The Doctor interrupted. "Allons-y." Yvonne nodded and motioned for the soldiers to accompany them. "But not too fast. Her ankle's going." The Doctor commented as he and Clara moved hand in hand to follow them down into a hallway.

"I'll show the both of you where my ankle's going!" Jackie snarled, earning smug grins from the couple as they walked behind Yvonne.

"It was only a matter time until you found us and at last, you both made it." Yvonne said. "I'd like to welcome you, Doctor and Clara. Welcome to Torchwood." She flung open a double set of light brown doors and entered into a massive warehouse hall, where many a worker or scientist was moving large sealed boxes containing "Classified" artefacts or were experimenting on said artefacts. One sight in particular drew their attention, a massive black ship in the shape of a traditional UFO, parked on four large legs and spurting steam from small outlets on the bottom of the ship.

"That's a Jathar Sunglider." The Doctor muttered as he stared at the ship.

"Came down to Earth off the Shetland Islands 10 years ago." Yvonne said before either Clara or Jackie could ask about it.

"Did it crash?" The Doctor asked.

"No, we shot it down." Yvonne said, earning a frown from both the Doctor and Clara, which just made her shrug. "It violated our airspace. Then we stripped it bare. The weapon that destroyed the Sycorax on Christmas Day? That was us." Yvonne said proudly and the frowns from the couple turned into glares which Jackie started to echo on her own, but Yvonne once again just shrugged it off, walking through the warehouse with the group. "The Torchwood Institute has a motto. "If it's alien, it's ours." Anything that comes from the sky, we strip it down and we use it, for the good of the British Empire."

"For the good of the what?" Jackie asked, earning a blink from Yvonne.

"The British Empire." Yvonne repeated.

"There isn't a British Empire." Jackie reminded but Yvonne just smiled.

"Not yet." Yvonne saw a fellow soldier walking by them with a large mechanical weapon and she called to him. "Excuse me." He nodded and allowed her to take the weapon in her arms and she looked at the Doctor and Clara. "Do you recognize this, Doctor?"

"That's a Particle Gun." The Doctor answered.

"Good, isn't it?" Yvonne smiled. "Took us 8 years to get it to work."

"It's the 21st Century. You can't have Particle Guns." The Doctor said sternly, earning a huff from Yvonne.

"We must defend our border against the alien." Yvonne looked back at the soldier and handed the weapon back. "Thank you…Sebastian, isn't it?" Yvonne asked.

"Yes ma'am."

"Thank you, Sebastian." Yvonne said politely as Sebastian walked away and she turned back to the trio. "I think it's very important to know everyone by name." Yvonne said honestly. "Torchwood is a very modern organization. People skills, that's what it's all about these days. I'm a people person." She said with a smile.

"Have you got anyone called "Alonso"?" The Doctor asked.

Yvonne blinked. "I don't think so. Is that important?"

"No." Clara answered for the Doctor before looking at said man. "There's a time and a place." She said and he simply pouted in reply. "Never asked, what's your name?" Clara asked.

"Yvonne. Yvonne Hartman." The trio nodded and walked over to a stack of wooden boxes, one of which was opened and showed two large black clamps with massive handles and a small red button on one side. "Ah yes, now we're rather fond of these. "The Magnaclamp", found in a spaceship buried at the base of Mount Snowdon. Attach this to an object and it cancels the mass. I could use it to lift two tons of weight with a single hand." Yvonne commented as Clara picked up one with a slight "Oof". "That's an imperial ton, by the way. Torchwood refuses to go metric." Clara and the Doctor inspected it for a few brief moments before she tossed the clamp she held back in, rubbing her hand slightly with a wince, which the Doctor quickly moved in to take over by rubbing her hand softly for her.

"I could do with that to carry the shopping." Jackie commented.

Yvonne shook her head. "All these devices are for Torchwood's benefit, not the general public's." Jackie just gave her a dull look which Yvonne once again shrugged off.

"So, what about these ghosts?" Clara asked.

"Ah yes, the ghosts." Yvonne nodded. "They're…what you might call a side effect."

"Of what?" She asked.

Yvonne gave her a light look. "All in good time, Clara. There is an itinerary, trust me."

Right from behind Yvonne, a large truck carrying the TARDIS zoomed past, earning an incredulous look from Jackie and dull frowns from the Doctor and Clara. "Oi, where are you taking that?!" Jackie demanded.

""If it's alien, it's ours"."

"You'll never get inside it." The Doctor simply said, and Yvonne huffed.

"Et cetera." Yvonne remarked before walking off, motioning for them to follow her and just missing Clara's subtle glance and a nod towards the TARDIS before they turned a corner into a long hallway, their destination being a left way turn at the end.

"All those times on Earth, I've never heard of you." The Doctor said.

"Well, of course not. You're the enemy." Yvonne responded. "You're actually named in the Torchwood Foundation Charter of 1879 as an enemy of the crown."

"1879." The Doctor muttered and Clara tugged his arm. "What?" He asked.

"The house." Clara said.

"Oh!" The Doctor beamed. "That house in Scotland! That was called Torchwood!"

"That's correct." Yvonne commented proudly. "Where you both encountered Queen Victoria and the werewolf."

"And then we were knighted and banished from England in the same day." Clara added but Yvonne shrugged.

"Only for 100 years." Yvonne simply said. "Technically, you're still Sir Doctor and Dame Clara of TARDIS, even after 100 years."

"I honestly think they both just make half of it up." Jackie commented, earning a chuckle from Yvonne.

"In this world, half of everything sounds like something completely made up." Yvonne agreed.

"Did old Vicky create all of this?" Clara asked.

Yvonne raised her eyebrows. "Vicky?" Clara shrugged and Yvonne laughed. "I can see why he adores you." She smiled and Clara just blushed lightly. "Her majesty created the Torchwood Institute with the express intention of keeping Britain great and fighting the alien horde."

"But if we're the enemy, doesn't that mean we're prisoners?" The Doctor asked.

"Oh yes." Yvonne nodded as they rounded the corner and walked to stand in front of a large brown door with a small circular scanning panel on its right. "But we'll make you perfectly comfortable and there is so much you can teach us, starting with this." Yvonne took a small I.D pad out of her pocket and briefly pressed it against the panel, the door sliding straight open and allowing the group to enter, the Doctor, Clara and Jackie's gazes immediately going to the immensely large black sphere hanging above their heads. "Now, what do you make of that?" Yvonne asked rhetorically, immediately deducing by their captivated gazes that they would need a moment to take it in, and they even missed Rajesh looking shocked at their appearance before straitening himself up and walking towards the couple.

"You must be the Doctor and Clara." Rajesh said as he stood in front of the couple and held his hand out. "Rajesh Singh. It's an honor, sir, ma'am."

"Yeah." They muttered, shaking his hand but only briefly glancing down at him. "Sorry, it's just…" Rajesh nodded, turning his gaze back up to the sphere and the Doctor and Clara walked past them all to the bottom of the staircase.

"What is that thing?" Jackie asked.

"We've got no idea." Yvonne answered simply.

"What's wrong with it?"

Yvonne and Rajesh blinked at her. "What makes you think there's something wrong with it?" Rajesh asked.

"I don't know." Jackie muttered. "It just…feels weird."

"The sphere has that effect on everyone." Yvonne agreed. "It makes you want to run and hide, like it's forbidden."

"Clara." The Doctor pulled out his "Void Specs" and placed them over her eyes. "Here. Have a look." He took a gentle grasp of her shoulders as they stared back up at the sphere and her jaw dropped.

"That's…a lot of that…stuff." Clara stuttered out and he nodded, yet their conversation didn't reach the people behind them as they only whispered.

"We've tried analyzing it using every device imaginable." Rajesh explained. "But according to our instruments, the sphere doesn't exist. It weighs nothing, it doesn't age, no heat, no radiation and has no atomic mass."

"But I can see it!" Jackie protested and Rajesh took off his reading glasses.

"Fascinating, isn't it?" He remarked. "It upsets people because it gives off…nothing. It is absent."

Yvonne walked up to the staircase where the Doctor and Clara stood, still gazing up at the sphere. "Well then? What do you two think?" She asked.

"This is a void ship."

Yvonne glanced over at Rajesh, who with thorough intrigue in his eyes, walked over to stand beside her. "And what is that?" She asked the Doctor.

"Well, it's impossible for starters." The Doctor shrugged as Clara took off the "Void Specs" and handed them over to him, which he placed over his own eyes. "I always thought it was just a theory but…it's a vessel designed to exist outside Time and Space, traveling through the void." He took off and pocketed his "Void Specs", him and Clara turning their attention away from the sphere and towards Yvonne and Rajesh.

"And what's "The Void"?" Rajesh asked.

The Doctor nodded to Clara, who moved to stand in front of the pair and assumed her old "Teacher Mode", which they both found rather amusing and somewhat intriguing to watch. "The space between dimensions. You know the theory of alternate dimensions, trillions upon trillions of realities all stacked up against each other like London housing, right?" They nodded. "Well, "The Void" is the space in between and it contains absolutely nothing." Their eyes widened and she smiled. "Try to imagine that. Nothing at all. No light, no dark, no directions, no north, no south, no up, no down, no math, no life, no time, no death, all without end." Clara gave a sigh as her voice went completely grim. "Everyone's given different names to it. "The Void", "The Dark Abyss", "The Howling". It's more appropriate to call it Hell."

Yvonne's gaze turned to light sadness and she gave a sigh. "So, why would someone build the sphere? Why would they go there?"

"To escape. To hide." Clara said. "Remember, wars aren't just related to us here on Earth. Billions of other races have many wars, against themselves or against others. Some wars are so much bigger that they swallow entire civilizations into dust. But if you escaped into the Void, it would completely ignore you altogether. You could sit inside it and an eternity would pass you by. The Big Bang, Supernovas, Black Holes, the End of the Universe, the start of the next and it all wouldn't even touch the sides. You'd exist outside all of creation."

"You see?" Yvonne smiled at Rajesh. "We were right. There IS something inside it."

"That there is." The Doctor agreed grimly, making Yvonne's smile fade.

"So, how do we get in there?" Rajesh asked.

"We don't!" The Doctor growled, moving straight passed them and pulling Clara with him. "We send that thing back into Hell! How did it get here in the first place?!" He demanded.

"Well, that's how it all started." Yvonne said. "The sphere came through into this world and the ghosts followed in its wake."

"Show us." The Doctor said, power walking straight ahead to the door, making Clara, Jackie and Yvonne move to follow behind him as he turned to the left.

"No, Doctor." Yvonne called and he turned around to walk the other way. "We're going to the main office, which is at the top of the tower. You're better off taking the lift." Yvonne remarked, the small group walking into a lift while Yvonne motioned the soldiers that were accompanying them to move to a new station. The lift doors shut, and they waited and waited, then before long, which did feel like an eternity for them since they were taking a lift in a skyscraper after all, they arrived at the top most floor of the building. Yvonne led them into the main office and up towards the massive white wall, which got the Doctor and Clara to stare at it in complete puzzlement as Jackie looked on from the entrance to Yvonne's office. "The sphere came through here. A hole in the world." Clara moved up and placed a hand on the wall, feeling almost a hazy breeze against her hand, which made her glance at Yvonne. "Odd, isn't it? You feel like there's a tunnel beyond and on the other side, from time to time, there's a brief presence. You can almost feel it against you, but it's barely there."

"What about when you activate it?" Clara asked.

Yvonne laughed. "No. Touching or interacting with the wall is out of bounds when a shift goes online. Right now, of course, it isn't active. But when we fire particle engines at that exact spot, the breach opens up."

"And how did you find it?" The Doctor asked, earning a shrug from Yvonne.

"We'd been getting warning signs for years. A radar black spot. So, we built this place, Torchwood Tower. The breach was 600 feet above sea level. It was the only way to reach it."

The Doctor took out his "Void Specs" to stare at the wall for a few seconds before handing them to Clara. "You built a skyscraper just to reach a spatial disturbance. How much money have you got?"

Yvonne just smiled. "Enough." She said simply before walking back to her office, leaving the couple to stand there, looking at it for a few moments before Clara took off the "Void Specs" and handed them back to the Doctor, who quickly pocketed them.

"Makes me feel bad for "The Night's Watch"." Clara quipped.

The Doctor hushed her, looking around to see if anybody heard but they didn't, so he took her hand to make it more…private.  _"The Wall is still taller than 600 feet."_ The Doctor reminded.

 _"Yes. And they're out in the open, freezing their asses off."_  Clara added.  _"So long as they keep away from Craster. That man gave me the creeps."_  She gave a small shudder, which made him look at her in puzzlement.

 _"Who's "Craster"?"_ The Doctor asked and Clara just bit her lip for a moment before smiling.

 _"Spoilers."_  She said simply before she led him away from the wall and towards Yvonne's office, where Jackie was standing by a window and looking outside.

"Hold on a minute. We're in Canary Wharf." Jackie said and Yvonne nodded. "Must be, this building. It's Canary Wharf."

"That is the public name for it. But to those in the know, it's Torchwood." Yvonne said.

The Doctor knocked on the glass door, earning their attention as he and Clara leaned against it and one another. "So, you find the breach, probe it, the sphere comes through, 600 feet above London, bam! It leaves a hole in the fabric of reality. And that hole, you think, "Oh, shall we leave it alone? Shall we back off? Shall we play it safe?" Nah, you think, "Let's make it bigger!"" He remarked sternly.

"It's a massive source of energy." Yvonne responded calmly. "If we can harness that power, we need never depend on the Middle East again. Britain will become truly independent." Yvonne glanced down at her watch for a moment before giving them a dull look. "Look, you can see for yourselves. Next ghost shift's in two minutes." Yvonne moved past them and out of her office, but they didn't move at all.

"Cancel it." The Doctor said simply.

"I don't think so." Yvonne declined.

"I'm warning you, cancel it!" The Doctor growled.

"Oh, exactly as the legends would have it." Yvonne retorted, turning around to look at him defiantly. "The Doctor, lording it over us, assuming alien authority over the rights of Man."

"Which doesn't matter when Man could kill themselves by being idiots." Clara snapped, taking out her sonic. "Let me show you." She moved to stand behind the glass wall and pointed her sonic to the exact center of the first "O" in the Torchwood logo. "Sphere comes through." She activated the sonic, causing a hole to appear in that place and causing thousands of cracks to spread from the hole like a massive spider web. After a couple of moments, Clara stopped and pocketed her sonic away. "When it made that hole, it cracked the world around it. The entire surface of this dimension splintered. And that's how the ghosts get through, that's how they get everywhere by bleeding through the fault lines, walking from their world, across the Void and into ours. With the Human Race hoping and wishing and helping them along the way. But too many ghosts and…" She trailed off, finishing her point by pressing her finger lightly against the glass, the slightest pressure of it causing the glass to shatter, falling with a loud crash to the floor and spreading everywhere, which did earn a few odd looks from some of the employees present.

"Well, in that case, we'll have to be more careful." Yvonne muttered, not that she was denying being impressed by the display Clara put on. She just shrugged it off, since she had mastered that a long time ago. "Positions! Ghost shift in one minute!" She called and the employees started rushing about to prepare themselves.

"Mrs. Hartman, we are asking you, please don't do this." Clara pleaded.

"We have done this a thousand times." Yvonne said with a roll of her eyes.

"Then stop at a thousand!" Clara growled.

"We are in control of the ghosts. The levers can open the breach and equally, they can close it." Yvonne retorted and she opened her mouth to continue-

"Okay." The couple said in unison, giving her a shrug as the Doctor walked off, grabbing a chair and rolling it into the middle of the room and sat down on it while Clara sat on his lap.

"Sorry?" Yvonne asked in surprise.

"Never mind. As you were." They shrugged.

"What, is that it?" She asked.

They shrugged and Yvonne started to feel rather uneasy at their retorting to her statements. "Well, we said our bit. Ah well. No chance for a cup of tea?" They asked a worker, who was ever so slightly creeped out by their talking in unison, but he still shook his head.

"Ghost shift in 20 seconds." Adeola said dully but no one took notice of her unemotional voice.

"Can't wait to see this." The Doctor said as Clara leaned her head back onto his right shoulder.

"You can't stop us. Either of you." Yvonne remarked defiantly as she crossed her arms.

"Absolutely not." The Doctor retorted back. "Pull up a chair, Rose. Come and watch the fireworks." He beamed and Jackie just moved to stand beside them, placing a hand on the back of the chair as the three of them stared down at Yvonne, who was quickly becoming nervous under the heat of their hardened glares.

"Ghost shift in 10 seconds." Adeola reported. "9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1-"

"Stop the shift!" Yvonne demanded suddenly, which Adeola immediately agreed while the trio before her relaxed their posture and gave her incredibly thankful looks.

"Thank you." The Doctor said gratefully.

Yvonne sighed. "I suppose it makes sense, to get as much intelligence as possible. But the program will recommence as soon as you both have explained everything."

"We're glad to be of help." Clara said calmly.

"And someone clear up this glass!" She called to one of her employees before glancing slyly at Clara. "They did warn me, you know. They said you two love to make a mess." She quipped before walking back into her office.

The Doctor shot Jackie a small look before he glanced at Clara, who was gazing distantly at Adeola, Gareth and Matt.  _"Clara?"_ He whispered in her mind.

_"Why is everyone else wearing one ear pod but these three have a pair of them?"_

The Doctor frowned at that, looking at the three workers, who were gazing blankly at the white wall.  _"I'm sure we'll find out in a moment."_  The Doctor said, but it wasn't as a quip or in reassurance. Merely, it was just fact.

* * *

"Well, since I'm doing nothing, might as well be useful." Rose muttered to herself as she took a gentle hold of the Doctor's overcoat and took out his psychic paper, before moving over to the monitor to observe the outside of the TARDIS. To it's left were a trio of soldiers chattering away amongst themselves while to her right was a small unused work bench with a scientists white lab coat draped over it. Rose silently crept outside, stole the coat and checked around her for a door. She saw another scientist, a dark-skinned man with a white lab coat walking through a door at the other end of the room. Rose hurried to follow, gazing down the hallway to see the silhouette of a man, whose form looked strangely familiar to Rose, staring at her before turning and rushing down the corridor. Rose raced to follow as he turned the corner, making her slow down to a slow walk as she turned the corner to see the entrance to the sphere chamber. Rose placed a kiss for luck onto the psychic paper before pressing it against the panel and, it slid wide open, making Rose give an inward sigh of relief and thanks as she walked inside, her breath taken away by the imposing sight of the sphere hanging in the room.  _My god. That is just…wrong._  She mused to herself.

"Can I help you?" Rajesh asked as he walked up in front of her. She would have jumped in shock, but she was too busy gawping at the sight of the sphere.

"I was just…" She trailed off, pointing up at it. Rajesh turned to glance up at it and he gave a low sigh.

"Try not to stare at it. It does that to everyone. What do you want?" He asked again.

She shook her head as if to clear a daze, which briefly made him smile in amusement. "Sorry. Um, they sent me from Personnel. They said some random couple had been taken prisoner. Some sort of doctor and a short woman? I'm just…checking the lines of communication. Did they tell you anything?" Rajesh just stared blankly at her and Rose almost felt herself inwardly shrink.  _God, I must look bloody stupid right now._

"Can I see your authorization?" He asked.

"Sure." Rose handed him the psychic paper, which he only checked after putting on his reading glasses, but his expression quickly frowned.

"Well, that's lucky." He commented and Rose smiled. "You see, everyone at Torchwood has at least a basic level of psychic training. This paper is blank and you're a fake." His words made Rose's smile fade but inwardly she rolled her eyes.

_You knew it was coming, blonde dumbo._

Rajesh pressed a finger against his ear pod. "Seal the room and call security." A loud clanking and grinding came from the door before Rajesh glanced behind him at the only other scientist working in the room. "Samuel. Can you check the door locks? She just walked right in." He said, turning his gaze back to Rose.

The man turned his head and grinned as he stared straight at Rose. "Doing it now, sir." Mickey said, Rose having to fight off her urge to give an utterly bewildered face as Mickey walked up from the other side of the room, quietly shushing her before grinning with two thumbs up and then comically crossing his face into a stereotypical stern expression. Rose had to fight the urge to either squeal or laugh since Rajesh was still looking at her.

"Well, if you'd like to take a seat." Rajesh motioned to his desk in the corner where two chairs sat, and Rose sighed.  _First ghosts, then Ghostbusters references, now Mum is me, now this…sphere…thing and Mickey is back. This is a fucking weird day._

* * *

"So, these ghosts, whatever they are, did they build the spheres?" Yvonne asked as she sat at her desk, while the Doctor and Clara sat in front of her in two separate chairs with the Doctor placing his feet on the desk, to Yvonne's amusement and irritation while Jackie stood silently behind them.

"Must have." The Doctor shrugged. "Aimed it at this dimension like a cannonball."

"Or a wrecking-"

"No!" The Doctor groaned, immediately making Clara pout. "We're not going over that again."

Yvonne's ear pod gave a small notification, which made her answer to hear Rajesh's voice.  _"Yvonne, I think you should see this. We've got a visitor. Don't know who she is, but funnily enough, she arrived at the same time as the Doctor and Clara."_

"Patching a link through." Yvonne clacked away at her white laptop, appropriately bearing a Torchwood logo before she took her laptop and turned it around to show the Doctor and Clara a live feed of Rajesh and Rose sitting at a desk. "She one of yours?" Yvonne asked bluntly.

The couple just shook their heads. "Never seen her before. Ever." The Doctor said.

Yvonne smiled. "Good. Then we can have her shot."

They groaned and Yvonne grinned as the Doctor sat straight up in his chair. "Oh, all right then, it was worth a try. That's…that's Rose Tyler." The Doctor admitted, Yvonne frowning as she glanced back and forth between Jackie and Rose.

 _"Sorry."_  Rose quickly said.  _"Hello."_  She waved and the trio waved back with smiles.

"Well, if that's Rose Tyler, who's she?" Yvonne asked, nodding to Jackie.

"I'm her mother."

The couple groaned and Yvonne gave a chuckle in her throat. "Oh, you both travel with her mother."

"Not likely." Jackie scoffed at her hidden meaning. "Either way, they kidnapped me."

"Please, when Torchwood comes to write my complete history, don't tell people I've traveled through Time and Space with her mother." The Doctor said, earning a laugh from Yvonne and a frown from Jackie.

"Charming." Jackie replied.

"Watch the ego." Clara said to the Doctor, who just pouted at her.

"Clara, I've got a reputation to uphold." He whined.

"No, it's an ego." Clara retorted.

"Excuse me!" Yvonne called suddenly as she got up and walked to stand in the entrance of her office, and the trio immediately noted that the far wall was starting to get just a little bit bright all of a sudden. "I thought I said: Stop the shift!" She demanded but the only employees that were actually working was Adeola, Gareth and Matt. "Who started the program?!" Yvonne demanded again, her nervousness from earlier returning full force as none of them answered or even glanced at her. "Right, step away from the monitors, everyone!" They still didn't respond, which made the Doctor and Clara immediately stand up and move into the room to get a closer look at the three blank workers. "Gareth, Ade, Matt, stop what you're doing right now. Step away from the desks! That's an order!"

"Hold the levers!" Clara ordered, and the bewildered employees present quickly moved and attempted to hold the levers down while she moved up to Adeola. "What are you doing?" She asked Adeola in a mutter.

"Ade, listen to me, step away from the desk!" Yvonne demanded but Adeola didn't respond, not even to Clara clicking her fingers mere centimeters from Adeola's face.

"She can't hear you and they're overriding the system." Clara said grimly, her face setting into a clenched jaw as she studied Adeola, but specifically, the pair of beeping ear pods. "It's here and it's happening again." Clara said, standing up and taking out her sonic. "I'm truly sorry for this." She pressed her sonic against Adeola's ear pods and activated it, making her, Gareth and Matt scream in agony before they collapsed onto their desks, unmoving and motionless.

"What happened? What did you just do?" Yvonne asked Clara as she pocketed her sonic.

"They're dead." Clara simply said, making Jackie scowl at her.

"You killed them."

"No, someone else did that before we got here." Clara retorted as she and the Doctor tried to reverse the system to no avail.

"But you killed them!" Jackie protested.

"Ugh, we don't have time for this!" Clara snapped, making Jackie have a brief look of shock before Yvonne interrupted.

"What are those earpieces?" Yvonne asked.

"Don't." Clara simply said.

"But they're standard coms devices. How does it control them?" Yvonne asked again.

"Leave them alone!" Clara snarled.

Yvonne decided to ignore her and grasped onto Adeola's earpiece and yanked it out, bringing out a disgusting white tube of flesh that made her and Jackie scrunch their faces in disgust. "Ugh, god! It goes inside their brain!" She dropped it onto the desk, still looking at it in disgust.

"The ghost shift, Yvonne!" Clara reminded.

Yvonne raced over to the other side of the room to stand beside Clara and glanced down at what was Matt's monitor. "90% there and still running. Can't you stop it?"

Clara shook her head. "They're still controlling it. They've hijacked the system."

"Who's "They"?" Yvonne asked but Clara ignored her.

"It may be a remote transmitter, but it's got to be close by, so that would mean that we can trace it. Doctor." The Doctor immediately took out his sonic and started the scan as he moved to leave the room, Clara immediately following after him with Yvonne. "Jackie, stay here!" Clara called.

"Keep those levers down! Keep them offline!" Yvonne ordered.

* * *

"Yvonne, I thought you said the next ghost shift was canceled." Rajesh asked into his ear pod, earning a puzzled Rose's attention and even the half attention of Mickey. "What's going on?" No answer, which made Rajesh frown. "Yvonne?" At that moment, the sphere gave a loud groan before it rattled, the force of it causing the room to shake, which made Rajesh's eyes widen as he ran up to look at it, Rose and Mickey following swiftly behind him. "It can't be." He muttered and the sphere gave another loud groan, causing the room to shake once again. "It's active." The sphere gave another groan, which caused the room to shake once more and Rajesh raced back to his desk. "Yvonne? Can you hear me? We've got a problem down here. Yvonne?" Even on the computer, he still received no answer. "Yvonne, for god's sake, the sphere is active!" He glanced at another monitor on his desk, the readings from the scanning devices were going completely berserk. "The readings are going wild! It's got weight, it's got mass, an electromagnetic field, it exists!" The door suddenly clanged shut and then grinded, signaling the quarantine even though they had just lifted it mere moments before. "The door's sealed. Automatic quarantine, we can't get out!" He raced from his desk to the door as he tried to hack his way through the quarantine, all the while Rose and Mickey stood side by side, still staring up at the sphere.

"It's all right, eh?" Mickey quipped and Rose smiled. "We've beaten them before, we can beat them again. That's why I'm here. The fight goes on."

"The fight against what?" Rose asked.

Mickey shrugged. "What do you think?" He asked rhetorically as the room continued shaking.

* * *

"What's down here?" The Doctor asked as he, Clara, Yvonne and two soldiers stood beside a construction plastic covered wall, and where the door would be was instead an open entrance.

Yvonne shrugged, but even she was a bit confused. "I don't know. I think it's building work. Just renovations."

Clara just raised her eyebrows at her as the Doctor turned off his sonic and pocketed it before taking her hand. "You should go back." Clara said.

"Think again." Yvonne simply said as she and the two soldiers behind them slowly followed Clara and the Doctor right on through into the figurative spider's web of plastic, coming into a small walkway intersection and Clara stood in front of them, glancing around. "What is it? What's down here?"

"Earpieces, ear pods, our world is colliding with another and…I think we know which one." Clara answered. To add to her answer, three loud stomps came from behind the wall of plastic and three large distinctively familiar silhouettes stood there, staring at them.

"What are they?" Yvonne asked.

"They came through first. The advance guard." The figures thrust their large steel gray metal hands through the plastic and quickly created a door to step through. "Cybermen. Get out!" Clara ordered, but as they turned to run, six more Cybermen stepped out suddenly to block all escape paths, leaving them trapped.

* * *

"We had them beaten but then they escaped." Mickey explained to Rose. "The Cybermen just vanished." The room gave another loud shake, once again making Rose and Mickey wince ever so slightly at the force of the sphere's groaning. "They found a way through to this world but so did we."

Rose gave him a puzzled look, which he only saw from the corner of his eye. "The Doctor and Clara said that was impossible."

"And everyone isn't always right, are they?" Mickey retorted.

"What's inside that sphere?" Rose asked.

Mickey shrugged. "No one knows. Cyber Leader, Cyber King, Emperor of the Cybermen." He rambled. "Whatever it is, it's dead meat." He said boldly.

Rose gave him a smile before wrapping him in a quick hug. "It's good to see you."

He smiled back as they parted. "Yeah. It's good to see you too."

* * *

"Get away from the machines!" Clara ordered to the workers as the Cybermen escorted her, the Doctor, Yvonne and the two soldiers back into the main office. "Do what they say! Don't fight them!" Two Cybermen moved to stand in front, raising their right arms out and causing a small blaster to emerge before they shot the workers dead, leaving their smoking bodies on the floor with cauterized holes from the laser blasts impact.

"What are they?" Jackie asked as one of the Cybermen pushed her into the group beside a horrified Yvonne.

The Leader of the group turned around to stare it's blank black eyes straight into Jackie's. **"We are the Cybermen."** It then turned around to stare back at the white wall.  **"The ghost shift will be increased to 100%."** The Leader then pressed it's left fist against it's chest, causing the levers all by themselves to raise up at a fast rate, the far white wall glaring a bright white light, making all the Humans and the one Time Lord present wince and squint their eyes. Then, a large mass of the ghosts appeared as if they were walking out of the wall and were marching straight up towards them, their every step causing the distinctive Cybermen stomp, which made Clara and the Doctor clench their jaws at the obvious answer.

"But these Cybermen, what have they got to do with the ghosts?" Jackie asked as she held a hand in front of her eyes to protect them from the white glare.

"Don't you ever listen?" The Doctor retorted. "A footprint doesn't look like a boot."

 **"Achieving full transfer."** The Leader reported.

"They're Cybermen." Clara said grimly. "All of the ghosts are Cybermen. Millions of them, right across the whole world." The ghosts came to a stop right before their eyes and as the white light of the wall dimmed out, the haze of the ghosts faded away, showing them to truly be the Cybermen, standing there and staring blankly at all the flesh life forms present.

"They're invading the whole planet." Yvonne said in shock.

"It's not an invasion, it's too late for that." The Doctor inputted grimly. "It's a victory."

Suddenly, a loud blaring alarm sounded from one of the computers, causing the group to look over, seeing a single message in big bold words: Sphere Activated. "No." Clara muttered with a frown. "They can't have built that." She quickly moved over to stand defiantly in front of the Leader, causing the Cybermen to turn to stare straight at her but she ignored them all, just not the one in front of her. "That doesn't make any sense. You are Cybermen, you don't have the technology to build a Void Ship, you never do, ever. So how could you have created that sphere?"

**"The sphere is not ours."**

Clara's face fell from a scowl into a bewildered frown. "What?" She asked in a mutter.

**"The sphere broke down the barriers between worlds. We only followed. Its origin is unknown."**

"Then…what's inside it?" Clara asked.

"Rose is down there!" Jackie protested but no one had the heart currently to reassure her. They had to know, what was inside it?

* * *

"Can anyone hear me?!" Rajesh called as the room continued to shake and rattle from the sphere. "Come on, I need help down here. I need-" What interrupted him was the sphere, but its groaning had changed into a screeching grind of metal on metal, causing him to run back up to stand behind Rose and Mickey. Mickey quickly tore off his white lab coat and threw his ear pod to the ground as the sphere gave a loud screech before it stilled for just a few moments. Then, it shone a bright white light through its top as pieces of it tore away, slowly opening downwards and causing Mickey to grin.

"I know what's in there, and I'm ready for them. I've got just the thing." Mickey said, racing over to a nearby hiding spot beneath the sphere, withdrawing a large pulse fire cannon and walking back over to rejoin Rose and Rajesh, aiming the cannon straight up at the sphere. "This is going to blast them to hell."

"Samuel, what are you doing?" Rajesh asked.

"The names Mickey. Mickey Smith, defending the Earth." Mickey retorted, cocking and loading the cannon as the trio stared up at the sphere as it peeled it's layers away until they had reached the halfway point, still shining its white light up into the room. Then, a series of hovering sounds started as four eye stalks poked past the top of the sphere's lowering shell. "That's…that's not Cybermen." Mickey said with a frown.

Then, the eyestalks got higher and higher as four Daleks came up out of the sphere and into view, three the traditional dull golden and the one in front a pure jet black, yet all were facing forwards as they hovered in the air and started to descend to the ground, their eyestalks staring straight at the bewildered Rajesh, the confused yet defiant Mickey and the horrified Rose. "Oh my god." Rose muttered as the Daleks came to a stop on the ground.

 **"Location: Earth! Life forms detected! Exterminate!"**  The black Dalek screeched and then the three behind it joined in, screaming in unison as they bore closer upon the trio.  **"Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!"**

**AN: Argh, to be continued! God dammit! XD Still, that was a lot of fun to write, (I'm looking at you, shrugging Yvonne) but now, there's only one chapter left for Rose as a regular character. Either way, it'll be fun and sad, but I'm still so not ready for it. Anyway, as always, thanks for reading and leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	41. Doomsday

**AN: Well, here we are. Rose's last story, at least as a regular character, ever. I myself was never ready for it, but too bad anyway. XD Please enjoy the Tyler swansong.**

**Doomsday**

_Some people, not everyone but definitely some, love to say that for every bit of good that happens in your life, there will come a day where you must make a sacrifice. No one would ever believe that, and why would they? I should have, but I never did. *Chuckles* Stupid Rose, look at where it got you in the long run. Still on planet Earth, that's for sure. But it is not your home. It is a stranger world, with familiar faces and a few people you can be with, but neither of THEM are there anymore. And here I am, standing on this beach and it is so…lonely. It is so very lonely here._

**Bad Wolf Bay, Pete's World  
** 7th November 2010

The beach itself, to Rose's sorrow filled and weary eyes, was indeed a very beautiful sight. The hills to her left were a nice calming sea of green while the waves of the ocean to her right were still as entrancing as any beach, despite the sea having almost a grey tinge to its waters, like any sea in the very early calm before a storm.  _Blame that on the conveniently cloudy day._ Rose mused to herself. She stood alone, her unbrushed blonde hair billowing in the wind, having to constantly brush it away from her eyes to see, but that's what she gets since she forgot to bring a simple comb or a hair brush. Even looking down at her own ensemble, it was rather plain. Gone were the bright colors of pink or blue she used to wear. Right now, she opted for a black leather jacket over a red top and black jeans. She turned to look behind her, seeing the only 3 close people she had left anymore, now that the Doctor and Clara were gone. Her mother, Jackie, had opted for a pink ensemble of winter clothes to keep her warm, since Norway was so bloody cold and windy. Mickey, still as cleanshaven both on his face and on his head as ever, was wearing a black and blue jacket and plain blue jeans as he leaned against the old Jeep they had traveled here in. Their driver and her new-found Dad, Peter Tyler, was wearing a grey shirt under a thick black jacket and black jeans as he held Jackie's hand close to him. The three of them were staring sadly at Rose, but Rose didn't say or signal anything to them. Instead, she stayed silent.

_"Rose?"_

_"Rose?"_

Rose stared around helplessly, trying to find the source of the voices, trying to find any sign of her friends, but she couldn't. For they weren't here. She was alone.

 _When you end up traveling in silence for hundreds and hundreds of miles…it gets to you, whether you want to admit it or not. You want to reminisce about yourself, and you daydream about almost anything really. It could be about the next big hobby project you might do, or a future you have planned. Me? I take a trip on the nostalgia train, as Clara once referred to it. We had visited a planet far away from Earth. It was just a planet of rocks and water, the only creatures living on it were like flying manta rays, but the sound they made was rather like a bird screech, yet nowhere near as annoying as you'd think. It was still pretty to look at, a planet untouched by many species, luckily enough, but it still made me think back on my life. For the first 19 years of my life, nothing happened. I don't mean to make it sound ungrateful, for I was. I really was. My mother is the best woman in the entire world, and by far and away, the most terrifying when she wants to be. And I loved Mickey, I really did. It never did work out in the end, and I still feel bad for him, but he's moved on from it, as he's said repeatedly every time I bring it up. But he never regretted it, and neither did I. And the work at Henrik's, while it could be as monotonous and tedious as ever, it did provide something in life. But past all of that, nothing happened. I still remember finishing my job at 5, going to a nearby shop to grab some chips and snack on them on the bus back to our flat. Then, Mum would make me a nice dinner. Nothing out there, but it was nice and calming. We'd talk about our day for a little while, and then Mum would ramble on about whatever new topic grabbed her attention, and sometimes it made me fall asleep. Mum noticed and started using it as a method whenever I stayed out too late sometimes, rambling on and on until I slipped snoring away on my bed. But it all changed, when I met my two favorite friends in the whole world. The Doctor and Clara Oswald. The Doctor took my hand as I was surrounded by shop window dummies and he said one world: Run. Then the next night, I met Clara, his favorite girl in his whole world, save the TARDIS. Together, they gave me a free spot in the TARDIS, and they showed me the whole of Time and Space. Charles Dickens, the end of the Earth, a 51_ _st_ _Century ship stalking an 18_ _th_ _Century woman, who was absolutely besotted with them. Even a dead planet orbiting a Black Hole, all after the Doctor gave his life to save Earth, me, Clara and Captain Jack, and he changed his face. Gone was the northern accent U-boat Captain, in came a skinny man in a suit. Those two never fell out of love for each other, it just deepened, and I was there, watching and along for the ride, and I thought it would never end. And on that rocky planet, Clara saw me gazing off distantly, and she said, "Rose, you know the nostalgia train is incredibly expensive with time, so can you get off of it?" I laughed and she took my hand while the Doctor stood beside her and she asked one question, "How long are you going to stay with us?" I always thought about Mum, and she was always there for me, but she did keep reminding me over and over, "What happens when I'm gone, and I'm dead and buried? What are you going to do then?" I never knew how to answer that until that day, and I decided, I never want to leave my friends. Not for anything. These have been the best years of my life. So, I grasped Clara's hand tighter and I replied, "Forever." They just grinned, but I should have seen that small sad look in their eyes, because nothing lasts forever. And just as predicted, the army of ghosts came into the world. Then came Torchwood and the Daleks and the war, and that's where it all ended. This is the story of how I died._

 **Torchwood Tower, the TARDIS' World  
** 7th November 2007

"Samuel, what are you doing?" Rajesh asked.

"The names Mickey. Mickey Smith, defending the Earth." Mickey retorted, cocking and loading the rifle as the trio stared up at the sphere as it peeled it's layers away until they had reached the halfway point, still shining its white light up into the room. Then, a series of hovering sounds started as four eyestalks poked past the top of the sphere's lowering shell. "That's…that's not Cybermen." Mickey said with a frown.

Then, the eyestalks got higher and higher as four Daleks came up out of the sphere and into view, three the traditional dull golden and the one in front a pure jet black, yet all were facing forwards as they hovered in the air and started to descend to the ground, their eyestalks staring straight at the bewildered Rajesh, the confused yet defiant Mickey and the horrified Rose. "Oh my god." Rose muttered as the Daleks came to a stop on the ground.

 **"Location: Earth! Life forms detected! Exterminate!"**  The black Dalek screeched and then the three behind it joined in, screaming in unison as they bore closer upon the trio.  **"Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!"**

"Daleks!" Rose exclaimed. Her sudden and strong voice halted the Daleks in their tracks, staying completely still and staring their blue eyestalks straight at Rose. "You're called Daleks!" She said again, and the Daleks still didn't move, not an inch. So, Rose moved up to stand before the Dalek Leader and took off her white lab coat before throwing it aside. "I know your name. Think about it, how can I know that? A Human who knows about the Daleks and the Time War. If you want to know how, then keep us alive. That's all I'm asking. Me and my friends."

"Yeah, Daleks." Mickey agreed, and the Dalek Leader turned its eyestalk towards Mickey. "Time War. Me too."

"Yeah, and me." Rajesh agreed.

The Dalek Leader just stared at them for a few silent moments before it turned its eyestalk back on Rose.  **"You will be necessary."** It then turn its eyestalk around to look at its three Dalek comrades.  **"Dalek Jast, report. What is the status of the Genesis Ark?"**

 **"Status: Hibernation."**  Dalek Jast, who had a lighter voice than the Dalek Leader, reported.

 **"Commence awakening! The Genesis Ark must be protected above all else!"**  The Daleks then turned around and encircled a large vessel, shaped rather similar to a Dalek but with four small pods on each side and complete with a dull brown color. The three golden subordinates, excluding their Leader, moved in closer and placed their manipulation arms over the pods, before staying completely silent and motionless.

"The Daleks," Mickey whispered to Rose, "you said they were all dead."

Rose looked at him and shook her head. "Never mind that. What the hell's a "Genesis Ark"?"

* * *

"What's down there?" Jackie asked the Doctor and Clara, still surrounded by the Cybermen in the room as Yvonne was led back into her office by two Cybermen. "She was in that room with the sphere. What's happened to Rose?" Jackie asked again as the couple didn't answer.

"We don't know." The Doctor snapped. Jackie instantly brought her hand to her mouth to suppress a small sob, making the Doctor sigh as he and Clara moved to stand beside Jackie. "We'll find her." He said more gently. "We brought you here and we'll get you both out, you and your daughter." Jackie briefly glanced at them before involuntarily closing her eyes with a sniff.

"Jackie, look at us." Clara said but she still didn't. "Look at us." She repeated and Jackie gave in, glancing at the couple with her wide eyes of worry and terror. "We give you our word. Rose will be safe." Jackie didn't say anything, but her eyes changed into a thankful gaze that made them smile warmly at her.

The Cyber Leader walked straight past the trio to stand inside Yvonne's office as she was sitting at her desk, her gaze one of defiance, but the trio could barely see that it was a mask for her own fear of the Cybermen.  **"You will talk to your central world authority and order global surrender."**  The Leader said.

Yvonne scoffed, an act that made even Clara snigger. "Oh, do some goddamn research." She growled. "We haven't got a "Central World Authority"."

 **"You have now."**  The Leader simply said, which made their smiles fade.  **"I will speak on all global wavelengths."**  Yvonne, since they were completely surrounded by Cybermen, relented, and allowed the Leader to use her laptop to broadcast its message.  **"This broadcast is for Humankind. Cybermen now occupy every landmass on this planet. But you need not fear. Cybermen will remove fear. Cybermen will remove sex and class and color and creed. You will become identical. You will become like us."**

* * *

The Dalek Leader turned to look at the trio, moving up close until its eyestalk was mere inches from their faces.  **"Which of you is least important?!"** It demanded.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rose asked in a mix of defiance and puzzlement.

 **"Which of you is least important?!"**  It repeated.

Rose shook her head, still maintaining her tone. "Nah, we don't work like that. None of us."

**"Designate the least important!"**

"This is my responsibility." Rajesh interrupted with a small gulp, making Rose and Mickey look at him with a mixture of concern and "What are you doing?!"

"No, don't!" Rose said but Rajesh ignored her, moving around them to stand before the Dalek Leader, noticing from the corner of his eye that the three Daleks had paused their progress on the Ark and two of them were moving to surround him.

"I, uh…I represent the Torchwood Institute." Rajesh said, taking off and pocketing his reading glasses. "Anything you need, you…you come through me. Leave these two alone."

**"You will kneel."**

Rajesh blinked. "What for-"

 **"Kneel."**  The Dalek Leader interrupted. Rajesh relented, moving down to his knees and the three Daleks surrounded him in a sort of triangle, and they continued staring directly down at him, making his own heart race with nervousness.  **"The Daleks need information about current Earth history."**

Rajesh gulped but held his head high. "Yeah, well, I can give you a certain amount of intelligence, but…nothing that will compromise homeland securit-"

 **"Speech is not necessary!"**  The Dalek Leader interrupted.  **"We will extract brainwaves!"**

The three Daleks moved a few inches forward before their manipulator arms began to quickly extend towards his head. "No. Don't." He pleaded, their guns aimed squarely at him, keeping his quickly shaking form in place on the floor. " I'll tell you everything you need." He continued but they ignored him still. "No, don't." The manipulator arms of the Daleks closed in around his head and began to squeeze him tight like a soft apple, it's form quickly shattering and his screams muffled by the arms while Rose and Mickey watched on, angry and frightened but unable to help.

* * *

The Doctor, Clara, Yvonne and Jackie, all with their arms crossed, stood with the Leader by Yvonne's office window, looking out upon London, it's buildings and roads bursting into chaotic flames by the combat far below, between the Cybermen and Humanity's own protectors: Itself.

 **"I ordered surrender."**  The Leader stated, almost as if it was confused by Humanities actions.

"And they are not taking instructions!" Clara retorted with a snarl. "Don't you get it, you silver chrome dome moron?! You're on every street! You're in their homes! You've got their children! Of course they're gonna fight!"

The Leader turned to look straight at Clara.  **"Humanity will surrender and be upgraded, or they will die."**

Clara clenched her jaw at him but before she could retort again, another Cyberman entered into the office and the Leader turned to look at it.  **"Scans have detected unknown technology active within sphere chamber."**

 **"Cybermen must investigate."** The Leader agreed, before pressing its fist to its chest, creating a small whirring noise within itself.  **"Units 1065 and 1066 will investigate sphere chamber."**  A small moment of silence passed, before the Leader spoke up again.  **"Units open visual link."**

Yvonne's laptop brought up one of the Cybermen's view, who was marching down a corridor towards a corner door, but they stopped as a Dalek came out of the doorway and turned to look straight at them.  _ **"Identify yourselves!"**_ It demanded. Clara unconsciously grabbed the Doctor's hand, said man now looking at the laptop with a horrified frown.

* * *

The three Daleks dropped the now smoking corpse of Rajesh down onto the floor, his head now only the crude remains of a scorched skull.  **"His mind spoke of a second species invading Earth, infected by the superstition of ghosts!"** The Dalek Leader reported.

"You didn't need to kill him!" Rose cried, but she and Mickey unconsciously flinched as the four Daleks turned to stare at them.

 **"Neither did we need him alive."**  One of the Daleks said back to her, it's voice raspier than the Leader or Dalek Jast.

The Dalek Leader turned to look at the Dalek who just spoke up.  **"Dalek Thay, investigate outside."** It ordered.

**"I obey."**

Dalek Thay rolled towards the door and exited the room, while the three remaining Daleks turned to look towards the golden wall, Rose and Mickey finding themselves bewildered at the missing presence of the sphere. "Where did-"

 **"We created it, and we can also destroy it!"**  The Dalek Leader interrupted without looking at her, causing Rose to shut her mouth while it continued.  **"Establish visual contact! Lower communications barrier!"**

A large blue picture of Dalek Thay's view appeared on the golden wall, as it rolled out past a door and into a hallway, turning its eyestalk to see two Cybermen, who quickly halted their march upon the sight of Dalek Thay.  _ **"Identify yourselves!"**_  Dalek Thay demanded.

 _ **"** ** _Y_ ou will identify first."**_ One of the Cybermen retorted.

**_"State your identity!"_ **

**_"You will identify first."_ **

_**"Identify!"** _

"It's like Stephen Hawking meets the Speaking Clock." Mickey whispered to Rose, earning a just barely contained snigger in return.

_**"That answer is without worth and illogical. You will modify."** _

_**"Daleks do not take orders!"** _

_**"** **You have identified as Daleks."** _

**"Outline resembles the inferior species known as Cybermen!"**  The Dalek Leader deducted.

* * *

"Rose spoke about the Daleks." Jackie whispered to the Doctor and Clara as the Dalek and the Cybermen continued to retort and argue before them. "She was terrified of them." Jackie took a gulp, restraining herself from chocking out a fearful sob. "What have they done to her? Is she dead?"

"One moment." Clara muttered, getting her phone out of her pocket and quickly dialing Rose's number. A short moment passed as she held it up to her ear before she nodded. "She's answered. She's alive."

Jackie barely restrained from beaming gratefully while the Doctor, who too echoed Jackie's expression with Clara, also frowned in puzzlement. "But…why haven't they killed her?" He asked.

Jackie blinked. "Well, don't complain-"

"No, Jackie." The Doctor interrupted. "If she's not dead, then they must need her for something."

 _ **"** **We must protect the Genesis Ark!"**_  A Dalek suddenly yelled through Rose's connection, making Clara wince at its high-pitched voice, before she quickly frowned.

""Genesis Ark"?" She muttered, looking at a blinking Doctor.

"I…" The Doctor shook his head. "I've got no idea." They returned their attention to the laptop, while Clara kept her connection to Rose open.

 _ **"** **Our species are similar, though your design is inelegant."**_  One of the Cybermen said, and the Dalek would have scoffed, if it was capable of that.

**_"Daleks have no concept of elegance!"_ **

_**"This is obvious."**_  The Cyberman retorted, making Clara, and even the Doctor, give a small snigger at that.  _ **"But consider, our technologies are compatible. Cybermen plus Daleks."**_

"No." The Doctor and Clara muttered in unison. "Don't do it."

_**"** **_T_ ogether, we could upgrade the universe."** _

The Dalek paused for a moment as it clearly contemplated the idea before speaking up again.  _ **"You propose an alliance?"**_

_**"** **This is correct."** _

Not a single moment more passed before the Dalek retorted once more.  _ **"Request denied!"**_

The Cybermen in view immediately raised their right arms, aiming their blasters straight at the Dalek.  _ **"Hostile elements will be deleted!"**_  The two Cybermen fired three laser red shots each at the Dalek, which just impacted on it's shield before it retorted itself.

 _ **"** **Exterminate!"**_  The Dalek then aimed it's gun at them and fired two shots, one of the Cybermen's screams coming through the link before it went dead with static.

* * *

 **"Cybermen had created a visual link! Locate its source and take command!"**  The Dalek Leader demanded, quickly bringing up an image of the Cyber Leader in the main office.

 _ **"Daleks be warned. You have declared war upon the Cybermen."**_  The Leader stated and the Dalek Leader rolled forward to be in front of its three subordinates.

 **"This is not war!"**  The Dalek Leader retorted.  **"This is pest control!"**

_**"We have 5 million Cybermen. How many are you?"** _

**"4."**

_**"You would destroy the Cybermen with 4 Daleks?"** _

**"We would destroy the Cybermen with 1 Dalek!"**  The Dalek Leader retorted.  **"You are superior in only one respect!"**

_**"What is that?"** _

**"You are better at dying! Raise communications barrier!"**  The Dalek Leader ordered before the Cyber Leader could retort, cutting the image into static just as the Doctor's head appeared in the corner of the frame.

 **"Wait!"**  Dalek Jast interrupted, causing a freeze frame of the last second of the feed to reappear, just as Rose looked down at her phone to see the line had been cutoff, so she quickly pocketed it again.  **"Rewind image by 9 Rells!"** The image rewound just enough to show the Doctor in the corner, his hand extended offscreen.  **"Identify Grid 7 Gamma Flame!"** The image zoomed in, showing the Doctor at closer proximity.  **"This male registers as enemy!"**  Dalek Jast declared, Rose and Mickey smiling at the face of their friend.

 **"The Humans heartbeats have increased!"**  The Dalek Leader reported, turning around to look at the two.

"You wish." Rose and Mickey retorted in unison.

**"Identify him!"**

Rose smiled. "All right, then. If you really want to know…that's the Doctor." The four Daleks instantly rolled back a few steps, making Rose and Mickey grin smugly. "5 million Cybermen, easy. 1 Doctor? Now you're scared." She taunted and the Daleks didn't even bother to respond or retort. They just stayed fearfully silent.

* * *

 **"Quarantine the sphere chamber."**  The Cyber Leader ordered to its troops in the room. **"Start emergency upgrading. Begin with these personnel."**

The Cybermen moved to escort the now struggling and screaming employees from the room, before one grabbed Yvonne to take her as well. "No, you can't do this!" She shrieked, trying and failing to escape from the Cyberman's clutches. "We surrendered! We surrendered!"

 **"Keep these two."**  The Leader ordered, and the Cybermen did not touch the Doctor or Clara. Instead, they continued to lead Yvonne from the room before one grabbed Jackie.  **"The female has already proved her worth to the Cybermen, and the male's increased adrenaline suggests that he has vital Dalek information."**

"What are they doing?!" Jackie shrieked, as a Cyberman almost literally dragged her from the room. "Stop them!"

"Leave her alone!" Clara ordered. "I demand you to leave that woman alone!"

 **"She is necessary."**  The Leader simply responded.

"You promised me!" Jackie yelled. "Help me!"

"We won't help you if you don't leave her alone!" The Doctor exclaimed but the Cybermen continued to ignore them, as Jackie was dragged through the door and out of sight.

* * *

 **"Cyberthreat irrelevant."**  Dalek Thay informed as it re-entered the room.  **"Concentrate on the Genesis Ark."**  The Daleks moved to surround the Ark once more and resumed their work on the "Re-awakening".

"Why are we being kept alive?" Mickey whispered to Rose. Rose thought for a few moments on an answer, and when she didn't speak, Mickey took it as she has an idea forming in her head. "What? What is it?" He asked.

Rose blinked. "It's…not there yet." She said.

"Well, I can't think of what the Daleks need with me. I'm nothing to them." He shrugged.

Rose's self-forming realization began to become clearer and more focused in her head, so, she shook her head at Mickey's reasoning. "You might be. Whatever's inside that Ark is waking up and I've seen this happen before."

"Eh?" Mickey asked.

Rose sighed. "The first time I saw a Dalek, it was broken, and it was dying. Clara was…very sympathetic to it, as Clara usually is when it isn't a Cyberman." She added, making Mickey smirk. "But then, she touched it. And the moment she did that, she brought it back to life."

Mickey frowned. "How?"

"The Doctor and Clara once said that when you travel in Time in the TARDIS, you soak up all this, um…background radiation. It's…it's harmless, it's just there. But, in the Time War, the Daleks evolved so they could use it as a power supply. And if the Daleks have got something inside that thing and it needs waking up-"

"They need you." Mickey deducted.

Rose frowned with a blink. "You've traveled in time. Either one of us will do."

Mickey squinted his eyes at her in curious puzzlement. "But why would they build something they can't open themselves?"

 **"The technology is stolen!"**  The Dalek Leader exclaimed, making them jump slightly with a blink as they turned to look at it, almost feeling themselves shrink inwards to see the four Daleks all staring at them.  **"The Ark is not of Dalek design!"**

"Then who built it?" Rose asked.

 **"The Time Lords! This is all that survives of their home world!"**  The four Daleks then loosened their grasp on the Ark's small pods before they moved anti-clockwise around and regripped onto the pods once more.

"What's inside?"

**"The future!"**

* * *

"No!" An employee screamed as within the plastic wall covered floor of the Torchwood Tower, a Cyberman pushed him through one of three open entrances in the plastic. "No! Please! Aaaaaaaaaah!" The man screamed in utter agony as the entrance lit up in an array of lights and a synchronized series of machinery worked away in ear piercing screeches, the screams of the man quickly becoming silenced.

Yvonne and Jackie, both of which were restrained by a single Cyberman, were the last from the line of offerings from the top floor to be converted. "What happens in there?" Jackie asked, both her and Yvonne looking at the entrances with terror over their faces. "What's "Upgrading" mean? What do they do?"

"I…I think they…they remove the…" Yvonne had to gulp back the whimpers in her voice, taking a shuddering breath as she did so. "Sorry, um…I think they remove the brain, and they put it in a suit of armor." She glanced up at the Cybermen guarding the entrances. "That's what these things are. They're us."

 **"Next."**  A Cyberman standing by them ordered, and the Cyberman restraining Yvonne hauled her towards the entrances and away from Jackie.

"This is your fault!" Jackie shrieked to Yvonne. "You and your Torchwood! You've killed us all!"

Yvonne didn't look back at Jackie, but she already felt the tears burning her eyes as she looked towards the entrance before her. "I did my duty, for Queen and country!" She cried, wrenching her arm out of the grasp of the Cyberman beside her, only to gulp at the revolting smell of blood and Human remains from within the conversion room. "I did my duty." She whimpered, taking a small step forward. "I did my duty. Oh god, I did my duty." She continued, almost like it was a prayer as she stepped inside, the lights above her head blaring blood red before two arms shot out from the wall and restrained her body and her head tight, forcing her to look straight at the wall before her. Then, she felt a large saw blade rest down against her head for a single moment before it lifted away, and it spun into action. All Yvonne could do now was scream. And it was the last thing she could do now, even as the saw cut her head open and the machinery took out her brain, letting the crimson remains of her body collapse onto the floor to be distributed away into the garbage, and all she could have done was scream.

Jackie was then hauled towards the third and last entrance in the hallway, as the two before them were currently "Occupied" before the Cyberman restraining her suddenly let go and turned to all the Cybermen in the room, making Jackie blink in puzzlement and confusion.  **"Cyber Leader One has been terminated."** It then moved towards the nearest Cyberman, allowing Jackie to look around and she restrained the urge to give a breath of relief as she saw a hidden door behind a bad cut in the plastic right behind her.  **"Explain. Download shared files."** It then raised its fist and pressed it against its fellow Cyberman's chest, the two creating a series of electronic beeping sounds for a moment.  **"I will be upgraded to Cyber Leader**." Once it had said this, it pulled its hand back from the Cyberman before it, then it turned to look at Jackie, only it saw an open-door way and billowing, crumpled plastic in its place.

* * *

The Doctor and Clara stood alone by the window in Yvonne's office, and all they could do at the moment was hold each other in silent comfort, even as the city of London below them raged with the battles of the Cybermen. But they both knew that none of that would matter now. Not when there was a Dalek, let alone four of them, sitting right below them in the sphere chamber. The sudden stomping of the Cyber Leader drew them out of their brooding, turning around to glance at said Cyberman, who had entered the room.  **"You will impart information about the Daleks."**

Clara raised her eyebrows at it in an incredibly tired and irritated manner. "You want advice?" She asked rhetorically, before, not even waiting for a possible response, she looked up at the Doctor, her expression quickly turning into sadness. "Tell them." She said, laying her head back into his chest.

The Doctor sighed, before he looked back at the Cyber Leader. "Come here, I'll give you my advice." He said as he cleared his throat, noticing with a small smile that the Cyber Leader actually stepped forward a few inches, but the smile quickly faded away. "We've got a ship, a spaceship, downstairs. She's called the "TARDIS" and you, me and Clara, just us three, we can get into the TARDIS and fly away." He said simply, having already told Clara through their hidden link that it would never happen either way, to which she heartily agreed. "Because there's nothing else we can do. In a few hours' time, this planet will be a ball of flame. All we can do is run away and watch it burn."

**"You are both proof."**

The couple blinked, the four words somehow bringing them out of their brooding state. "Of what?" The Doctor asked.

**"That emotions destroy you."**

The couple let loose a series of uncontrolled chuckles at that. "Yep, we are. Guilty as charged." Clara agreed.

The Doctor nodded, with a beaming smile. Then, he looked past the Cyber Leader and into the main office, and his eyebrows furrowed. Then, he pulled his "Void Specs" out of his pocket and placed them on, seeing what looked like a large mass of tiny tears in the world, causing the Void matter to come pouring out of it and the Doctor already managed to guess what it was. "Mind you, I quite like hope." The Doctor said as he took off his "Void Specs" and placed them over Clara's eyes, turning her head gently to look where he had been looking. "Hope's a good emotion, and here it comes."

Then, quite literally out of nowhere, a group of six Humans appeared, all dressed in black and wearing gas masks over their heads, each of them carrying six large pulse fire cannons. One of the men shouted an order that the couple couldn't hear, causing them all to fire streams of blue electrical light at the Cybermen, the group of them pausing and shuttering in their movements before their heads exploded into a million tiny pieces of burnt metal, before their bodies collapsed onto the floor. Then, the same man that gave the order turned to look at the Cyber Leader, causing the Doctor to unconsciously pull Clara behind him and into cover as they heard the Cyber Leader scream before it's own head exploded and it's body hit the floor with a loud thud. After a few moments, the Doctor, still hugging Clara close, moved slowly out from cover to look at the group of newcomers, now surrounded by the smoking corpses of the Cybermen. The leader of the group, who had a large silver pendant with a yellow circle, stepped from the group and lowered his rifle. "Doctor, Clara, good to see you again." The man took off his mask and placed it under his arm, before he sent them a small cheeky smirk.

"Jake?" The Doctor and Clara asked in unison and he nodded.

"The Cybermen came through from one world to another, and so did we." The couple just stared at him, utterly speechless, to which he gave a nonchalant shrug before turning around to look back at his group. "Defend this room!" He ordered. "And monitor the communications. Kill one Cyber Leader, they'll just download into another. Move!" He ordered, and the group quickly moved to follow the orders, leaving him and the TARDIS couple alone in the room. He watched with a brief moment of amusement as the Doctor took the "Void Specs" off Clara's face before pocketing them. Then, they both glanced back at him and the Doctor ran a hand over his face.

"You can't just-just-just hop, from one world to another. You can't!" The Doctor denied, to which Clara nodded.

"We just did." Jake shrugged, taking out one of the pendants and tossing it to the Doctor. "With these." He then took out a second one and tossed it to Clara, both of the couple staring at the devices with frowns.

"But that's impossible." The Doctor muttered with a blink. "You can't have this sort of technology."

"We've got our own version of Torchwood. They developed it. Do you want to come and see?" They didn't answer, so Jake placed a finger on a small circular crown, rather like a watch, where he turned it three times and then he placed his fist against the yellow pad. The Doctor and Clara were about to protest, but it was never said, as they disappeared from one Torchwood Tower and reappeared in another. This Torchwood, in the alternate reality they had accidentally landed in a long time ago, had no lights on and was somewhat dark, and was a complete mess, with wires and technology and unused computers lying strewn about the large room. The two levers, despite the large golden silver bases still there in the room, had their lever handles missing, potentially removed much earlier. "Parallel Earth, parallel Torchwood. Except…" He started, the start of the sentence earning some attention from the couple as they continued to stare around the room with a frown, "we found out what the institute was doing, and the people's Republic took control."

"Cool." Clara nodded but not with a smile. "But we've got to get back. Rose is in danger and her mother."

"That would be Jackie." The three looked to the doorway to see the living Pete Tyler, who was dressed in a dark blue suit, stepping into the room with his hands in his pockets. "My wife from a parallel universe." He gave a small smile as he glanced up at the couple. "And as for you two, at least this time, I know who you are now. And since you're back, we can use your help again."

"What?" The Doctor asked with a frown. "Help you with something in your world?" He shook his head. "No, we've got to get back to our world right now."

Pete rolled his eyes with a dull look. "No, you're not in charge here, and you're not listening either. So, for once, you two can sit still, shut up, and listen." He admonished.

The Doctor and Clara just stared at him for a few small moments in a blend of amazement and pain, but not the literal kind. Then, they sighed, and they wrapped each other in a loose hug. "All right, then." The Doctor agreed after a moment of silence, to which Clara nodded.

Pete pointed to the wall at the far end of the room, and the couple walked up to inspect it. To their own eyes, to their sonics, to their own touch and even to the "Void Specs" it might as well have been an identical twin of the same white wall from their own world. "When you both left this world, you warned us there'd be more Cybermen. So, we sealed them inside the factories. Except…" Pete trailed off, so Jake stepped into finish the sentence.

"Except people argued. Said they were living. That we should help them."

Clara scoffed. "Then they're morons." She growled.

Pete and Jake shrugged. "Yeah, we agreed with that." Jake nodded.

"Either way, unfortunately, the debate kept going, and in all that time, the Cybermen were making plans. Then, out of nowhere with no warning, they infiltrated this version of Torchwood, mapped themselves onto your world and then vanished."

"When was this?" The Doctor asked as he rubbed Clara's shoulder to calm her down.

"3 years ago."

That answer made the Doctor's eyebrows raise slightly, and Clara echoed it after a moment's silence. "It's taken them 3 years to cross the Void, but we can pop to and fro in a second." The Doctor breathed out slightly as the four of them started to walk across the room towards the main office window. "Must be the sheer mass of 5 million Cybermen crossing all at once."

Pete nodded. "Yeah, Mickey said you'd rattle off that sort of stuff."

"Oh, where is the Mickey boy?" The Doctor asked, him and Clara sharing a smile about their friend.

"He went ahead first." Pete answered. "Something about scouting ahead, since he knew his world better than we do." Pete gave a small amused smile as he continued. "Also since he missed you two, and Miss Rose Tyler."

"But not in that way." Clara added, to which Pete nodded.

"She's your daughter." The Doctor inputted with a small smile, Pete only shaking his head in response. "You do know that? Did Mickey explain?"

"She's not mine." Pete declined. "She's the child of a dead man." The Doctor and Clara sighed at his response but decided not to continue the topic as they passed the glass doors and stood by the office window, looking out at the zeppelin filled, cloudy grey world beyond. "Look at it, a world at peace, even with the horrible weather. Now, they're calling this "The Golden Age"."

"Who's the President now?" Clara asked.

"A woman called "Harriet Jones"."

"Ugh. I'd keep an eye on her." The Doctor grumbled under his breath, earning a raised eyebrow from Clara.

"But it's a lie." Pete continued. "Temperatures have risen by 2 degrees in the past 6 months. The ice caps are melting. They're saying all of this is going to be flooded." He informed, nodding towards the city of London. "That's not just global warming, is it?" Pete asked.

"No." The couple answered in unison.

"It's the breach." Pete agreed.

The Doctor shook his head. "We've been trying to tell you, travel between parallel worlds is impossible. Then the Daleks go and break down the walls with their sphere."

"Daleks?" Pete muttered.

"Then the Cybermen traveled across." The Doctor continued, ignoring his question. "Then you lot. Those discs." He said, holding up the one in his hands. "Every time you jump from one reality to another, you rip a hole in the universe. This planet is starting to boil! Keep going and both worlds will fall into the Void!" He admonished as he and Clara walked back into the white room.

"But you can stop it?" Pete asked, him and Jake following them both. "The famous Doctor with Clara at his side, you both can seal the breach?"

"Leaving 5 million Cybermen stranded on our Earth?" Clara retorted with a small snarl.

"That's your problem." Pete retorted, himself still calm. "I am protecting this world and this world only."

Clara stared at him in small surprise for a few moments before she chuckled. "Pete Tyler." She muttered. "We knew you when you were dead. Now, here you are, fighting the fight…alone." Clara saw the Doctor send her a smirk, so she took a small step towards Pete. "There is a chance. Back on our world, Jackie Tyler might still be alive."

"My wife died." Pete simply said.

"Her husband died. Good match."

"There's more important things at stake." Pete declined. "I ask this once: Can you two help us?" His tone was not an order or admonishment, but instead, was purely a question for help.

Clara and the Doctor both exchanged a look before glancing back at Pete. "What, close the beach, stop the Cybermen, defeat the Daleks? Do you believe we can do that?" The Doctor asked, moving to stand beside Clara.

Pete just smiled. "Yes."

The Doctor glanced down at Clara. "What do you think?" He asked.

"I think that's all we'll need." She said and the two quickly began to share beaming grins. "Let's get a shift on." Clara and the Doctor took hold of their yellow discs, Jake and Pete doing the same, then they pressed them, disappearing from Pete's world and back into their world. "First of all, we need to make a phone call." Clara said, pulling out her phone. The Doctor leaned into her while Jake took watch of the door. "Come on, please be there." Clara muttered, dialing the number and holding the phone up for her and the Doctor, just as the line answered.

 _"Oh my god, help me!"_  Jackie cried, and the couple shared a breath of relief at her voice. _"They tried to change me!"_

"Jackie-"

_"They tried to download me, but I ran away!"_

"Jackie!" Clara almost snapped, momentarily silencing the frightened woman. "Listen, where are you?"

 _"I don't know. Staircase."_  Jackie answered.

The Doctor shot Clara a look, to which she just shrugged at. "Which one?" The Doctor asked into the phone. "Is there any sign? Anything to identify it?"

_"Yes! A fire extinguisher!"_

"Yeah, that helps." Clara inputted sarcastically.

 _"Oh wait!"_  There was a pause on the phone for a moment as they heard Jackie rushing down a few more steps.  _"It says: N3!"_

"North corner, staircase 3." The Doctor deducted. "Just keep low, Jackie, we're trying out best."

 _"Wait, don't leave me!"_  Jackie cried.

"I'm sorry, but we've got to go." Clara apologized before hanging up her phone and placing it back into her pocket. Then, she and the Doctor looked up at Pete and smiled. "Jacqueline Andrea Suzette Tyler."

"She's not my wife." Pete said, this time it was without the indifference from minutes earlier. Now, it was a bit more like he might be considering the idea, which he would blame it on hearing her voice again.

The Doctor scoffed. "We were at the wedding. You got her name wrong." The Doctor quipped before he moved over to Jake. "Now then, Jakey boy, if I may?" He asked and Jake handed him the rifle. "If I can open up the bonding chamber on this thing, it can work on polycarbide."

"What's "Polycarbide"?" Jake asked.

"Skin of a Dalek." The Doctor answered. "Of course, for this plan to work, we will need the Cybermen as well." He glanced wordlessly at Clara.

Clara sighed. "Let me handle that." She said as she moved to stand beside the Doctor. "But you will have to go in there alone."

The Doctor blinked. "What? No-"

"Doctor." Clara interrupted. "Daleks don't know me and, if they could, they wouldn't care. They only know you. So it has to be only you." She explained.

The Doctor just stared at her blankly for a few silent moments before he sighed dejectedly, and he wrapped her in a hug and placed a kiss on her head. "Keep safe."

"You too."

* * *

 **"Final stage of awakening!"**  Dalek Jast proclaimed as the four Daleks removed themselves from the Ark, the four small pods were now glowing neon red and the Dalek Leader turned to look at the two Humans in the room.

 **"Your handprint will open the Ark."**  It said to Rose.

Rose scoffed. "Well, tough, cause I'm not doing it."

**"Obey, or the male will die!"**

"And then you will kill me either way." Rose rolled her eyes.

**"Place your hand upon the gasket!"**

"All right!" Rose growled. "Jesus Christ, your louder than infants." She muttered under her breath.  _I won't do it anyway. They'll just kill us whether I do it or not. Besides, if I'm going to die, might as well do it…smugly._  Rose smiled to herself mischievously and she moved to stand directly before the Dalek Leader. "If you, um…escaped the Time war, don't you want to know what happened?"

**"Place your hand-"**

"What happened to the Emperor?" Rose interrupted.

The Dalek Leader paused for a moment and the three Daleks around them moved a micro inch closer, almost like children gathering around for a story at night.  **"The Emperor survived?"**

Rose smiled. "Till he met me. Cause if these are going to be my last words, then you're going to listen. I met the Emperor. And I took the Time Vortex, poured it into his head and turned him into dust. Do you get that?" She asked rhetorically and the Dalek Leader didn't answer. "The god of all Daleks…and I destroyed him. Ha!" She laughed.

 **"You will be exterminated!"**  The Dalek Leader proclaimed, and Rose set her jaw in a clench-

"Oh, now, hold on! Wait a minute!" The Doctor called from the entrance to the room, wearing his "Void Specs", and immediately earning the attention of everyone. Rose and Mickey grinned while the Daleks turned around to look at him.

 **"Alert! Alert! You are the Doctor!"**  The Dalek Leader proclaimed as the Doctor stepped away from the now closing door of the room and towards Rose and Mickey.

 **"Sensors report he is unarmed!"**  Dalek Jast reported, and the Doctor shrugged.

"That's me. Always."

 **"Then you are powerless!"**  The Dalek Leader said.

The Doctor scoffed. "Not me. Never." He removed and pocketed his "Void Specs" before looking at the Human duo, and he smiled. "How are you?" He asked Rose.

Rose shrugged. "Oh, same old, you know."

"Good. And Mickety McMickey! Nice to see ya!" The Doctor beamed as he bumped fists with Mickey.

"And you boss." Mickey greeted.

 **"Social interaction will cease!"**  Dalek Jast ordered.

 **"How did you survive the Time War?"**  The Dalek Leader asked.

"By fighting, on the front line." The Doctor said. "I was there at the fall of Arcadia. Someday I might even come to terms with that. But you lot ran away." The Doctor said, looking at the four Daleks around them.

**"We had to survive!"**

"The last four Daleks in existence. So, what's so special about you?" The Doctor asked.

"Doctor, they've got names." Rose inputted, making the Doctor frown. "I mean…Daleks don't have names, do they?"

"No." The Doctor shook his head.

"Well, one of them said they were-"

 **"I am Dalek Thay!"**  Dalek Thay interrupted in some form of greeting.

 **"Dalek Sec!"**  The Dalek Leader echoed.

**"Dalek Jast!"**

**"Dalek Caan!"**  The last Dalek spoke up, it's voice much deeper than the other three in the room.

The Doctor blinked for a few moments before a small smile of almost nostalgic approval spread across his face. "So that's it. At last. The Cult of Skaro. I thought you were just a legend."

"Who are they?" Rose asked.

"A secret order." The Doctor answered as he began to pace around the Daleks and the Ark, all of the Daleks not removing their gazes from him, not even for a second. "They were above and beyond the Emperor himself. Their job was to imagine. Think as the enemy thinks. Even dared to have names. All to find new ways of killing." He finished, standing once again before Dalek Sec.

"But that thing," Mickey inputted as he nodded to the Ark, "they said it was yours. I mean Time Lords, that they built it. What does it do?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I don't know." He said earnestly. "Never seen it before."

"But it's…Time Lord." Rose added with a nod.

The Doctor shrugged again. "Both sides had secrets." He said simply before he looked back at Dalek Sec. "What is it? What have you done?" He asked.

**"Time Lord science will restore Dalek supremacy!"**

The Doctor frowned. "What does that mean? What sort of Time Lord science? What do you mean?"

"They said one touch from a time traveler will wake it up." Rose inputted.

The Doctor slowly gave an "Ooh" face. "Technology using the one thing a Dalek can't do: Touch." He looked at Dalek Sec, and he leaned in, until it's eyestalk was mere inches from the Doctor's face, it's blue light shining directly into the Doctor's eyes. "Sealed inside your casing, not feeling anything, ever. From birth to death, locked inside a cold metal cage, completely alone." For a brief moment, the Doctor gave a small chuckle and he arched one eyebrow. "That explains your voice. No wonder you scream." He taunted.

 **"The Doctor will open the Ark!"**  Dalek Sec exclaimed, it's sudden burst doing nothing to the Doctor, who quickly chuckled, shaking his head as he moved into the center of the Daleks.

"The Doctor will not." The Doctor denied.

 **"You have no way of resisting."**  Dalek Sec pointed out.

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, you got me there. Although…" He added as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his sonic, "there is always this."

**"A sonic probe?"**

The Doctor pulled a face. "That's screwdriver." He corrected.

**"It is harmless."**

The Doctor nodded. "Oh yes. "Harmless" is just the word. That's why I like it. Doesn't kill, doesn't wound, doesn't maim. Doesn't even work on wood." He added slyly. "But I'll tell you what it does do: It is very good at opening doors." He then pressed the button. On his end, it would do nothing but send a message to Clara outside. Right on cue, the door exploded in flames and large shards of burnt metal, the Daleks attention being transferred to a group of Cybermen stomping into the room, a few of them wielding pulse cannon rifles, and one of them fired at Dalek Thay.

 **"Alert! Casing impact! Casing impact!"**  Dalek Thay exclaimed and upon that, the chaos of fire from the Cybermen ensued within the room, while the Daleks slowly moved around, all four of them being momentarily stunned from the firepower.

 **"Firepower insufficient! Firepower insufficient!"**  Dalek Sec exclaimed.

 **"Daleks will be deleted. Delete! Delete!"**  The Cyber Leader said.

"Rose! Mickey! Get out!" The Doctor called above the chaos. He saw Mickey grabbing his rifle from the ground while Rose stumbled for a moment until Pete came rushing into the room and helped her off her feet. The Doctor then sprinted away from the gunfire range and out of the room, where Clara immediately brought him into a hug.

"Mickey!" Rose called as Pete helped her through the ruined doorway. "Mickey, come on!"

 **"Adapt to weaponry!"** Dalek Thay called as Mickey stumbled against the Ark, his hand pressing against its surface before he pulled away and ran out of the room to rejoin the group, who immediately began to sprint down the hallway.

 **"Firepower restored!"**  Now they were glad to be out of the room, as Dalek firepower began to blast and echo through the hallway, accompanied with the deathly screams of the Cybermen.

"Mickey?" The Doctor asked as said man kept shaking his hand as if he was in pain.

"I just fell." He said. "I just fell. I didn't mean it."

"Mickey, without us, they'd have opened it by force." The Doctor explained. "To do that, they'd have blown up the sun, so you've done us a favor. Now run!"

"Where are we going?" Rose asked.

"You've got to find Jackie." Clara answered. "I've got to get to the warehouse."

"What?" Rose asked. "Why?"

"We'll explain later!" The Doctor said. "Now, come on!" He ordered and everyone began to follow him up the stairwell while Clara rushed down the hallway and bounded into the warehouse, all on her own, while Cybermen and Torchwood soldiers created a fortification at the front of the room.

_Come on, Clara. Think. Where were they at?_

* * *

The group rushed out of the stairwell and into a long hallway, looking left and right before spotting two Cybermen with their backs turned to them. So, they rushed up and Pete took Mickey's rifle as they heard the Cybermen gaining on a familiar female voice.

**"You will be upgraded."**

"No, you can't! Please!" Jackie cried and Pete fired at the two Cybermen, causing them to scream as they dropped to their knees, their heads exploding into shrapnel before their smoking dead bodies collapsed to the ground. Pete lowered the rifle as he waited for the smoke from the bodies to dissipate, where he then saw Jackie, staring at him in confused amazement. "Pete?" She asked.

Pete smiled while Rose placed her hands over her mouth. "Hello, Jacks." He greeted.

Jackie sighed. "I said there were ghosts, but that's not fair. Why him?" She asked.

His gaze darted from side to side for a moment before he shrugged. "I'm not a ghost." He said obviously.

"But you're dead." Jackie said. "You died 20 years ago, Pete."

"It's Pete from a different universe." The Doctor inputted, Pete giving Jackie a dull look while she glared at the Doctor in return. "There are parallel worlds, Jackie. Every single decision we make creates a parallel existence, a different dimension where-"

"Oh, you can shut up." Jackie interrupted with a growl, causing the Doctor to nod as he backed off and Pete gave her a thankful look. She just sighed, her expression quickly becoming solemn. "You look old."

"You don't." He said simply and she blushed, vehemently shaking her head.

"How can you be standing there?" Jackie asked.

"Just got lucky." He said with a shrug. "Lived my life. You were…left on your own." He said sadly. "You didn't marry again, or…"

She shook her head. "There was never anyone else." She answered, catching the Doctor and Mickey rolling their eyes out of the corner of hers. "20 years, though. Look at me, I never left that flat. Did nothing with myself."

Pete shook his head. "You brought her up." He nodded to Rose. "Rose Tyler. That's not bad."

Jackie smiled. "Yeah."

"In my world…it worked. All those daft little plans of mine, they worked. Made me rich." He added with a smirk.

"I don't care about that." Jackie blinked. "How rich?"

Pete smiled. "Very."

"I don't care about that." Jackie blinked. "How very?"

Rose rolled her eyes while Pete and Jackie shared a chuckle for a moment before they started to try to look anywhere that wasn't each other. "Thing is, though, Jacks, you're…you're not my wife." Jackie nodded, but their eyes still couldn't meet. "I'm sorry, but you're not. I mean…we both…" He trailed off, but she nodded anyway as he cleared his throat. "You know, it's just sort of…" He took a breath and just looked at her and she smiled. "Oh, come here." He said, tossing the rifle aside and two rushed at each over, diving right into each other's arms in a warm, tight hug.

Rose smiled at them while Mickey nodded. "Good on him." Mickey muttered, glancing towards the Doctor, who was just staring off into the middle distance. "Doctor?"

He took a sharp breath. "I need Clara back."

* * *

 **"Exterminate!"**  Dalek Sec called, Clara doving back behind cover, carrying the two black clamps with her as the chaos resumed inside the warehouse, Clara having to place her hands over her ears to protect her own hearing.

**"Delete!"**

**"Exterminate!"**

**"Delete! Delete!"**

"Get back! Get back!"

Clara kept her gaze darting around her, Humans and Cybermen falling left and right as the Daleks and the Ark moved into the exact center of the warehouse. "Screw this." She muttered under her breath and she grabbed both of the clamps and sprinted right towards the doors, her presence going unnoticed by everyone in the warehouse. Doving right through the doors, she finds the Doctor waiting for her on the other side, and he immediately wraps her in a hug.

"You're not going alone anymore today. You hear me?" The Doctor asked and she nodded. "Good."

 **"Override roof mechanism!"**  Dalek Sec ordered, the chaos within the warehouse having grown less in noise level, making the group part the doors just enough to stare within.

 **"Elevate!"**  Dalek Jast said, and the Daleks began to return fire within the warehouse as Dalek Sec and the Ark hovered off the ground for a moment before they began to fly up and out of sight.

"We've got to see what it's doing." The Doctor said, closing the doors and the group started to sprint down the hallway, the Doctor and Clara remaining hand in hand while their unused hands were carrying the two clamps. "We've got to go back up! Come on! All of you, top floor!"

"That's 45 floors up!" Jackie reminded. "Believe me, I've done them all!"

"Oi!" The group slowed down, turning around to see Jake having stopped beside an open doorway. "We could always take the lift." He said with a smirk.

"Good thinking." The Doctor complimented as they all clambered inside the elevator, waiting in nervous agitation as the elevator moved up the floors of the Torchwood Tower until they reached their required destination. The doors slid open and they rushed out, moving quickly into the white room, where the Doctor and Clara placed the clamps upon Yvonne's desk and they stood beside the window, seeing Dalek Sec and the Ark hovering in a small distance from the Tower. The Ark, however, was spinning around frantically, spitting out hundreds upon hundreds of Daleks as it did. "Time Lord science." The Doctor realized. "It's bigger on the inside."

"It's a prison ship, isn't it?" Clara asked, she also was staring outside with wide eyes of horror, and the Doctor nodded. "How many Daleks?" Clara asked with a small gulp, fearing the answer.

"Millions." The Doctor said simply, the group watching in silence as the massive Dalek army began to descend upon London.

"I'm sorry, but you've had it." Pete said, walking back into the white room, followed by most of the group except for the Doctor and Clara. "This world's going to crash and burn. There's nothing we can do. We're going home. Jacks, take this." Pete said, tossing her a yellow disc. "You're coming with us."

"But they're destroying the city." Jackie argued.

Pete chuckled sadly. "I'd forgotten you could argue. It's not just London, it's the whole world. But there's another world, just waiting for you, Jacks, and it's safe. As long as the Doctor and Clara close the breach." Pete glanced over to the TARDIS couple, who were just staring at each other in silence. "Doctor? Clara?"

The two slowly turned their heads to look at everyone and they grinned. "Oh, we're ready." The Doctor said proudly as he and Clara raced through them and began to dash about the room in a frenzy, causing everyone to almost lose focus as to what they were doing. "We have our own equipment right here. Thank you, Torchwood. Slam it down and close off both universes." The Doctor said as he clacked away at one of the computers before putting on his "Void Specs".

"But we can't just leave." Rose protested. "What about the Daleks? And the Cybermen?"

"They're part of the problem and THAT makes them part of the solution. Oh yes!" The Doctor beamed. Everyone smiled but they stared at him and Clara in silence. "Well? Isn't anyone going to ask? "What is it with the glasses?"" He said, pointing to the "Void Specs" he had on.

"What is it with the glasses?" Rose asked with a grin.

"We can see." Clara beamed. "That's what the glasses are about." She said as she moved to clack away at another computer.

"Clara." He whined.

"No." She said simply. "I did the exposition last time."

"Fine." The Doctor grumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing." He squeaked, turning his attention back to the group, who were looking at them with…some amusement. "Right. Remember, we've got two separate worlds, but in between the two separate worlds, we've got the Void. That's where the Daleks were hiding and the Cybermen traveled through the Void to get here. And you lot!" He motioned to Pete, Mickey and Jake. "One world to another, via the Void. Ooh." He said with a smile. "I like that. "Via the Void". Here." He took off the "Void Specs" and gave them to Rose. "We've been through it. Do you see?"

"What is it?" Rose asked as she stared through the 3D glasses.

"Void matter." Clara inputted as she moved to stand beside the Doctor. "Or Void stuff. Whatever." She shrugged.

"Like, um…background radiation." Rose said with a click of her fingers.

"That's it." Clara nodded, grabbing Rose by her arms and turning her around to look at the rest of the group. "Look at them. The only one who hasn't been through the Void…your mother. First time she's looked normal in her life." Clara quipped.

"Oi!"

"But you see, the Daleks lived inside the void. They're bristling with it." The Doctor said as he raced up to the white wall, Clara just walking calmly behind with her arms crossed. "Cybermen, all of them. We just open the Void and reverse. The Void stuff gets sucked back inside."

Clara chuckled and placed her fingers together with a mischievous smile. "Mmm, my latest safari in the Void has yielded spectacular finds." She said slyly. The Doctor just frowned at her and she gave him a dull glare. "That was a Warframe reference, Doctor. You're welcome." She growled.

"Sorry." Mickey interrupted. "What's the Void?"

"The dead space." The Doctor explained. "Some people call it Hell."

"So…you both are sending the Daleks and the Cybermen to Hell?" He placed his yellow disc around his neck, and he sent Jake a smile. "Man, I told you they were good."

"But it's…it's like you said. We've all got Void stuff." Rose pointed out, the Doctor and Clara slowly walking up to her. "Me too, because we went to that parallel world." She glanced down at herself for a moment before she looked up, the Doctor taking the glasses off her and pocketing them again. "We're all contaminated. We'll get pulled in."

"That's why you've got to go." The Doctor said, Rose furrowing her eyebrows at them in response. "Back to Pete's world. Hey, we should call it that. Pete's world." He added with a smile, earning a shrug from Pete.

"Rose, we're opening the Void, but only on this side." Clara added. "You'll be safe on that side."

"And then you close it?" Pete inputted. "For good?"

"The breach itself is soaked in Void stuff." Clara answered. "In the end, it'll close itself. And that's it."

"Kaput." The Doctor added.

"But you two stay on this side?" Rose asked worriedly. "You'll get pulled in."

The Doctor slowly shook his head, as Clara raced back into Yvonne's office and grabbed both of the black clamps, giving one to the Doctor. "That's why I got us these." Clara said, patting the one she had in her grasp. "We'll just have to hold on tight, eh?"

"Well, I've been doing it all my life." The Doctor quipped.

"I'm supposed to go?" Rose asked.

"Yeah." They said in unison as they placed the clamps down on one of the desks.

"To another world, and then it gets sealed off."

"Yeah."

"Forever." They said nothing, so Rose just shook her head with a small chuckle. "That's not going to happen." She denied.

The building gave a sudden shake, causing Pete to growl low in his throat as he took charge. "We haven't got time to argue anymore. The plan works, we're going. All of us."

"No, I'm not leaving them!" Rose denied.

"I'm not going without her." Jackie growled.

"Oh my god, we're going!" Pete ordered.

"I've had 20 years without you, so button it. I'm not leaving her!" Jackie denied.

"Mum, you've got to." Rose said, taking her hand.

"Well, that's tough!"

"Mum…" Rose started, allowing Jackie a moment to calm down, "I've had a life, a wonderful life with you for 19 years. But then I met the Doctor and Clara. And…they're my best friends." She said earnestly as Clara, out of her sight, handed Pete her disc while the Doctor took out his own. "And all the things I've seen them do for me, for you, for all of us, for the whole…stupid planet and every planet out there. But they do it alone, Mum. But not anymore." Rose said with a sad smile. "Everyone needs a friend, Mum, and they have me." Without warning, the Doctor placed his disc around her neck and stepped away, while Pete pressed the button and they all disappeared, leaving the TARDIS couple alone.

"Clara?" The Doctor said, taking her hand as she stared sadly at the spot Rose had stood in. "She'll be fine." He said, rubbing her arm with his other hand.

"I know." Clara nodded. "Come on. We need to do this fast." She said, her and the Doctor returning to work.

"Do what fast?" Rose asked as she appeared again within the room. "I think I found the "On" switch." She quipped lightly, taking the disc off her neck, Clara stepping back to grasp Rose's arms.

"Once the breach collapses, that's it!" Clara growled. "You will never be able to see her again, your own mother!"

"I made my choice." Rose simply said in a sad tone. "I'm never going to leave you two." Clara just stared at her, while Rose took Clara's hands in her own. "So, what can I do to help?" She asked.

Clara just gave her a dull glare, but she decided to relent. They couldn't trick her again, and she won't go on her own choice. "Those coordinates on that computer…" She pointed to the far most desk on the right wall, "set them all at 6. And hurry up!" Clara growled, Rose moving silently to work while Clara took a moment to calm herself down.

* * *

Jackie moved to use her yellow disc, but Pete ripped it off her neck before she could press it. "But I've got to go back!" She cried.

"They both said that every time we use one of these, it damages the whole world! Now, that's it!" Pete ordered, taking everyone's yellow disc away from them.

"She's your daughter!"

"She's your daughter, not mine!" Pete said.

"Mickey, tell him!" Jackie cried. "Mickey!" Said man just remained silent, despite his sad expression, and Jackie began to weep for her daughter.

"Jackie." Pete muttered sadly, moving up to her. "Jackie, we can't-"

"Get away from me!" Jackie cried, pushing Pete away before he could wrap her in a hug, and she continued to weep to herself.

* * *

"We've got Cybermen on the way up." Rose pointed out from her computer, Clara racing over while the Doctor just gazed at Clara with worry.

"How many floors down?" Clara asked.

"Just one." Rose answered. Clara turned on the audio to hear what the Cybermen were saying.

 _ **"** **We will retreat through the breach."**_  The Cyber Leader said as it marched up the stairs. _ **"Regain the home world."**_

To Clara's surprise, a Cyberman carrying a rifle stepped in front of the doorway to their floor and pointed the weapon at the Cybermen.  _ **"You will not pass."**_

_**"** **What is the meaning of this?"** _

_**"** **I did my duty for Queen and country, and you will not pass."**_  The Cyberman began to fire the rifle at the Cybermen before Clara quickly shut off the view of the security camera. She sighed sadly but she decided not to say anything.

"There we go." The Doctor beamed. "Levers are operational." He announced, him and Clara sharing a bright grin.

"That's more like it." Rose grinned. "Bit of a smile."

"Yeah." Clara nodded. "What kind of team are we then?" She asked.

The Doctor shrugged. "I don't know. The three musketeers?"

"Nah." Clara shook her head. "Was always a Richelieu fan."

The Doctor shrugged at her before they picked up the clamps and placed them against the opposite walls by the glass office. "When it starts, hold on tight. Shouldn't be too bad for us." He said to Rose.

"What's Clara going to hang on to?" Rose asked.

"His clamp." She said. "I'm small enough as it is." She quipped and the Doctor laughed. "But the Daleks and the Cybermen, well…they won't be all right." She and Rose raced to the levers, kneeling on the floor and grasping onto the handles. "You ready?" She asked.

"Yeah." Rose nodded.

"Let's do it!" Clara and Rose lifted their respective levers until they were standing upright, and the white wall began to glow and brighten with light. Rose rushed and wrapped an elbow through her clamp while Clara ran to the Doctor and wrapped herself through him and their clamp. Then, without warning, a sudden wind began to rush through the room, the force pushing the three back slightly as they held on for dear life. Yvonne's office window smashed suddenly, and a small group of Daleks flew screaming into the room and off through the wall, disappearing without a trace.

"The breach is open! Into the Void!" The Doctor laughed.

"Hold on tight!" Clara called. The Daleks and the Cybermen began to fly through the window and into the room, screaming and shouting, their words becoming incoherent babble to the trio, Clara having to bury her face into the Doctor as the blur of the thousands of Cybermen and Daleks started to swirl her mind.

"I've got you!" The Doctor said to Clara, holding her hands through the clamp.

"No!" Rose cried and the couple heard a loud spark, and the blur began to slow down enough so that they could see Rose, and her lever had begun to lower itself back down.

"Rose!" Clara called as Rose reached out her arms and almost jumped onto the lever, grasping hold onto it but her body had slid over the floor to the other side and away from the clamp.

"I've got to get it upright!" Rose cried.

"Rose!" The Doctor called as Rose struggled and struggled, lifting the lever inch by inch as the Void's pull began to take it's toll on her already, but she managed to get it upright, the blur returning into an inconsistency, as for moments they could still see Rose hanging onto the lever for dear life. "Rose, hold on!"

"Rose!" Clara called, as Rose's body was lifted off the ground and into the air, the force of the pull starting to loosen her grip on the handle. "Rose, please!"

"No!" Rose cried as her hands were pulled off the handle and she began to fly towards the wall, screaming and looking at the couple helplessly as she did.

"No! Rose!" Clara cried. The couple were about to keep calling out to Rose, but Pete appeared out of the blue and caught Rose into his arms, his teeth gritted as he fought the pull of the Void. Rose was able to shoot them one last worried and concerned look before Pete pressed his disc again and the two vanished. Then, slowly but surely, the Void portal began to close in on itself, and it slowly disappeared, and the system deactivated. But all the couple could do was stare helplessly at the now grey dead wall of the room.

* * *

"Take me back!" Rose sobbed as she kept slamming and slapping her hand against the wall of Pete's world fruitlessly. "Take me back! Take me back!"

Pete pulled off his disc and looked at it sadly, Jackie and Mickey by his side and echoing his own expression as they gazed sorrowfully at Rose. "It's stopped working." He informed, placing the disc down on a wire strewn desk. "They did it. They closed the breach."

Rose continued to sob and cry, leaning her forehead against the wall, her tears streaming down her face. Then, for a small moment, she calmed down enough to realize that something was pressing against the wall on the other side. It wasn't much to go on, but Rose knew that someone, or someone's were pressing their hands against the wall. Rose involuntarily couldn't help it, and she pressed her own hand flat against the wall, trying to feel the warm presence for just a few short moments, and then, it disappeared, leaving her alone again.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Rose." Clara whispered, leaning her forehead against the wall. The Doctor removed himself from the wall and they wrapped each other in a hug, the two of them silently sobbing at the loss of their best friend. "There must be a way." Clara whimpered to the Doctor in his chest. "Please. There must be a way."

"I'm sorry." He said sadly, hugging her tighter.

"Then can we say goodbye? Is there a way for that? Just for that?" Clara asked, looking up at him with her wide, tear filled brown eyes and he nodded, pressing his forehead against hers.

"Yes. There is."

* * *

" _Rose."_

" _Rose."_

Rose shot up out of her new bed in the Tyler Mansion, looking around with wide eyes with a gasp, trying to find the presence, the two voices of her friends, but there was nothing in the dark room. Nothing at all, and she placed herself back down onto her bed for a few moments, letting out a small whimpering sob.

There was a knock on her door and Jackie solemnly entered. "Rose?" She asked. "You all right?"

Rose, not matter how hard she tried to hold it in, began to sob, and Jackie wrapped her in a warm hug at once. "I'm sorry." She cried.

"I know, sweetheart." Jackie cooed, placing a kiss on Rose's forehead.

"I miss them so much." She cried.

"I know. I know." Jackie cooed, just placing her hand on Rose's back and softly rubbing up and down in an attempt to comfort her daughter, all the while she just sobbed into Jackie's shoulder. After a few moments, when Rose finally calmed down just enough, but still sniffing out her tears, she removed her head from Jackie's shoulder to look at her. "What is it?" Jackie asked.

"I…I had a dream." She admitted with a sniff. "I heard them."

Jackie stared at her and she nodded. "Come on."

_Last night, I had a dream. I was standing alone on a beach, and I heard two voices, one male, one female, and they were calling my name. They were telling me to follow their voices, that was it. I told Mum and Dad and Mickey. Anyone else would have thought that I was mad, but not those three. They believed it because they've met the Doctor and Clara. So, Mum took me downstairs into the living room, Dad lit the fire to warm us up, Mickey brought in a few cups of tea and they listened to the dream. A few hours later, we packed a few bags, got into Dad's old Jeep, and off we went, just like the dream said. We kept on driving for hundreds and hundreds of miles, just following the voices. And now, here I am, at last, standing on a beach in Norway. This wasn't just the story of how I died. This was the story of how I lost my friends forever._

**Bad Wolf Bay, Pete's World  
** 7th November 2010

Rose kept her gaze darting about the beach, for now, she could hear the distant whooshing of the TARDIS, that beautiful old ship, but she knew it would not come here. It never would.

_"Rose."_

_"Rose."_

The voices were more pronounced, much clearer and refined than the ones in her dream, but still with a slight echo to it. Rose turned around and her heart leapt into her throat. There, standing before her, even with the ghost like haze to their forms, was her best and greatest friends: The Doctor and Clara Oswald. "Where are you?" She asked in a low, sad voice.

"Inside the TARDIS." The Doctor said, returning her tone. "There's one tiny little gap, one small crack in the universe left, just about to close. And it takes a lot of power to send this projection. We're in orbit around a supernova."

Rose blinked. "Eh?"

Clara smiled softly. "We're burning up a sun so we could say goodbye."

Rose gulped, still unable to believe her eyes. "You…you both look like ghosts."

They frowned slightly before Clara blinked. "Oh. Oops. Wrong setting." She disappeared for a moment, the Doctor looking somewhere Rose couldn't see with a puzzled frown before Clara reappeared and their forms, at least to Rose, no longer became see through. Now, they looked like pure flesh and blood, solid and real. "That better?" Clara asked, and her voice was now devoid of the ghostly echo it previously bore.

Rose walked up to them, trying her best to contain her urge to grin or to sob. Instead, she reached out her hands as if to grasp theirs. "Can I?"

They shook their heads. "We're still just images. No touch." Clara answered.

"Can't you come through properly?" Rose asked.

"The whole thing would fracture." The Doctor answered. "Two universes would collapse."

Rose couldn't help it. She had to. "So?" She quipped and the three of them exchanged a warm laugh, but it did not dissipate any of the sadness they felt within them.

"Where are we, by the way?" The Doctor asked, him and Clara staring around at the beach in confusion. "Where did the gap come out?"

"We're in Norway."

"Norway." The Doctor muttered, then him and Clara shared a small shrug. "Ah, okay. Don't mind Norway."

"We're about 50 miles out of Bergen and…it's called "Darlig Ulv Stranden"."

"Dalek?" They asked in unison and she quickly shook her head.

"Darlig." She corrected. "It's Norwegian for "Bad"."

The realization slowly crept over their faces. "No." They muttered.

"Yep." Rose smiled, but the tears were starting to return to her eyes again. "This translates as "Bad Wolf Bay"." The smile she bore quickly melted away into quivering lips and she struggled to contain the sobs. "How long have we got?" She whimpered.

"About two minutes." Clara said softly.

Rose ran her gloved hand through her billowing hair, unintentionally choking out a small sob. "I can't think of what to say." She admitted.

The two nodded, right as Clara saw sight of Jackie, Pete and Mickey, standing silently by themselves by Pete's old wagon. "You've still got them, eh? You won't be alone."

"Well, there's five of us now." Rose nodded. "Mum, Dad, me, Mickey and the baby."

The couple's jaws slowly dropped incredulously. "You're not-"

"No." She admonished lightly. "It's Mum."

"Oh, of course." Clara rolled her eyes with a smile.

"She's three months gone. And there'll be more Tylers on the way, since they go at it almost as much as you two-"

"Okay, we don't want to know about that." The Doctor quickly stammered out, Clara nodding her head vehemently with a blush.

"And what about you?" Clara asked. "Are you…what are you up to now?"

Rose nodded. "Yeah, I'm back working in the shop."

Clara smirked. "Oh, good for you."

"Fuck off." Rose said and the two just laughed softly at her before Rose continued. "There's still a Torchwood on this planet, and it's open for business. Think I know a thing or two about aliens."

The couple smiled proudly at her. "Rose Tyler. Defender of the Earth." The Doctor smiled, to which Rose just smiled before she sniffed again. "You're dead." The Doctor said without the smile. "Officially, back home. So many people died that day and you went missing with Jackie. You're on the list of the dead." Rose nodded, but the tears were already starting to stream slowly from her eyes, and she had to wipe them away.

"But here you are." Clara inputted. "Living a life, day after day. The one adventure I can never have again. I gave that up a long time ago."

Rose sobbed, having to press her hand against her eyes for a moment. "Am I ever going to see you two again?" She cried.

"You can't." Clara shook her head, tears also prickling hers and the Doctor's eyes, but they just remained calm for her.

Rose sniffed. "What are you going to do?"

"Oh, we've got the TARDIS." Clara said sadly.

"And George." The Doctor inputted.

Clara nodded. "And George. Traveling about, the same old life."

"Yeah." The Doctor agreed. "The last of the Time Lords and…and his carer." He looked at Clara lovingly, despite the tears in his eyes. "That'll be you, eh? My Carer. Lord knows I need one." He admitted.

Rose smiled, but it never could reach her own burning eyes. "All on your own?" They said nothing and she just glanced down at the sand beneath her feet for a moment before looking up at them again. "I…I love you." They blinked for a moment, but she interrupted. "Not in that way…you morons." She quipped despite her broken voice and they gave her a soft smile. "But you were my best friends, and I love everything that I did with you two." She said earnestly.

Clara blinked, having to wipe a few stray tears from her cheeks before she refocused her attention on Rose. "Quite right too." She said softly.

"Well, I suppose…" The Doctor started, "if it's our last chance to say it…" He trailed off, looking at Clara and she nodded.

"Rose Tyler…" They started in unison and then, they just vanished, gone from the beach and gone from Rose's new world. Rose gave in at that very moment, completely broken down into her shaking sobs, which just increased as she suddenly felt two pairs of arms wrap around her, belonging to her Mum and her Dad. After a few moments, even Mickey joined in and all Rose could do was cry her ruined heart away on the beach.

* * *

Even when the couple stood together inside the warm and welcoming TARDIS console room, Clara gave in and let her own soft torrent of sobs out, and the Doctor immediately wrapped her in a hug, the two of them simply grieving for their lost friend. "I miss her already." She whimpered into his chest, while he just stroked her back and ran his hand through her hair.

"I know." He returned, still hugging her tight as he led her to sit down with him in the Captain's chair, the TARDIS taking automatic flight control as they sat together, even past the point where Clara stopped sobbing, and they kept themselves wrapped in the embrace. "I'm sorry, Clara." He muttered, placing a kiss on her forehead.

"It wasn't your fault. It was my fault as well." She said, burying her face in his neck. "But I didn't want to lose her like this." She admitted.

"I know." For them inside the TARDIS, minutes upon minutes passed and not once had they parted from their embrace until the TARDIS notified them that they had to return to piloting her again. So, despite their heavy hearts, or in Clara's case, her heavy soul, they conceded, keeping close to each other as they piloted the TARDIS again, pacing around the console in silence and passed the figure in a wedding dress as they walked around- "What?" The Doctor blinked, him and Clara sharing a look as they looked up from the console and towards the wedding dress figure standing there, their back turned to them. Then, the figure turned around, revealing itself to be a 37-year-old red headed woman, with green eyes and standing at 5ft 6, who was staring at them with a puzzled, bewildered frown.

"Oh." She gasped, blinking as she took in her suddenly new surroundings.

"What?" The couple asked in unison.

"Who are you?" The woman asked.

"But…what?"

"Where am I?" She asked again, her voice clearly laced with irritation.

"What?"

"What the hell is this place?!"

"What?!"

**AN: And…we're done. Ugh, I'm going to miss Rose. I mean, yes, she is coming back just like in the show, no real spoilers there, but still, I will miss her. And, let me say, it was still just as sad writing the ending as it was to re-watch it. Ugh, tugs on the heart. Either way, for now, we're about to have our first time with everyone's favorite temp from Chiswick. True, Martha's the next "Companion", but Donna has got one in her first. This, hopefully because of what just happened, should be a relaxer instead of a heartbreaker. Anyway, as always, thanks for reading and leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	42. The Runaway Bride

**The Runaway Bride**

**TARDIS**

"What?" The Doctor blinked, him and Clara sharing a look as they looked up from the console and towards the wedding dress figure standing there, their back turned to them. Then, the figure turned around, revealing itself to be a 37-year-old red headed woman, with green eyes and standing at 5ft 6, who was staring at them with a puzzled, bewildered frown.

"Oh." She gasped, blinking as she took in her suddenly new surroundings.

"What?" The couple asked in unison.

"Who are you?" The woman asked.

"But…what?"

"Where am I?" She asked again, her voice clearly laced with irritation.

"What?"

"What the hell is this place?!"

"What?!" The two of them walked around the console to stand before the mysterious stranger, who was almost regarding them like a cat would to a stranger cat. "You can't do that." The Doctor whined. "We weren't…we're in flight!" He pointed it out as if it was obvious, while the woman just stared at the console in infuriated bewilderment. "That is-that is physically impossible! How did-"

"Tell me where I am." The woman snarled. "I demand you to tell me right now, where am I?!"

The couple just shared a small look. "Inside the TARDIS." The Doctor answered.

"The what?"

"The TARDIS."

"The what?"

"The TARDIS!" Clara now inputted.

"The what?!" The woman retorted.

"She's called the TARDIS." The couple said in unison.

"That's not even a proper word!" The woman growled. "The both of you are just saying things."

"How did you get in here?" Clara asked, hopefully more softly.

The woman scoffed. "Well, obviously, when you kidnapped me."

Clara blinked. "Eh?"

"Who was it?" She asked. "Who's paying you two? Is it Nerys?" The woman groaned. "Oh my god, she's finally got me back. This has got Nerys written all over it."

"Who the hell is Nerys?" Clara asked.

"Your best friend." The woman said as if it was obvious.

Clara just looked at the Doctor with a shrug, to which he returned before he glanced at the woman in utter bewilderment. "Hold on." He muttered. "Wait a minute, why are you dressed like that for?"

Clara blinked, but before she could retort, the woman did instead. "I'm going 10 pin bowling." She muttered sarcastically. "What do you think, dumbo?! I was hallway up the aisle! I've waited all my life for this! I was just seconds away, and then you…I don't know, you…drugged me or something."

"We haven't done anything!" The two said in unison.

"We're having the police on you." The woman continued. "Me and my husband, as soon as he is my husband," She added, "we're gonna sue the living backside off the both of you!" She turned around and caught sight of the TARDIS doors, and made a beeline straight for the exit.

"No, wait a minute!" The Doctor protested.

"No, don't do it!" Clara protested. The woman flung open the doors, and she didn't say another word. She simply stared out into space and at the supernova occurring right on their doorstep, and the couple were sure her jaw had dropped, be it in wonder or bewilderment. So, they took a small breath and walked up to stand beside the woman, looking out into space with her. "You're in space. Outer space." Clara clarified. "And this is our…" Clara blinked.

"Spaceship. She's called "The TARDIS"." The Doctor finished for her, and she nodded. They didn't want to add "Time Machine" to the woman's distress, which was high enough as it was.

"How am I breathing?" The woman asked.

"The TARDIS is protecting us." The Doctor answered simply.

The woman finally took her gaze away from the supernova, at least for a few moments, to look at the couple beside her. "Who are you?" She asked.

"I'm the Doctor. This here is Clara Oswald. You?"

"Donna. Donna Noble."

"Human?" Clara asked, which earned a deeply puzzled frown from the Doctor. "What? I couldn't figure out any better question." She defended.

The woman gave a slight, if only slight, chuckle at that, but she nodded. "Yeah. Is that optional, by the way?"

"Well, it is for me." The Doctor shrugged.

"And I'm Human…ish." Clara blinked, slowly shaking her head. "Still don't get it. Probably never will." She muttered in a quip to the Doctor, earning a grin from him in return.

Donna just looked at the couple beside her. "So…you're dating an alien?" She asked.

"Yeah." They said in unison.

Donna frowned but decided not to ask again. "It's freezing with these doors open." She said with a small shiver, so Clara closed the doors while the Doctor, somehow with a newfound sense of energy, raced back up to the console.

"But I don't understand it, and I understand everything. This-this can't happen." He rambled, Donna moving slowly up to stand before him while Clara silently leaned against a coral arch with her arms crossed and an amused smile on her face. "There is no way a Human being can lock itself onto the TARDIS and transport itself inside." The Doctor pulled out a large bunch of hand tools from within a strong box inside the console, taking out a silver and black microscope scanner and moved straight up to Donna, who immediately flinched back, yet he didn't notice. "Some sort of subatomic connection? Something in the temporal field? Maybe pulling you into alignment with the Chronon Shell? Maybe something macro mining your DNA with the interior matrix? Maybe a genetic-" Donna stopped his rambling by slapping him hard across the face, and his shocked expression caused Clara to burst out laughing, which made the poor man blink repeatedly before he found his words again. "What was that for?!"

"Get me to the church!" Donna roared.

The Doctor blinked, shot a look at Clara, who only managed a shrug amongst her giggles, and he groaned. "Right. Fine. We don't want you here anyway. Right, Clara?" He asked but Clara still couldn't answer, which made him roll his eyes. "Looks like I'm piloting by myself."

Clara shook her head and made her way back to stand beside him, finally managing to get her laughter under control. "I'm so sorry." She beamed. "Your face was too priceless."

"Clara!" He whined.

"Where is your wedding?" Clara asked Donna.

"Saint Mary's, Hayden Road, Chiswick, London, England, Earth, the Solar System." Donna rambled.

Clara shot him a look. "Blimey. Do people still say, "Take a chill pill"?" She asked in a whisper as they went to work.

"How should I know?" The Doctor retorted.

"I knew it." Donna interrupted, coming around the console to stand before the couple again. "Acting all innocent. I'm not the first, am I? How many people have you abducted?" She asked, holding up…

The Doctor and Clara's faces fell, for Rose's old blue jacket lay in Donna's grasp. Clara took a deep sigh but stepped around the Doctor to look away from Donna and kept herself busy with piloting the ship. So, the Doctor was the one to answer, but his voice was rather dead. "That was our friend's." He answered simply.

"Where is she, then?" Donna asked, not understanding the suddenly odd silence from the couple. "She popped out for a spacewalk?"

The Doctor shook his head. "She's gone."

Donna blinked. "Gone where?"

"We lost her."

"Well, you can hurry up and lose me!" The Doctor didn't say anything to that. Instead, he just moved around the console to stand beside a dreadfully silent Clara and he went back to work. "How do you mean, "Lost"?" Donna asked again, deciding to take some of her irritation from her voice, but she still didn't understand the cold shoulder treatment from these two. This time, it was Clara who responded, yet it was still in silence. Instead, she moved around the console, snatched Rose's jacket from Donna's grasp and moved back around the console without saying a word. Donna was about to retort against the action, but Clara gave her a deep, smoldering glare, which frankly, managed to scare Donna more than she wanted to be right now, and she kept herself silent.

"Right, Chiswick!" The Doctor beamed, taking control in an effort to alleviate the tension from the room. The couple raced around the console and landed the TARDIS with a thud, and they frowned as the TARDIS gave a loud groan as it did. They raced outside with Donna, to find themselves in some back alleyway, and Donna gave a groan of irritation once again.

"I said, "Saint Mary's". What sort of Martian are you?" She asked the Doctor, who was staring at the TARDIS. "And what do you mean, "Human-ish"?" She asked Clara, who had placed a hand on the TARDIS, sharing a concerned frown with the Doctor. "What did you have blended with your Humanity? And where is this? Where are we?"

"Doctor, what's wrong with her?" Clara asked.

The Doctor slowly shook his head. "I don't know. It's like she's…recalibrating." The Doctor raced back inside with Clara, moving to stand before the console. "What's wrong?" He asked the ship, which only gave another deep, whining groan in return. "She's…digesting." The Doctor deducted. "What have you eaten, eh? What is it?"

"Donna!" Clara called. "You've really got to think! Is there anything that might've caused this?!" She began clacking away at the monitor while the Doctor used an array of hand tools on the console to no avail. "Anything you might've done?! Any sort of alien contact?! Have you seen…I don't know…have you seen lights in the sky or…" Clara trailed off, looking to the Doctor for assistance.

"Did you touch something?!" The Doctor called in input. "Like something-something different! A funny sort of metal?! Actually, who are you getting married to?! Are you sure he's Human?!" He shot Clara a small smirk. "He better not be overweight with a zip round his forehead, is he?" They, in all their rambling, noticed that Donna did not once respond. They looked back at the open doorway to see Donna staring at the TARDIS with her hands over her mouth in obvious shock and she ran away from sight. "Donna!" The Doctor called, him and Clara racing back outside as they caught up with the distressed woman. "Donna-"

"Leave me alone." She simply said. "I just want to get married, and I don't want to be in that box anymore. It's just too…weird."

"It's bigger on the side." Clara shrugged. "That's all."

"Oh? That's all?" Donna retorted sarcastically. The couple decided not to say anything, which just made Donna sigh, and she glanced down at her watch. "10 past 3:00. I'm gonna miss it." She almost whined.

"Why don't you phone them? Tell them where you are?" The Doctor asked.

"How do I do that?"

"Haven't you got a mobile?"

"Doctor!" Clara interrupted. "Wedding dresses don't have pockets!"

The Doctor flinched back with a small frowning whine, and Donna gave her a smile. "Thank you." She said earnestly.

"Sometimes, he doesn't learn." Clara said simply.

"Clara!" He whined.

"Yeah, I figured when I went to my fitting at Chez Alison, the one thing I forgot to say was, "Give me pockets"." Donna quipped and Clara giggled.

"This man you're marrying." The Doctor interrupted. "What's his name?"

"Lance." Donna said with a dreamy smile.

"Got to like Lance." The Doctor muttered, which also made Clara giggle, and he winked at her.

"Oi!" Donna warned. "No Martian is gonna stop me from getting married." Donna huffed and moved to walk back up the alleyway and towards the street.

The Doctor sighed. "I'm not-I'm not from Mars." He whined lightly, before he and Clara raced back to catch up with her, watching from the sidewalk as she was calling for a Taxi.

"Taxi! Taxi! Taxi!" Donna called, and a Taxi with its light on drove straight past. "Why's his light on?!" She asked the couple, who just shrugged at her. "Taxi! Oi, Taxi!" Another Taxi just drove straight past.

Clara giggled. "Why am I enjoying this?" She asked the Doctor, who just shrugged with a smile. "I'm so going to hell." She quipped, earning a laugh from the man.

"Oi!" Donna called, and yet another Taxi drove straight past. "Oi! Oi!"

"Good god." The Doctor muttered, him and Clara moving up to stand beside Donna, as yet two more Taxi's drove past. "Do you have this effect on everyone? Why aren't they stopping?"

"They think I'm in fancy dress." Donna explained.

Another Taxi slowed down as it drove past them, and the driver honked the horn. "Stay off the scotch, darling!" He called before driving off.

Donna huffed. "They think I'm drunk."

Then out of nowhere, a small blue car drove past with two males in the front seat, and they honked the horn repeatedly. "You're fooling no one, mate!" They called in unison.

"They think I'm in drag." Donna growled.

The couple just rolled their eyes before the Doctor stepped forward. "Hold on." He placed the tips of his forefinger and little finger into his mouth and whistled. And it was a loud, screeching whistle, one that made Clara and Donna plug their ears with scrunched expressions, but it did the job and a Taxi slowed down, coming alongside them into a park. "Sorry." He muttered to Clara, wordlessly moving her hands away to gently rub her ears for her.

"Did you have to be so loud with that?" Clara muttered and he just shrugged as they followed Donna into the backseat of the Taxi.

"Saint Mary's in Chiswick, just off Hayden Road. It's an emergency, I'm getting married. Just…hurry up."

"That'll cost you sweetheart." The driver said. "Double rates today."

Donna's eyes widened. "Oh my god. Have you two got any money?" She asked the couple beside her.

"Um…no." They said in unison.

"Haven't you?" The Doctor asked before he could help it, making Donna growl irritably.

"Pockets!" Suddenly, without warning, the driver quickly pulled into the sidewalk, and motioned them out without another word. The Doctor and Clara climbed out without a word, while Donna gave a deeply irritated face. "Fuck you, asshole!" Then, she climbed out and slammed the backdoor shut. "And that goes double for your mother!" The driver just raised his eyebrows at her, shrugged, and wordlessly drove off. "Ugh. I'll have him." Donna growled. "Talk about the Christmas spirit."

The couple blinked. "Seriously?" They looked around, noticing the banners and signs of deals on the shop windows all around them. "Is it Christmas?" They asked.

Donna rolled her eyes. "Well, duh! Maybe not on Mars, or wherever you two live but here, it's Christmas Eve." She kept glancing around until her gaze landed on a phone box by a shop wall and she tapped their arms. "Phone box." She pointed, and they started to race off towards the glass box. "We can reverse the charges."

"How come you're getting married on Christmas Eve?" Clara asked.

"Can't bear it. I hate Christmas." Donna said irritably. "We're having our honeymoon in Morocco. Lots of sunshine, should be lovely." Donna swung open the box door and stepped inside, before frowning and looking to them for help. "What's the operator? I haven't done this in years." Donna muttered. "What do you dial? "100"?"

"Bloody hell." The Doctor grumbled, as he took out his sonic and used it on the phone. "Just-just call direct."

Donna blinked. "What did you do?"

"Something…" The Doctor frowned with a sigh, "Martian."

Clara shook her head. "Just stay here. We'll get money." The couple then darted off into a small run, quickly but as politely as they could, darting through the shoppers, who were making their way towards a nearby shopping center, and came to a stop by an ATM. Unfortunately for their already built up adrenaline mixed with increasingly frustrated annoyance, there was already someone standing before them at the ATM. Clara thrust her hands into the pockets of her jeans, all the while she barely restrained herself from tapping her foot.

The Doctor, on the other hand, could not resist. He started with a simple impatient tapping of the foot, which quickly grew into a childish bouncing, swaying from one foot to another as he repeatedly muttered, "Come on, come on, come on, come on." Clara arched one eyebrow at him, then she quietly pinched his side. "Ow. Clara." He whined.

"Patience." She said with a smirk. The ATM then began to whir and after a few moments, the man walked away, and the couple took a few steps forward to stand before the ATM. "See?" She asked rhetorically as she took out her sonic and used it discreetly on the ATM, which began to take out a few rolls of cash, and it was the Doctor's turn to arch an eyebrow as Clara snapped her fingers impatiently before snatching them out of the ATM.

"Now, who's impatient, my dear?" He purred and she blushed.

"Shut up!" She retorted and he just chuckled as they stepped away from the ATM. They looked back down the way they came to see a group of people dressed up as Santa, playing "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" on their trumpets. The couple got a brief nostalgic smile as they remembered their REAL encounter with Santa, but the smile scurried away off their faces like scared cats as they recognized, TRULY recognized, the Santa band. Whether it was exactly the same as or related to the band they saw last Christmas, they still looked the same. The faces were far too metallic to be masks. "They're not here for you again, are they?" Clara asked without looking at the Doctor, just unconsciously taking his hand in hers.

"No."

"Then they'll be here for…" She trailed off, and they whipped around to see Donna climbing into a Taxi, who briefly shot them a glare.

"Thanks for nothing, you two morons! I'll see you in court!" Then, with a huff that they couldn't hear, as she was quite a few paces ahead of them, she climbed into the Taxi, and the couple just barely saw the face of a metal Santa in the driver's seat, before the car took off from the curve and onto the road.

"Donna!" They screamed fruitlessly, but the Taxi didn't hear them, and it zipped away out of sight. They turned around to look at the Santa's that were still standing there.

"Well then, Clara, let's create a little bit of chaos for them." The Doctor quipped as he took out his sonic and used it on the ATM before they ran off for the TARDIS, sparing only one glance behind them to see cash flying everywhere out of it, and the Santa's looked like bewildered children as people ran around them with massive grins on their faces at the sight of money in the air. Quite literally indeed. Seeing their favorite blue box in sight, they dove inside and began racing around the console, Clara pulling the monitor over into view.

"Huh?" Clara blinked as it brought up a 2D blueprint view of a London motorway, a red moving and blinking dot indicating their target, thanks in help to the Old Girl being proactive, for once. "Why are they on a motorway?"

"No clue." The Doctor answered, flinching back as the console sparked, prompting him to grab the mallet and smack the console. "Behave!" He said, the TARDIS giving a groan in response. "We're going to have to fly alongside the cab if we want Donna out of there." The Doctor said.

"You can get her, then." Clara said with a shrug. "I'm too short to reach her." She reasoned.

The Doctor smiled. "Hey, your shortness adds to your cuteness." He said with a wink, making Clara bite her lip with a small blush. "You'll need to pilot the old girl by yourself, you know that?"

She nodded. "Yep." Clara pulled the monitor over and switched it to outside view, the TARDIS moving the monitor for her as she dashed around the console to pilot the TARDIS in and out of traffic, before coming to a slow drift, her speed somewhat matching that of the motorway, alongside the cab holding Donna.

The Doctor then raced for the door, swung it open while pressing his body weight against it as an anchor, and looked over to see Donna watching him and the box with wide eyed disbelief. "Open the door!" The Doctor called over the wheezing of the TARDIS.

"I can't!" Donna shook her head, repeatedly wrenching the door handle to no avail. "It's locked!" The Doctor had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes. Instead, he pulled out his sonic and unlocked the door and window for Donna, who rolled down the window first. "Santa's a robot!" Donna called.

 _No shit._ "Donna, open the door!"

"What for?!"

"You've got to jump!"

Donna's jaw dropped. "I'm not bleeding flip jumping, I'm supposed to be getting married!" Before either could do anything however, the Santa driver picked up speed and drove off past the TARDIS, leaving Donna to scream incoherent words as it did.

"Clara!" The Doctor called.

"I'm on it!" Clara called back. "Hold on!"

The Doctor had to grasp onto the doors tight, almost stumbling over with a groan as the TARDIS lifted itself a few feet off the ground, flew bare inches over the nearby cars before coming down beside Donna's cab, almost crashing down upon impact. "Almost" being the key word. The Doctor then used the sonic on the Santa driver, the resulting action messed around with its systems, and locking its hands on the wheel. "Listen to me! You've got to jump!"

"I'm not jumping on a motorway!" Donna called back.

"Whatever that thing is, it needs you! And whatever it needs you for, it's not good! Now, come on!"

Donna briefly glanced down at her ensemble with a scowl. "I'm in my wedding dress!" She reminded.

The Doctor had to restrain from rolling his eyes, again. "Yes, you look lovely! Come on!"

Donna opened the door, which swung wide before her, and now Donna had more wind rushing into her face from the speed on the motorway. She glanced down at the road, seeing it whizz by at an incredible speed, the sight almost making her eyes blur, so she shook it off and glanced back up at him. "I can't do it!"

"Trust me." The Doctor said, his voice not shouting the words, but Donna was able to hear him, albeit not as clearly.

"Is that what you said to her? Your friend? The one you lost? Did she trust you?" Donna asked vehemently.

He nodded. "Yes, she did. And she is not dead. She is so alive. Now jump!" The last two words he shouted, shocking Donna into action as she leapt out of the cab and into reach of the Doctor's arms, the man grasping hers and pulling her into the TARDIS.

"Finally!" Clara called, racing around the now sparking console, which started to steam and smoke, and it got the Doctor's attention as he helped Donna up, said woman bracing herself against the handrails. "Need a hand!" Clara said, and the Doctor raced up to help her, the couple deciding quickly to set the TARDIS down on a building rooftop, just as the smoke from the console started to fill the room.

"Out!" The Doctor ordered, him and Clara grabbing fire extinguishers before they, and Donna, dove out of the doors and onto the rooftop. The couple then pointed the extinguishers inside and used them up to capacity, even as the smoke billowed out from the doors, causing them to cough and wheeze before they closed the doors and set the extinguishers down by the TARDIS. "Bloody hell." The Doctor muttered, pulling Clara into a relieving hug. "You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Clara nodded, the pair of them exchanging quick kisses before they parted, yet they kept their hands entwined, as they moved over to Donna, who was calmly looking out over London city in silence. "Funny thing is, for a spaceship, she doesn't do that much actual flying." Clara quipped lightly as Donna looked at them.

"We'd better give her a couple of hours." The Doctor said. "You all right?" He asked and Donna just shrugged.

"Doesn't matter."

Their faces turned sad at those words. "Did we miss it?"

Donna nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, you can…book another date." The Doctor offered.

"Of course we can." Donna said, but her words were without any sarcasm, to their relief.

"Still got the honeymoon." Clara pointed out.

"It's just a holiday now."

"Yeah." Clara nodded. "Sorry."

"Me too." The Doctor inputted.

"It's not your fault." Donna said, earning raised eyebrows and a smile from the pair.

"Oh. That's a change." The Doctor remarked.

Donna shrugged. "Wish you had a time machine. Then we could go back and get it right."

 _"Yeah, about that."_  The Doctor quipped mentally to Clara, who had to suppress a giggle as he just nodded. "Yeah. Yeah. But," He started, "even if we did, we couldn't go back on someone's personal timeline."

"Yeah." Clara agreed.

"Well…apparently."

Donna just sighed and sat down on the rooftop edge, thanking the heavens that there was another level just below her feet and not a long way down. After a few moments of silence, Clara sat down beside her with the Doctor's suit top in her hands, and she draped it over Donna's shoulders, while the Doctor, now wearing just a button up shirt and tie, sat down on Clara's other side. "God, you're skinny." Donna remarked as the suit top turned out to be rather small, almost Clara's size. "This wouldn't fit a rat." Her remarks made Clara giggle and the Doctor, who gave into his earlier itch, rolled his eyes at Donna.

"And, you'd better put this on." The Doctor inputted, pulling out a small golden ring band.

Donna sighed. "Do you have to rub it in?" She asked. "And before you put a ring on her?"

"Those creatures can trace you." The Doctor explained, ignoring her two questions. "This is a "Bio-damper". Should keep you hidden." Donna relented and held out her left hand, and the Doctor gave the ring to Clara, allowing her to slip it onto Donna's finger.

"With this ring, we thee Bio-damp." Clara quipped, and Donna gave them both a smile, now earnest, grateful, and warm.

"For better or for worse." The couple smiled, the Doctor slinging an arm around Clara's waist, while Donna just leaned back in her spot, giving her back relief for a few moments. "So, come on then. Robot Santa's." Donna said, re-earning their attention. "What are they for?"

"Ah, they're your basic roboscavengers." The Doctor explained. "The Father Christmas stuff is just a disguise, trying to blend in. We met them, last Christmas."

"Why?" Donna asked. "What happened then?" The couple slowly turned their heads to look at Donna, their faces bearing puzzled frowns, which made Donna blink. "What?"

"Great big spaceship?" The Doctor asked. "Hovering over London? You didn't notice?"

Donna thought for a few moments, and it quickly came to her, and she gave a small shrug. "I had a bit of a hangover."

"We spent our Christmas Day and our New Year week just over there." The Doctor pointed to a small batch of large buildings, quite some distance from their current position. "The Powell Estate, with this…" Their faces quickly fell into sadness once again, but the Doctor decided to continue with it. "Family. Our friend, she had family there." He then sighed, unconsciously drawing Clara in close, trying to not wallow in their sadness for a moment longer. "Anyway," The Doctor started before Donna could ask a question about their friend, "the question is, what do camouflaged robot mercenaries want with you? And how did you get inside the TARDIS?" Donna didn't answer, since she still didn't understand half of what they were talking about. But before she could speak that part of her mind, the Doctor spoke again. "What's your job?"

Donna blinked. "I'm a Secretary." She answered as the Doctor held up a sonic and used it to scan Donna.

"It's weird." The Doctor muttered. "I mean, you're not powerful or connected."

"Doctor." Clara warned. She looked down and her jaw dropped as she saw the sonic glowing bright orange. "Oi! That's my sonic!" Clara squeaked.

"You're not special or clever. You're not important." The Doctor continued, purposefully ignoring Clara.

"Clara, will you get your toothpick boyfriend to stop bleeping me?!" Donna snarled.

Clara readily agreed, snatching her sonic out of his grasp. Then, she flicked his nose and yanked on his spikey hair. "Ow, Clara!" He whined. "You ruined my hair!" He reached back for her sonic and she smacked his hand.

"Stop that!" Clara warned.

"What was that for?!" He protested.

"Because you were being rude. Again!" Clara retorted, glancing back at an amused Donna, while the Doctor wordlessly whined and mewled over his hair. "Anyway, Donna," Clara started with a smile. "Where do you work as a Secretary?"

"I'm at H.C Clements. It's where I met Lance." She said with a small, blissful smile. "I was temping." She added, then quickly blinked. "I mean, it was all a bit posh, really. I'd spent the last two years at a double-glazing firm. Well, I thought to myself, "I'm never going to fit in here". And there he was." She simply said. "He was making coffee, and he offered me one. I mean, that just doesn't happen. Nobody gets the secretaries a coffee. And Lance, he's the head of H.R. He don't need to bother with me." Donna smiled. "But he was nice. He was funny. And it turns out, he thought everyone else was really snotty, too. So, that's how it started, me and him. One cup of coffee. That was it."

"When was all this?" The Doctor asked.

"Six months ago." Donna almost laughed as she saw their eyes widen, especially Clara's, and they really were massive eyes.  _No wonder why he likes her. The eyes are almost too much._

"Bit quick to get married." The Doctor remarked as he blinked his eyes back to normal, Clara still stuck with her eyes being inflated, yet again.

"Well, he insisted." Donna simply said. The couple of them, as Donna looked away thinking about Lance, just shook their heads at each other, since they didn't believe her. "And he nagged, and he nagged me. And he just wore me down, and then, finally, I just gave in."

 _"That's a load of crap."_  Clara quipped to the Doctor, his mental chuckle giving her a private excuse to deflated her eyes again. _"Still going to use these eyes on you more, you know that?"_

 _"Yeah."_  He responded.  _"I mean…you ARE all eyes."_

_"Shut up!"_

"What does H.C Clements do?" The Doctor asked Donna, cutting off the mental conversation with a small smirk that he sent to Clara.

Donna shrugged. "Oh, security systems, you know, entry codes, I.D cards, that sort of thing. If you ask me, it's a posh name for locksmith's."

"Hmmm. Keys." Clara muttered.

"Anyway, enough of my C.V." Donna said, moving to stand up, and the couple followed her. "Time to face the consequences." She almost violently flinched at the idea of what will happen. "Bloody hell, this is going to be so shaming. And you can do the explaining, Martian boy and girl with all the eyes." She quipped, before she frowned. "Seriously, how can your face contain eyes so huge? They look like bowling balls that are about to fall right out of your head." Donna rambled.

"Gee, thanks for the image." Clara muttered dryly.

"I know." Donna agreed with the same tone, her mind already on the wedding again. "Oh, I had this great big reception all planned. Everyone's going to be heartbroken."

* * *

_Are you hanging up a stocking on your wall?_

_It's the time that every Santa has a ball_

_Does he ride a red-nosed reindeer?_

_Does he turn up on his sleigh?_

_Do the fairies keep him sober for a day?_

_So here it-_

Everyone at the brightly lit reception stopped their joyful dancing, quickly and silently turning around to look at the entrance to see Donna standing there, the Doctor and Clara standing awkwardly behind her. Various emotions chased each other across Donna's face, one being angry, another being hurtful, and another being adamantly confused. "You had the reception without me?" She asked, trying to restrain from snarling venomously.

The Doctor and Clara just shot each other a look. "Let's hang back-"

"Yeah." They quickly and quietly huddled back a few paces, keeping a tight grasp on each other's hands.

"Donna." The speaker was her husband-to-be, Lance Bennett, a 5-foot 9 dark skinned man in his early 40s, his head clean bald and wearing a black suit with dark grey trousers and a red and white flower inspired vest, with a matching rose on his suit to top it off, even including a blood red tie. Lance stepped forward with a concerned look of worry, staring straight at Donna. "What happened to you?"

"You had the reception without me?" Donna asked again.

"Well, it was all paid for. Why not?" A blonde woman retorted. She was wearing a full-on blue ensemble, from her dress to her necklace, to her earrings and even to her flower inspired hair tie.

"Thank you, Nerys." Donna growled.

 _"So, that's Nerys."_  The Doctor commented mentally to Clara, who just nodded.

"Well, what were we supposed to do?" Another blonde woman interjected as she stepped forward. This woman was 5ft 7, in her 50s, and wore a red and gold vest suit dress, with matching red heels and a red feather inspired hair pin. "I got your silly little message in the end. "I'm on Earth"? Very funny. But what the hell happened?"

As soon as the woman asked that one question, utter noisy chaos erupted as literally everyone present, including the groom himself, stepped forward and started throwing various, random and incoherent questions at Donna. Then, all by herself, Donna silenced them all by starting to cry, sobbing from all the turmoil and the anxiety she had felt through the day, all channeled into her sobs. Lance relented and wrapped her in a hug, causing everyone to drop the questions as they shared a simultaneous "Aww", before they began clapping in reassurance for Donna. Donna, who's head was constricted from their view by Lance as she slowly spun them around, gave the couple a mischievous smile and a wink before she returned to her sobbing.  _"What the hell just happened?"_  Clara asked the Doctor.

 _"No idea."_  They just shrugged at each other and walked over to the bar. The people around them sort of became a blur for a few moments. One moment, Donna was sobbing and being warmly embraced by Lance, the next, they were dancing to upbeat music as if it didn't happen. Then again, the Doctor and Clara were off in their own little world for those moments. They leaned against the bar, wrapping an arm around each other when a man in his 50s, 5 foot 7 with dark brown eyes, short grey hair and a balding spot at the back, along with large reading glasses and a matching suit to Lance walked up to them.

"Did you two bring Donna back?" He asked.

They nodded with a shrug. "It's…a long story."

"I bet it is." He said with a smile, reaching out his hand to shake theirs. "Geoffrey Noble. Very glad all that is done with. Lord knows how much everyone was running about trying to find her. We even tried to call her, but all our batteries kept dying out."

"Oof." Clara muttered. "Did you have chargers?" The man just shook his hand as if to say, "Kind of", and Clara slowly nodded. "Okay." Then, she blinked. "What exactly was her message in the end?"

Geoffrey chuckled, shaking his head. "Something like "I don't know where I am, but, it's a street, there's W.H Smith's, and it's definitely Earth."

"Oh my god." The couple muttered in unison, before the three of them burst into heart full chuckles.

"Truth be told, her mother's no better." He quipped, pointing to the blonde woman that started the questioning uproar. "Sylvia Noble, and how her old man brought her up, I have no idea."

"You can talk." The Doctor quipped, earning another laugh.

Geoffrey just shook his head. "No. If you met Wilfred yourselves, you'd wish he was your father. He's that damn good at it. And he's bloody infectious with his joy is what he is." He said cheerfully before he took their hands warmly to shake them again. "Listen, I don't say this often, but if you need anything, come to me. It's all I can do. Although," He quickly started before the couple could protest, "I am not getting you any tickets to Vegas or fresh new fancy cars. Lord knows what's up with the kids these days." He quipped before walking away, giving them a wave as he returned to Sylvia.

The Doctor and Clara looked at each other with a smile. "Nice bloke." Clara commented, to which he nodded in agreement. "Anyway, H.C Clements." She said, taking out her phone and, after using her sonic to hack into someone's nearby Wi-Fi, she went into Google and searched up "H.C Clements". The Doctor peered over her shoulder with his "Brainy Specs", as Clara used her sonic again to speed search the result. The answer was this: "Sole Prop. Torchwood." This made Clara put her phone back into her pocket with her sonic, before she gave a sad sigh.

"Come on." The Doctor ushered to her as he pocketed his glasses, and took Clara's hand, leading her into the dance floor. "You always look much better when you're smiling."

Clara let her sad face melt into a mischievous smile with raised eyebrows. "I thought it was when I was wearing that blazer suit." She flirted.

"Well…" The Doctor started, making Clara huff in shock. So, she went to whack his arm, but he caught her hand, tutting smugly as he did. "Dance with me." He said simply, and they did. Their dance went from upbeat to slow waltz in time with the changing music. Their actual skill at dancing was just as good as everyone else there. In other words, it was fine enough, but they didn't care about the skill of it. They just remained close, sharing the odd snog here and there, right until they tired of it and returned to sit at the bar in the room, getting a generic drink of water and wrapping each other in a loose hug again.

"Hey," Clara started, making him take his head out of her hair, "you wanted to know how Donna…you know…" The Doctor nodded as she trailed off, and she just shrugged, pointing to a man with black curled hair standing behind a tripod mounted with a camera. "So do I." Clara said, and they set down their emptied glasses of water and walked over to the camera man. "Hey, um…"

"You want to see her trick again?" The camera man asked as if he already guessed their intent. Then, he just shrugged. "Sure, why not? I've taped the whole thing, and everyone else already had a look. They said, "Sell it to "You've been framed"." I said, "More like the news"." He said, ushering them behind the camera as he brought up the footage. "Here we are." The footage showed a large church, with traditional wedding organ music playing in the background. Donna, with her arm through Geoffrey's, was, as she had said when they first met her earlier, halfway up the aisle, an anxious smile on her face. They already guessed, since she was looking off camera up the aisle, that she was staring at the groom, Lance. Then, the Doctor's eyes quickly widened in disbelief as Donna glowed gold before disappearing into a cloud of golden dust, screaming as she did.

"Can't be." The Doctor muttered. "Play it again." He requested, and the camera man chuckled.

"Clever mind. Good trick. I'll give her that. I was clapping." The man commented as he rewound the footage by a few seconds and played it again.

"That's impossible." The Doctor muttered.

"Doctor?" Clara asked, and he just took her hand.

 _"It's "Huon Particles"."_  The Doctor said mentally.  _"But they're ancient. WAY ancient. Older than me, and that's saying something."_ Clara giggled and he just smirked.  _"They are so old that…"_ He trailed off, turning around to look at Donna, specifically her ring that they gave her. "It can't be hidden by a Bio-damper!" He realized out loud and they raced through a double door exit, through the hallway and stopped abruptly by a window, looking outside to confirm what they had already suspected. There was a pair of robot Santa's marching up to the house, both bearing trumpet weapons in their hands. The Doctor and Clara, wordlessly, just raced back into the room, straight through the people, beelining it towards Donna. "Donna!" The Doctor said, causing her and Lance to stop their dancing with confused blinks. "They've found you."

"But you both said I was safe." Donna protested.

"Yeah, and we were proven wrong." Clara quickly inputted. "Don't matter anymore, we've got to get everyone out. Out the back door." Clara raced over to the back door with the Doctor, as Donna followed behind.

"Oh my god." She muttered. "It's all my family."

They flung open the back door, only to see yet another pair of armed Santa's marching up towards them. "Maybe not." Clara quipped, slamming the doors shut.

"Side door." The Doctor quickly interjected, and the three of them raced over to said door, only to find yet another pair of Santa's moving towards them.

"We're trapped." Donna obviously stated anxiously, but the Doctor and Clara just ignored it. They stared at one of the Santa's, for it had a small golden remote in its hands, and it made them turn around to look at the large batch of giant Christmas trees in the room.

"Christmas trees." Clara muttered.

"What about them?" Donna asked.

"Long story short, they kill." Clara simply said as the Doctor raced back into the group of people.

"Get away from the trees!" The Doctor yelled to a pair of kids, who were playing with the Christmas decorations. "Get away from the Christmas trees! Don't touch the trees!" Clara raced up and moved the kids away from the trees as the adults all clamored into a large group in the center of the room, looking at the pair of them in utter bewilderment, Lance and Donna's parents included.

"Out! Lance, tell them!" Donna yelled, and Lance just blinked at her in bewilderment.

Sylvia groaned. "Oh, for god's sake, these two are idiot's. What harm's a Christmas tree gonna…" She just trailed off. So did anyone else who were going to protest or interject, even the TARDIS couple themselves. For the Christmas decorations, specifically the red balls that hung on the trees all just…floated up, unhooking themselves off the tree branches and started to circle above all of their heads. Some people were still bewildered by this, some were amazed, some were amused, and the Doctor and Clara were just…puzzled.

"Odd way to attack." Clara muttered. Then, the most utter chaos ensued. The Christmas spheres started to fly at immense speed to random points in the room, and as they impacted upon anything in the way, exploding into shards and small chaotic flames. The whole room was then filled with scream and panic, everyone frantically running about to either take cover from the overhead bombardment, or to fruitlessly find an exit from the room that wasn't suddenly barred by a pair of armed Santa's. As a result, everyone just took to finding places to hide, until the Santa's were all lined up in front of the bar, weapons aimed at everyone in the room, minus two.

"Oi! Santa!" The Doctor called, as he was suddenly standing behind the sound system, Clara sitting down comfortably on a chair with ear plugs in her ears. As all the people, ranging from unknown guests to Donna herself, looked at Clara, she motioned to her ears and they all quickly plugged them with their fingers. As soon as they did, the Santa's turned around to look at the Doctor, who quickly drew out his sonic. "Word of advice: If you're attacking a man with a sonic screwdriver, and you also threaten his own queen," He winked at Clara, who just sent him her large, inflated doe eyes as he twirled his sonic up in his hands, "don't let him near the sound system." Then, he inserted his sonic into the sound system, and let loose, the pulsing from the sonic blaring through the speakers, causing everyone to flinch and gasp from the high pitched screeching, the Doctor, who already had ear plugs in his ears, just smiled as the Santa's practically started to have seizures, dropping their weapons and falling to the floor, writhing about as the sound started to destroy and melt their systems within, quickly shattering and shredding off their masks and mechanics into tiny pieces, their Santa's costumes falling to the floor with no form to carry them. As soon as the Santa's had literally shattered to pieces, the Doctor took his sonic out from the system, removed his ear plugs and braced himself against the table. "Oh, bloody hell." He muttered, clicking his jaw a bit to stop the small ringing in his ears, which thankfully wasn't any higher since he had already taken the precaution. He felt Clara's hand on his arm, and he looked at her, as she smiled adoringly up at him, having already taken out her own ear plugs. "That still hurt." He muttered and she gave him a kiss.

"You did good, my Doctor." She said, giving him one more kiss. "Now, come on, we've got a mystery to solve." She said, clicking her tongue. "And there's a reward for you at the end of the day." She flirted explicitly, which did the job, giving him a renewed sense of energy, the pair of them rushing over to check at the shattered robots, Clara picking up one of their heads, it's jaw completely shattered, and the Doctor picked up the remote control, still functional but damaged regardless. "Thank god their heads were…moderately intact." Clara said, taking out her sonic as all the people behind them helped each other to their feet.

"Doctor." Donna called as she walked over. "Clara."

"What was it?" Lance asked as he walked over as well. "What were they?"

The Doctor just shot him a frown. "They're robots." He said obviously, making Lance's expression turn dull.

"Here we are." Clara said as she held up the robot head. "We have a remote control for decorations, but there's a second remote control for the robots." This discovery made the Doctor squint his eyes.

"Someone's taken possession." The Doctor deducted. "They're not scavengers anymore."

"Never mind all that." Donna interjected. "You're a doctor and people have been hurt."

"I'm not a doctor, Donna." The Doctor said, shaking his head as he used his own sonic on the head.

"All the same," Donna continued, "you could help."

"Look," Clara started as she gave the head to the Doctor, then she stood up before Donna and pocketed her sonic, "We would like to help, truly, but we can't. Whoever was controlling those robots wanted you, Donna, and alive. Now we have to find out who they are and what they want before they hurt anyone else." She said, her words making Donna turn sad.

"And you've got to think of the bigger picture." The Doctor added as he held the head up by his ear, and his eyes widened in agitation as he heard a faint bleeping noise inside. "Clara! There's still a signal!" He yelled, getting up off his feet and dashing with Clara from the room.

"Donna." Sylvia interjected as Donna moved to follow. "Who are they?" She asked. "Who are those two?" Donna didn't answer. Instead, she just shrugged and dashed out to follow the couple, Lance quick in tow.

"Clara," Donna started, standing beside the couple as the Doctor scanned the head, "why is it me? What have I done?" She asked.

"We find the source of the signal, we will find that out." The Doctor answered for Clara, before he frowned and raised his sonic skywards. "Oh. It's up there." He said.

Clara looked up too, holding her hand above her eyes to block out the sun, and she blinked. "Is it me or are we being watched?" They shrugged and then grinned stupidly.

"Hi! " They called cheerfully in unison, waving up at the sky. "Hope the view's nice!"

Donna and Lance just exchanged a look. "Bloody hell, they're like childr-"

"No!" The Doctor yelled, repeatedly using his sonic on the robot head, but nothing happened. "The signal's gone." He said, turning around to Donna and Lance. "Donna, we need to get to your office at H.C Clements. That must be where it all started."

"Lance," Clara started, turning around as well, before she blinked, "it IS "Lance", right?" Lance nodded. "Lance, can you give us a lift?"

"Hold on," Donna interrupted, "have you been drinking?"

He shrugged. "I've had a couple, yeah."

"No, I'll do the driving." Donna said.

"No, you're not insured to drive my car." Lance protested.

"All right, then, we'll go in mine." Donna huffed.

The couple found themselves cramped into the back of a small, two door blue car, the Doctor having to bend so he could fit in while Clara just kept her knees bent, although she was quickly starting to regret it. "Not exactly a chase, is it?" The Doctor asked sarcastically.

"Oi. There's a speed limit." Donna pointed out. "I'm not going to jail in my wedding dress."

"It's like driving a hairdryer." The Doctor commented.

"Hold on, speed bumps." Donna warned, and as they drove over them, the top of the Doctor's head banged against the roof of the car.

"Ow."

"Yeah, no rush." Clara said sarcastically in her boyfriend's defense. Once the car had reached the desired destination, and the couple climbed out of the car with bone clicking relief, the four of them raced into the currently empty building, the Doctor jumping over one of the desks, Clara just simply running around, and they quickly started hacking into one of the computers. "To you lot, this might just be a locksmiths, but H.C Clements was brought up 20 years ago by the Torchwood Institute." Clara explained to Donna and Lance.

"Who are they?" Donna asked.

This time, the Doctor interjected. "They were behind the battle of Canary Wharf." Donna just blinked, and they frowned at her in disbelief. "Cyberman invasion?" The Doctor reiterated but Donna just shook her head. "Daleks in the skies over London?" He tried again.

"Oh." Donna said before shaking her head. "Nope. I was in Spain."

They restrained themselves from dropping their jaws. "They had Cybermen in Spain, Donna." Clara interjected.

Donna shook her once again. "I was scuba diving." She said simply, making the couple just glance at each other in bewilderment.

"That big picture, Donna, you keep on missing it." The Doctor remarked, as he and Clara moved away from the computer and went to another, hacking in and bringing up a schematic of the building plans.  _"Ooh. Secret basement."_  The Doctor purred to Clara in their heads, receiving a mental giggle from her in return.

"Torchwood was destroyed, but H.C Clements stayed in business, and, if our theory is correct, someone else came in and took over the operation."

"But what do they want with me?" Donna asked.

The couple stopped their work and stood up before Donna. "Somehow, you've been dosed with Huon Energy." The Doctor explained. "And that's a problem, because Huon Energy hasn't existed since the dark times. The only place you will find Huon Particles now is a remnant in the heart of the TARDIS. That's how you got into our ship." Donna just stared at him, clearly not comprehending the last part of his exposition, so he sighed. "Clara, do you mind?" He asked and she nodded.

"The Huon Particles inside you activated, and, quite like a magnet attracting metal, you were pulled from Saint Mary's, all the way into space, and within our ship." Clara explained, and Donna slowly nodded.

"I was a piece of metal attracted by another piece?" Donna summarized in a question. Clara just nodded with a chuckle.

"Yes you are. Sums you up completely." Clara quipped, earning a "Tee-hee-hee" from the Doctor before they quickly went back to business, Clara rushing over to the elevator as the Doctor reviewed the building plans.

"Now Lance, what was H.C Clements working on?" The Doctor asked. "Anything top secret? Special operations? Do not enter?"

"I don't know." Lance shrugged. "I'm in charge of Personnel. I wasn't Project Manager." Lance then quickly shook his head with a frown. "Why am I even explaining myself? What the hell are we talking about?" He asked.

"H.C Clements makes keys. That's the point." The Doctor said simply. Then, they looked up to see Clara running back over to them with a gleaming smile. "Oh." The Doctor muttered with a growing smile. "My girl's found something." He said, standing up as Clara came to a stop before him. "Yes?" He asked eagerly.

"We're on the 3rd Floor, right?" Clara asked.

"Yes."

"And there's a basement beneath Reception?"

"Yes."

"So why does the lift have a "Lower Basement" button?" The Doctor's smile quickly grew into a proud grin and she giggled. "Come on." She grasped his hand and led him towards the elevator, Donna and Lance following close behind, and she pointed to the "Lower Basement" button, simply marked "LB" with a keyhole beside it.

"There's a whole Floor that doesn't exist on the official plans, and my Clara found it." He said warmly, drawing her unabashedly into a quick snog, before hugging her from behind. "I bloody love you." He said adoringly to her, and she giggled in return as he kissed her cheek.

"Hold on." Donna interjected. "Are you two saying that this building has got a secret Floor?"

They blinked and said, "No" in unison.

"We're showing you that this building had got a secret Floor." Clara said simply.

"Well, I don't know if you noticed but it needs a key." Lance inputted.

"We don't." They said in unison as the Doctor used his sonic on the button before pocketing it away.

"Right then." The Doctor said after clearing his throat. "Thanks you two but Clara and I can handle this on our-"

"No chance, Martian, and Human-ish." Donna snarled as she stepped into the elevator with them. "You're the ones that keep saving my life, so I am not letting you out of my sight." She turned around to see Lance still standing there. "Lance."

"M-m-maybe I should go to the police." He stammered.

"Inside." Donna growled, making the man rush into the elevator with them as Clara pressed the button to close the doors.

"To honor and obey." The Doctor quipped.

"Tell me about it mate." Lance agreed.

"Oi!" Clara and Donna snarled in unison. The doors then closed shut, and the elevator went down. Down and down until, after a few silent minutes of waiting patiently, they arrived at their desired destination, a long grey, green lit corridor. They stepped out, Donna and Lance looking around in confusion, while the Doctor and Clara gazed around inquisitively.

"Where are we?" Donna asked. "Well, what goes on down here?"

"That's what we're here for." The Doctor shrugged.

"Do you think Mr. Clements knows about this place?"

"The mysterious H.C Clements?" The Doctor asked. "Well, I think he's part of it."

"Ooh." Clara mewled, looking past them. "Transport." She beamed, rushing over to a set of three Segway's, hopping on one as the Doctor jumped on behind her. "Hey!" She squealed as he tickled her, grinning as his other hand started up the Segway.

"Oh, you had it coming, gorgeous." He purred, kissing her cheek as they moved off down the hallway, the Doctor glancing behind to see Donna and Lance hopping onto the other two and coming down to catch up. As they did, they noticed Clara giggling and squealing, realizing the Doctor was still tickling her with a mischievous grin. "She so had it coming." He remarked to Donna, stopping only as she smacked his chest with such a light tap that he almost didn't feel it. "Come on, Clara, breathe." He whispered, stopping his assault and letting her catch her breath. "Because…we've found something interesting." He said, pointing to a door as he brought the Segway to a stop. The door was marked "Authorized Personnel Only" and had the Torchwood symbol and logo on it. So, they stepped off the Segway, Clara clearing her throat to remove her blush, and they darted up to the door and spun the wheel handle on it. They opened it, seeing a small bricked room with a ladder inside on the right wall. They looked up, and it was a LONG way up. "Wait here." He said to them and to Clara. "I'll see what's up there. Eyes front soldier." He quipped to Clara as he started up the ladder.

"Mine aren't front." She flirted, looking at his form approvingly.

He gazed back down at her with an accusing glare. "Have you been reading my mind when I'm not looking?!" He demanded, but without any bite.

"What can I say?" She shrugged with a twinkle in both of her eyes. "Me as a barmaid looked quite…delicious, and you don't disagree to it." She purred.

"Stop it!" He blushed and started to flee up the ladder, Clara giggling and laughing as she waited.

"Can you two please stop?" Donna interjected as Clara cleared her throat again.

"Barmaid me, and governess me for that matter, just give me some pretty good ideas-"

"Stop it!" Donna and Lance growled in unison, which made Clara blink.

"Sorry." She muttered under her breath. "I was just being honest." She then clicked her neck, muttered a low "Ow" and leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes and started to breathe calmly, but not in slumber, just in peaceful patience. She could faintly hear Lance muttering to Donna if she was truly serious about all of this, if she truly was thinking hard about it. She almost gave a small giggle as Donna replied-

"Oh. I thought July."

Then, there was silence again for a few moments, until she heard the Doctor's converse sneakers clapping and squeaking against the ladder, until she heard him drop down from it and land with a small "Oof" beside the bottom of the ladder. "Thames flood barrier!" He proclaimed, Clara shaking herself out of her little "Zen Zone", greeting him with a bright smile. "Right on top of us." He said, stepping out into the corridor with Clara again. "Torchwood snuck in and built this place underneath."

"What, there's like a secret base hidden underneath a major London landmark?" Donna clarified and they nodded.

"We know." They replied. "Unheard of." They started to walk down the corridor, coming to a stop by a large grey door, which they wrenched open, moving into a small, green lit corridor with another grey door with a Torchwood logo at the very end, so they moved through this door as well. "Whoa." They muttered in unison, the sight greeting them was a large room, and it was like a scientists wet dream come true. For what got their attention was the large tubes within the machines in the room that were funneling a bubbling liquid like water, but the lights that lined the glass of the tubes made it look like the water had a blue haze to it. But it was still no less impressive to either the TARDIS couple, their newfound friend or her groom.

"Stunning!" The Doctor remarked as he and Clara stepped further into the room, Donna and Lance following closely behind as the couple went up to inspect the machines closer.

"What does it do?" Donna asked.

"Particle extrusion." The Doctor said as he tapped one of the glass tubes. "Ooh, brilliant." He muttered softly.

"What?" Donna asked.

"Basically," Clara started, "it's a miniature manufacturing plant. But, it's for Huon Particles."

"Of course," The Doctor interjected, "it's all incase my people got rid of Huon's, being cautious and all that jazz."

Lance blinked. "Your people? Who are they? What company do you represent?"

"Long story." The Doctor remarked, cocking one eyebrow at Clara. "Me on the other hand, I'm just a freelancer. But don't you see?" He asked rhetorically, putting their attention back on the machines. "This lot are building them, and they've been using the river." He deducted. "Extruding them through a flat hydrogen base until they got the end result of…" He went to one of the machines, clicked a button, which popped out a small, arrow pointed capsule containing water like liquid, "Huon Particles in liquid form."

"And that's what's inside me?" Donna deducted, making the Doctor pinch the arrow point on the capsule and turn it like a dial, causing the liquid within to glow brightly, which echoed onto Donna, and she gasped in amazement as she glowed bright gold once again, just like she did back in Saint Mary's.

"Genius." The Doctor commented.

"But why liquid form?" Clara asked him.

"Basically, in liquid form the Particles are inert, so they need something living to catalyze inside. And whoever was creating this, or at the very least took over, chose Donna." He said, pointing to Donna. "Saturate the body and then…" He trailed off, before a massive grin shot across his face. "Ha! The wedding!" He exclaimed gleefully, earning a small jump from both Clara and Donna. "Yes! You're getting married! That's it! Best day of your life, walking down the aisle, oh, your body's a battleground! There's a chemical war inside!" Donna's expression turned from confusion to annoyed bewilderment as the Doctor continued. "Adrenaline, Acetylcholine, "Wham!" go the endorphins! Oh, you're cooking! You're like a walking oven, a pressure cooker, a microwave, all churning away! The Particles reach boiling point, "Shazam!"" He abruptly stopped as Donna smacked him hard across the face, earning a relieved giggle from Clara. "What did I do this time?!" He demanded.

"Are you enjoying this?" Donna asked. The Doctor didn't respond, so, after a moment where he managed to calm down, Donna cleared her throat. "Right, just tell me. These Particles, are they dangerous? Am I safe?"

"Yes." The Doctor said automatically, but Clara raised her eyebrows at him, and he sighed.

"Doctor," Clara started calmly, putting a hand on Donna's shoulder in an effort to reassure her, "if your people got rid of them, why did they do it?"

"Because they were deadly." The Doctor answered simply.

Donna's face fell at those words. "Oh my god." She muttered.

"Donna, we'll sort it out." The Doctor promised. "Whatever's been done to you, we'll reverse it. We are not about to lose someone else."

Donna gave them a sad look at their last few words, which made them sigh. Then, in response, they jumped in shock. Donna didn't respond, nor did Lance who was standing back in the corner in silence. Instead, it was a loud hiss over the speakers, like a ravenous creature that was toying with its prey.  _"Ooh, she is long since lost."_  A female yet animalistic voice drooled and snarled. Then, the far grey wall began to lift up, revealing another room behind it. Yet this room looked like a construction mess, with large spider webs across the ceiling, a catwalk runway with a staircase at the far end of the room and at least three tunnels that led down to the center. There was the real object of their fascination, being a massive hole in the ground, but their attention was taken away from it as they heard a group of the robots, now undisguised from their Santa outfits, moving onto the catwalks above them and aiming large rifles down at them.  _"I have waited so long, hibernating at the edge of the universe, until the secret heart was uncovered and called out to awaken."_

The Doctor looked at Clara, motioning for her to stand back as he went to inspect the large hole in the floor. "Someone's been digging." He stood by the edge and peered down into the hole, and what he saw was the longest drop he had ever seen, the hole ending in a white light, and it made him chuckle low in his throat. "Oh, very Torchwood. Drilled by laser. How far down does it go?" He called, stepping back slightly to rejoin with Clara.

_"Down and down, all the way to the center of the Earth."_

That made the Doctor frown in amazement. "Really? Seriously, what for?"

Donna stepped forward with a smile on her face. "Dinosaurs." She inputted.

The Doctor and Clara looked at Donna with a blink. "What?"

Donna blinked. "Dinosaurs?" She asked, but more in a question.

"Donna, what are you on about, dinosaurs?" Clara asked.

"That film, with that "Mummy" dude and he went under the Earth and saw dinosaurs." They just shook their heads at her, and she shrugged. "Trying to help."

"That's not helping." They said in unison.

"My god, that's still creepy." Donna muttered.

 _"Such a sweet little group."_  The voice purred, making the Doctor roll his eyes.

"Only a madman talks to thin air, and trust me, you don't want to make us mad. Where are you?" He demanded.

_"High in the sky, floating so high on Christmas night."_

"We didn't come all this way to talk on the intercom!" Clara interrupted with a growl. "Come on! Let us have a look at you!"

_"Who are you with such command?!"_

"I'm Clara Oswald, and this is the Doctor!"

_"Then prepare your best medicines for you and your Clara, doctor man, for you will be sick at heart."_

Then, there was a whooshing noise that came through the speakers before it stopped and restarted in the very room with them, as a large mass of blue matter suddenly appeared, but it faded away to reveal a large, crimson red spider, complete with her twitching legs and large body. However, protruding from the front of her was half of a humanoid body, who had pincer legs for arms, sharp teeth and six pure black eyes, and the top of her head was multi-pointed, in either a satire or a mockery of a crown. The female spider hissed and snarled at them, her legs and pincers twitching all the while, as all of her eyes stared directly at them, and the trio felt an involuntary shiver run down their spines. But the Doctor was the one to first speak. "Racnoss." He muttered, earning a purr like snarl from the spider, more in a sense of respect that in savoring a meal. "But that's impossible. You're one of the Racnoss."

"Empress of the Racnoss." She greeted in clarification.

The Doctor shot Clara a look, taking her hand to calm her down against the abhorring sight. "If you're the Empress, where's the rest of the Racnoss?" Then, he caught himself with raised eyebrows. "Or…are you the only one?"

The Empress gave another hissing purr. "Such a sharp mind."

"That's it. The last of your kind." The Doctor muttered.

"Sorry?" Clara interjected, and he leaned towards her.

"The Racnoss come from the dark times, billions upon billions of years ago. They were omnivores, devouring whole planets."

"Racnoss are born starving. Is that our fault?" The Empress snarled.

"They eat people?" Donna spoke up, the first she had said for a while.

"H.C Clements, did he wear those-those black and white shoes?" The Doctor asked, glancing up at the webbed ceiling above their heads, but Donna didn't get it.

"He did." Donna answered with a nostalgic smile. "We used to laugh. We used to call him the "Fat cat in spats"." The Doctor and Clara said nothing in return. Instead, they pointed up at the ceiling to the pair of protruding feet, and the sight made Donna gasp. "Oh my god."

"Mmm, my Christmas dinner." The Empress mocked with a purr.

"Here's what I don't get." The Doctor inputted. "You shouldn't even exist." He leaned over Clara to whisper. "Way back when, the fledgling empires went to war against the Racnoss." Clara nodded in understanding, while Donna just stared at the Racnoss in slow amazement, for some reason. "And they were wiped out." The Doctor called so the Empress could hear him properly again.

"Except for me." The Empress added.

"But that's what I've got inside me, that Huon Energy thing, yeah?" Donna asked, but the Empress just twitched her head away. "Oi! Look at me lady, I'm talking! Where do I fit in? How come I get stacked up with these Huon Particles?" The Empress twitched her head away again, making Donna growl. "Look at me, you! Look me in the eye and tell me!"

The Empress finally looked at Donna and gave a purring hiss of approval. "The bride is so feisty!"

"Yes, I am! And I don't know what you are, you big…thing." Donna said, making the couple give a small chuckle. "But, a spider is just a spider, and an axe is an axe." Her words made the Doctor and Clara blink, the couple looking just past the Racnoss to see Lance standing there and indeed armed with an axe. But before they could say anything, Donna shouted, "Now! Do it!" Lance dove in front of the Empress, raising the axe above his head, about to strike before she could do anything in defense. All she could do was laugh.

 _"Wait, what?"_  The Doctor and Clara asked mentally in unison as Lance joined the Empress in her amused laughter, dropping the axe, and holding onto his knees as he laughed.  _"Oh, that deceitful bastard."_

"That was a good one!" Lance chuckled, the Empress nodding in agreement. "Your face was perfect!"

"Lance is funny." The Empress purred.

"What?" Donna asked.

"I'm sorry." Clara said softly, but Donna just blinked.

"Sorry for what?" Donna looked back over to Lance. "Lance, don't be so stupid, get her!"

Lance just gave her a dull look. "God, she's thick." Donna's face slowly fell, and he shook his head. "Months I've had to put up with her. Months. A woman who can't even point to Germany on the map." He spat.

Donna's gaze fluttered between the couple and Lance. "I don't understand."

"How did you meet him?" Clara asked.

"In the office." Donna answered.

"He made you coffee." Clara said simply.

"What?" Donna muttered.

"Every day, I made you coffee." Lance clarified in interjection.

"You had to be dosed with liquid Particles over six months." The Doctor explained. "The only other way for them would've been to kidnap you and force feed you a bucket load in minutes."

Donna thankfully understood the information but was no less heartbroken. "He was poisoning me?"

They nodded, and Clara spoke up to Lance. "It was all there in the job title. The head of "Human Resources"." She growled.

"This time, it's "Personnel"." Lance retorted.

"But…" Donna started meekly, "we were getting married."

Lance shrugged. "I couldn't risk you running off. I had to say yes. And then, I was stuck with a woman who thinks the height of excitement is a new flavor Pringle. Oh, I had to sit there and listen to all that yap, yap, yap. "Ooh, Brad and Angelina? Is Posh pregnant? X-Factor, Atkins diet, Feng Shui, split ends, text me, text me, text me! Dear god, the never-ending fountain of fat, stupid trivia." He ranted with clear joy. "I deserve a medal for perseverance." He proclaimed.

"Is that what she's offered you, the Empress of the Racnoss?" Clara asked with a low growl. "What are you, her unpaid concubine?"

"It's better than a night with her." Lance retorted.

"But…I love you." Donna said hurtfully.

Lance shrugged. "That's what made it easy." He said simply. Then, he looked over at the couple. "It's like you said, the big picture. There I was, working in the city. Every day I was climbing that ladder. Then it happened. The Cybermen all over the world, and the Daleks in the sky. Everything I've spent my life doing seemed so small. What's the point of it all when the Human race is nothing?" He asked. "That's what the Empress can give me. The chance to go out there, to see the size of it all. I think you both understand that, don't you?"

"Who is this woman and the little physician?" The Empress asked.

Lance found himself to be at a loss for a brief moment, and he just shrugged. "She said, "Martian"," He said, pointing to the Doctor, "and "Human-ish"." He pointed to Clara.

"Oh, I'm just sort of homeless. Clara stays with me, so take from that as you will."

"Oi!" Clara protested.

"But the point is, what's down here?" The Doctor asked, pointing to the large hole again. "The Racnoss are extinct. What's going to help you 4,000 miles down? That's just the molten core of the Earth, isn't it?"

"I think they want us to talk." Lance muttered to the Empress.

"I think so too." The Empress agreed.

"Well, tough, because we only want Donna."

"Kill this chattering little doctor man and his woman." The Empress ordered to her robots.

"Don't you hurt them!" Donna exclaimed, stepping in front of the couple.

"No, it's all right, Donna." Clara said simply.

"No, I won't let them!" Donna denied.

"At arms!" The Empress cried.

"Ah, now, you see-"

"Take aim!" The Empress interrupted Clara, the robots cocking their rifles at the trio.

"I just want to point out the obvious-"

"They won't hit the bride." The Empress interrupted again. "They're such very good shots."

"Just hold on for one god damn moment!" Clara snarled, actually silencing the Empress. "Thank you." She said, clearing her throat. "If you think about it, the Particles activated in Donna and drew her inside our ship." The Empress nodded in understanding as Clara, with her hands and the small capsule behind back, spun the arrow point, letting Donna glow once again, and they heard the groaning engines of the TARDIS as it materialised around them. "Bye!" Clara called gleefully, the trio briefly hearing the final order of the Empress before they were back inside the TARDIS again. "Off we go." Clara said, racing around the console with a grinning Doctor.

"Well played there." He complimented, earning a smile in return.

"Thank you."

"Oh, by the way Donna, you know what you said before, about a time machine? Well, we lied. And now, we're going to use it." The Doctor said as they flew the TARDIS away.

"We need to find out what the Empress of the Racnoss is digging up." Clara summarized. "If there's something buried at the planet's core, then it must've been there since the beginning."

"Which is brilliant. Molto bene!" He beamed. "I've always wanted to see this. And now Clara can too." He grinned. "We're going further back than we've ever been before." They slowed down on their piloting, realizing that Donna hadn't spoken a word, and she sat down on the Captain's chair with her face in one of her hands. "Donna." The Doctor said gently, but Donna didn't respond. He looked at Clara and said, "I'll keep piloting." She nodded, moving over to hug Donna, who began to silently weep in Clara's embrace. The console room fell into a silence for a minute or two, until the Doctor announced, "We've arrived."

Clara nodded, and she parted from her hug with Donna to look upon her. "Do you want to come and see?"

Donna sniffed, wiped the last traces of tears from her eyes, and she nodded, albeit bitterly. "I suppose." She muttered. Clara then took her hands and slowly led her to the doors with the Doctor in front of them.

"Clara Oswald, Donna Noble, welcome to the creation of the Earth." The Doctor opened the doors wide, allowing them to see the vividly colorful and vast deepness of space before them. Upon this sight, Donna's jaw dropped, and so did Clara's, the Doctor immediately hugging her warmly. "We've gone back 4.6 billion years. There's no solar system, not yet. Only dust and rocks and gas. And over there is the sun." He said, pointing over to their left, and there they saw a small glow of bright yellow, aching familiar but just not quite there yet.

"Where's the Earth?" Donna asked.

"All around us, in the dust." The Doctor answered.

Donna smiled in awe before it turned into a small sigh. "Puts the wedding in perspective. Lance was right, we're just…tiny."

"No, but that's what you do." The Doctor denied. "The Human race, you make sense out of chaos. You mark it out with…weddings and Christmas and calendars." The Doctor chuckled, returning to his hug with Clara, gazing out upon the stars and the dust. "This whole process is beautiful, but only if it's being observed."

"So, I came out of all of this?" Donna reiterated, and he nodded.

"Isn't that brilliant?"

"It is." Clara agreed softly, and he kissed her hair with a small purr.

After a small moment of comfortable silence, a massive rock floated past them in view, and Donna pointed at it. "I think that's the Isle of Wight." She quipped, making them giggle.

"Eventually, gravity takes hold." The Doctor said. "Say, one big, heavy rock starts to pull other rocks towards it. All the dust and the rocks and all the elements get pulled in towards it, and eventually you get…"

"The Earth." Donna finished for him, and he nodded.

"So, what was that first rock?" Clara clarified.

"Look." Donna pointed off to their right, and they saw a large, crystalline star, made out of hardened spider webs, like…well…crystal, of some kind. It floated out of the dust into view, before stopping amidst the rocks and dust.

"The Racnoss." Clara deducted.

"You said they were at war?" Donna asked.

"Yes. These ones must've been wanting to hide." The Doctor said. They then watched with widening eyes as all the rocks and dust started to swirl and gather around the ship, up until it was no longer visible.

"They didn't just bury something in the center of the Earth. They became the center of the Earth." Clara deducted. Then, upon a sudden, the TARDIS shook with a groan, shut the doors on them and started to pilot itself on its own. Or at least they thought that for a moment.

"What the hell's it doing?!" Donna demanded.

"Remember the Particle attraction, Donna! They're pulling us back!" Clara said as the couple raced around the TARDIS, Donna restraining herself on the handrails as the ship rocked back and forth.

"Well, can't you stop it?!" Donna demanded. "Can't you put the handbrake on or something?!"

"He already leaves the brakes on!" Clara answered. "That noise is the brakes!"

"I don't leave the brakes on!" The Doctor denied.

"Yes you do!"

"But…" The Doctor started, reaching over to his right and grasping the beeping object of his desire, "the Extrapolator! Can't stop it but should give us a good bump!" He placed it down on the console again, tossing Clara the mallet and she smacked it hard before they could materialise. Then, after a few more moments, the TARDIS materialised elsewhere, and they gave a sigh of relief as the console room calmed down from its shaking. Then, they rushed out of the TARDIS, running down a familiar yet different hallway. "We're about 200 yards to the right. Come on!" He called, running down the hallway with Clara, Donna following closely behind them until they reached a large, dark green steel door, where the couple began to inspect it in case of traps.

"What do we do?" Donna asked, and the couple shrugged.

"No idea. We make it up as we go along." The Doctor said simply.

"But trust us, we've been very good at it." Then, she blinked. "At least, we have been historically, but I'm sure we still are."

"But I still don't understand. I'm full of Particles, but what for?" Donna asked.

"There's a Racnoss Web at the center of the Earth, but my people unraveled their power source." The Doctor explained. "The Huon Particles ceased to exist and the Racnoss were stuck. They just stayed in hibernation for billions of years. Frozen, dead, kaput. So, you're the new key, fresh new Particles, living Particles and they need you to open it, and you have never been so quiet." The Doctor remarked, him and Clara looking behind them, then up and down the hallway, but there was no sign of Donna. "Oh, Donna!" They called, and they obviously received no answer. "Bloody hell, robots aren't meant to be ninjas." The Doctor quipped as he used his sonic on the door and opened it, revealing a sole robot, waiting patiently on the other side.

* * *

"I hate you." Donna snarled as she was tied up in to the webbed ceiling next to Lance.

"Yeah, I think we've gone a bit beyond that, sweetheart." Lance said with dry sarcasm, his own suit stained and wet with liquid, most certainly the Huon liquid.

"My golden couple." The Empress purred. "Together at last, your awful wedded life." She cackled venomously. "Tell me, do you want to be released?"

"Yes!" They cried in unison.

"You're supposed to say, "I do"." The Empress mocked.

"Hardly! No chance!" Lance scoffed.

"Say it!" The Empress snarled, and Lance relented.

"I do."

"I do." Donna agreed.

The Empress shook her head with a malicious grin. "I don't." She mocked. "Activate the Particles! Purge every last one!" She ordered, causing the pair to glow and simmer in golden light. "And release!" Then the golden glow, like a cloud of dust, left their bodies, falling down, straight into the hole and deep into the Earth. "The secret heart unlocks, and they shall waken from their sleep of ages."

"Who will?" Donna asked. "What's down there?"

Lance rolled his eyes. "How thick are you?"

"My children, the long lost Racnoss, now reborn to feast on flesh, and the Web-Star shall come to me." The Empress decreed. "Now, my babies will be hungry. They need sustenance. Perish the web." She looked up at the pair, and while Donna felt terror and the fear of death in her heart, it was Lance, who felt the same as she, that gave in, whimpering as he did so.

"Use her! Not me! Use her!" He cried.

"Oh, my funny little Lance." The Empress purred, granting Lance a false sense of security for only a few short moments. "But you didn't take any lessons from the Doctor man and his woman, and you remained impolite to your lady friend. The Empress does not approve." Then, she raised her pincers above her head and sliced the air, causing the webbing around Lance to be cut, and he was set free to fall down into the hole, screaming in despair as he disappeared from sight.

"Lance!" Donna cried, but it was fruitless.

"My children are climbing towards me, and none shall stop them! They shall harvest on the Humans and reduce them to meat!" The Empress decreed. Then, she turned her head to the catwalk stairwell, where a lone robot figure was walking up the stairs. "So you might as well unmask, my clever little Doctor man."

"Oh, well, it was a nice try." He said, taking off the mask and black cloak, before he took out his sonic and used it to loosen but not cut the webbing around Donna. "I've got you, Donna."

Donna cried and gasped, holding onto one large piece of webbing in front of her as she felt herself starting to fall. "I'm gonna fall!" She pointed out.

"No, you're gonna swing!" The Doctor denied, as she held on tight to the webbing like rope, flying down towards the stairwell. "I've got you!" But the webbing kept getting lower and lower, until she sank beneath his level on the stairwell, crashing into the wall and knocking over caskets and metal containers, before she rolled onto her back, and gave the Doctor a smoldering glare. "Oh. Sorry." He muttered.

"Thanks for nothing." Donna snarled as she got herself off the ground.

"The Doctor man amuses me." The Empress purred.

"Where's Clara?" Donna asked.

"Scouting our bearings up top. The Empress has a ship, we need to know what it might be doing." The Doctor answered. Then, he placed both his hands onto the handrailing and squared his shoulders. "Empress of the Racnoss, I give you one last chance." He called in an authoritative tone. "I can find you a planet. I can find you and your children a place in the universe to coexist. Take that offer and end this now. What's your answer?"

The Empress hissed for a moment before she smiled. "Oh, I'm afraid I have to decline."

"Then what happens next is your own doing." The Doctor said in a low tone as he stood up and placed his hands in his pockets.

"I'll show you what happens next." The Empress snarled. "At arms!" The robots in the room cocked their rifles. "Take aim!" They aimed at the Doctor. "And-"

"Relax." The Doctor said softly, and they stopped, then slouched and dropped unmoving onto the floor on their catwalks.

Donna blinked, looking at all the unmoving robot forms before glancing up at the Doctor. "What did you do?" She asked.

"Guess what me and Clara have got, Donna." He pulled his right hand out of his pocket, carrying the remote control he and Clara received from much earlier at the "Wedding" Reception. "Pockets."

Donna's eyes widened. "How did that fit in there?"

"They're bigger on the inside." He said simply.

The Empress snarled. "Roboforms are not necessary. My children may feast on Martian flesh."

"Oh, but I'm not from Mars." The Doctor said gravely.

The Empress blinked all of her eyes at him. "Then where?"

"My home planet is far away and long since gone. But its name lives on. Gallifrey."

A fresh new surge of animalistic energy flowed through the Racnoss at the mention of his planet's name and she snarled at him once again. "They murdered the Racnoss!"

"I warned you." He said grimly. "You did this." Then, he took out a few of the remaining Christmas decoration bombs from his left pocket and tossed them up into the air as the Empress pleaded and wailed for mercy, but he did not listen. Using the remote, he made them encircle around the Empress in an intimidating gesture, before he sent them spiraling away to impact upon the water walls beneath the river Thames, but not too far high enough for their ladder exit to the surface, and the proceeding explosions rattled and shook the room, before the loud rushing sound of water came quick and fast to their ears. Then, he made the last of the bombs impact throughout the room, causing sparks and flames to erupt as the Thames river came rushing into the room, away from the Doctor, Donna and the Empress, aiming straight for the hole in the ground.

"No!" The Empress wailed as the distant screams of her spider brethren were heard for only mere moments until the water washed them away. "My children! No! My children! My children!"

Donna looked around her in horror, while the Doctor just simply stared in cold silence at the wailing Empress. Then, Donna called, "Doctor!" But he gave no acknowledgement to her. "Doctor!" She called again, but he didn't listen. Then, Donna turned around and saw a breathless Clara dashing into the room, looking around in wide eyed panic.

Clara took one look at Donna and understood. She looked up at the Doctor and called, "Doctor!"

Her voice shook him from his stupor, and he turned his gaze away from the Empress and saw her, and it melted his cold silence into sorrow. "Clara." He muttered, but she only saw him mouthing her name to her, unable to hear him over the roaring of the rushing water and wailing of the Empress.

"Doctor! Stop this! Now!" She cried, and her words made the Doctor start to tremble, before he shook it off and stepped away from the handrailing.

"Come on!" He called. "Time we got out!" Then, the Doctor dove down the stairwell and he with Donna followed Clara out of the room, through a corridor unaffected by the Thames, and back to the ladder they had found much earlier. Clara started up first, then Donna, then the Doctor. "Clara, what happened up there?!" He called.

"Her ship came down above the city! Some large crystal star thing!" Clara responded.

"But what about the Empress?!" Donna asked.

"She's used up all her Huon Energy! Even if she got back to her ship, she'll be defenseless!" Clara called.

"How?!" Donna reiterated.

"I saw a large batch of tanks rolling up into the city!" Clara called as they reached the top of the ladder. But before they got out, they found themselves clutching onto the ladder as the ear ringing sounds of tank cannon fire echoed into their ears, mixing in with the destruction of the Web-Star, until it was completely obliterated into fire and ash and the gunfire stopped. The three of them took a moment to get their hearing back into order before they climbed out and off the ladder onto the outside world once again, before Clara slammed the ladder hatch shut again and they clutched onto each other as they willed their limbs to recover from the climb. Then, they began to laugh in relief and joy in the fact that they had survived the day, and they were still all right. "God, I need a warm bath later." Clara said, the three of them looking down at their soaked forms and clothes, and the Doctor and Donna consented with her words. The chilly night air that bit at their bones didn't help either, since they had spent the rest of the day underground, unable to see the sun set.

"There's just…there's just one problem." Donna said, a tiny bit breathless.

"What's that?" They asked.

She pointed to the barren river. "We've drained the Thames." That made them refresh their laughter anew, for now it was directed at the confused people that would be wondering where the water went. As if they would have a clue.

**Chiswick**

The TARDIS materialised outside Donna's house two story house, where Donna stepped out first, turning around but deciding to hang back in silence as the Doctor and Clara stood alone together in the console room. "Doctor." Clara said, taking his hands in hers before he pulled her into a hug. "You're not at war anymore, remember?" She asked, yet her words bore no bite or admonishment.

"I know." He muttered, burying his face in her hair. "I'm sorry, Clara."

She let him stroke her hair in the hug before she pulled back and gave him a soft kiss, holding his face in her hands. "I miss her too." She said sadly. "But you KNOW that you don't grieve like this. I know too. Please don't convince yourself otherwise."

"I…" He trailed off, keeping what would be repeated words silent as he drew her into a hug again. They just remained in a silent hug for a small while, letting each other's company bring them back to peace before they parted, taking each other's hand with a gentle smile before they walked over to the doors to see Donna standing there patiently with a smile on her face. "There we go." The Doctor said, joy back in his heart again. "Told you she'd be all right. Survive anything." The couple patted the sides of the box, feeling the ship give a small purring hum in return.

"More than I've done." Donna said simply.

Clara took out her sonic and scanned Donna before she shrugged and pocketed it away. "No. All the Huon Particles are gone. No damage, you're fine." She reassured.

"Yeah, but apart from that…" Donna started with a sigh, "I missed my wedding, lost my job, and became a widow on the same day. Sort of."

"We couldn't save him." The Doctor said sadly.

Donna shook her head. "He deserved it." They simply raised their eyebrows at her, and she relented. "No, he didn't." She admitted. Then, as she took a breath and gathered herself together, she glanced back at her house, seeing her parents hugging each other in reassurance inside. "Better get inside. They'll be worried."

"Best Christmas present they could have." The Doctor remarked. Then, Clara nudged him, and he blinked. "Oh, no, I forgot. You hate Christmas." He said with a smirk.

Donna shook her head. "Without gramps." They blinked at her, and she smiled. "Grampa Wilf makes the best Christmas, but he's not here, since he got laid up with Spanish Flu."

Their eyes widened. "Spanish Flu-"

"Not the lethal kind, thankfully." Donna interrupted, putting them at ease. "You two would like him." She commented, earning shrugs from the couple. "Still, Christmas without him is…yes, I hate Christmas." She said finally, making them giggle.

"Even…if it snows?" The Doctor asked rhetorically, reaching up to the top of the box behind the doors and flicking a switch. This caused the light in the TARDIS bulb to glow bright before it shot the light into the atmosphere high above, quickly causing snow to fall over London. Clara grinned with a giggle while Donna held her hands over her mouth in awe.

"I can't believe you did that." Donna said, bursting out into laughter as the snow flowed all around them.

The Doctor shrugged slightly. "Oh, basic atmospheric excitation-"

"No." Clara interrupted, making him frown. "You're ruining the mood." She chastised and he chuckled with a smile. Then, they looked back over at Donna, who smiled at them.

"Merry Christmas." Donna said warmly.

"And you." They said in unison.

They looked at each other before glancing back at Donna and they blinked. "So…what will you do with yourself now?"

Donna waggled her eyebrows. "Not getting married, for starters." They giggled slightly, and she just raised her eyebrows at them.

"Sorry." They muttered.

"And I'm not gonna temp anymore. I don't know." She added with a sigh. "Travel, see a bit more of planet Earth, walk in the dust. Just…go out there and do something." She said proudly, making them smile.

"Well, you could always…" The Doctor started, but he trailed off.

"What?" Donna asked.

"Come with us." Clara finished for him.

Donna's response was automatic, but not admonishing. "No."

They didn't show it, but they really felt disappointed by her answer. "Okay." Clara nodded.

"I can't." Donna said simply, but they nodded dismissively again.

"No, that's fine-"

"Stop it." Donna interrupted, and they slouched in silence. "Really, I can't. I mean, everything we did today…do you two live your life like that?"

They exchanged a glance with each other. "Not all the time." The Doctor answered.

Donna cocked an eyebrow at them. "I think you do. And I couldn't." She said firmly.

"But you've seen it out there." The Doctor said. "It's beautiful."

"And it's terrible." Donna agreed but yet disagreed too. "That place was flooding and burning, and they were dying, and you stood there like…I don't know…a stranger." The Doctor looked down dejectedly as Donna sighed. "And then Clara comes in, snaps you out of it and then you make it snow. I mean, you guys scare me to death!" She admitted. They just nodded in silence before Donna took a breath and looked back up at them with a smile. "Tell you what I will do though, Christmas dinner." They just gave her a look of utter horror. "Oh, come on."

They shook their heads. "We…don't do that sort of thing." The Doctor muttered.

"Yeah, we don't." Clara agreed.

"You both did it last year, you said so." Donna said. "And you might as well because Mum always cooks enough for 20."

The couple looked like they were truly pondering that offer, but unknown to Donna, in their heads they had already agreed to disagree. But, for the sake of faces, they looked as if they gave in. "Oh, all right, then. But you go first. Better warn them, and…don't say that I'm Martian." The Doctor said. "We just have to park her properly. She might drift off to the Middle Ages." He opened the door and he stepped in with Clara.

"And I'm not…" Clara trailed off with a shake of her head. "I still don't get what I am." She admitted again with a sigh.

"You're an elf, right?" The Doctor asked.

"But elves are taller."

"Not Christmas elves." They flicked the lever to go, but then they heard-

_"Doctor! Clara!"_

Donna's scream actually pierced their ears, and they landed back again, moving to the doors and looked out at the woman with a wince. "Blimey, you can shout." The Doctor remarked.

Donna just gave them a sad look, and it dawned on them. "If you're going to decline, be sure to say something." Donna admonished, and they sighed.

"Okay."

"Am I ever going to see you two again?" Donna asked.

They smiled. "If we're lucky."

"Just promise me one thing: Find someone."

They stayed emotionless. "We don't-"

"Yes, you do." Donna interrupted. "I can't promise you two to keep together, cause that'll be like promising water to remain wet." They chuckled at the thought until Donna spoke again. "But everyone needs a friend, and you two are no different."

They nodded in agreement to her. "Yeah." They said in unison before they got themselves together again and gave her a smile. "Thanks then, Donna, good luck. And just…be magnificent."

Donna beamed. "I think I will, yeah." They nodded, and were about to enter the TARDIS again, but Donna stopped them. "Oi!" She called, hearing a unified groan from the couple.

"Oh, what is it now?" The Doctor asked.

"That friend of yours," Donna started, watching their faces turn sad, "What was her name?"

They sighed, and it was Clara that answered. "Her name was Rose." Donna gave them one last smile before they closed the doors and the TARDIS vanished from sight. Donna turned around to walk back into her house, not knowing that one day, she'll meet them again, whether she will realize it or not.

**AN: Until the next time, Donna Noble. Next will be Series 3, and I'm quite looking forward to these two meeting Martha for the first time. Also, the finale. Cause we meet Jack again. Oh, and…well, you know who's also coming into the finale. ;) Anyway, as always, thank you so much for reading and leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	43. Pillow Talk

**Pillow Talk**

**TARDIS**

_"Breathe in…breathe out."_ The Doctor thought to Clara as they snuggled their bare, naked forms close together on their bed. Well, to put it bluntly, their wrinkled, messed up, sweat laced bed. Clara took these small moments of comforting silence to just look around the bedroom in appreciation, for the Doctor had wanted to stylize it for some time, and she agreed. No longer was it a bare, mundane bedroom with barely anything to it other than a queen-sized bed. The Doctor had changed it all now. The room's walls looked as if they were made out of brick and stone, with a pair of windows on the left side that had blood red curtains with golden embroidery. The bed's blanket, at least the one that has been crumpled up in the last few hours of sleep and…well…loving, had a snow-white fur quality to the majority that would have laid over the bed, while the part that draped over the sides was a patchwork of blue and cream, made in an echo shape of elongated tiles. On the right side of the bed was a wooden bedside table, while on the wall beneath the window was a wooden work desk, which bore on it random discarded papers and scrolls along with a flower vase that sat blooming on the windowsill. All in all, it looked rather like a slightly modernistic version of a medieval castle bedroom, and even the TARDIS had created the illusion of sunlight pouring in through the windows in what would be the morning, or pale moonlight when it would be night-time. Either way, Clara had no problem with it whatsoever.

"I love what you've done in here, Doctor." Clara commented warmly, looking back up at him from his chest in a soft dough eyed gaze of adoration, to which he returned, just not as infinitely inflated.

"Thank you, Clara." He mewled, stroking her hair and kissing her right between her eyes, to which she blinked.

"Doctor, no one kisses there." Clara quipped lightly, and he chuckled, running a hand up and down her back.

"Well, you won't get any more from me then." He retorted, and Clara's eyes widened in shock.

"What?" Clara muttered, but his smile didn't fade, and her jaw dropped, causing him to laugh at her.

"You don't get that kind of shock anymore, do you?" He asked. Clara's shock faded somewhat, as he planted one kiss on her lips before trailing down her left cheek, stopping his small travel at a point just below her jawline. "Then again, you look beautiful with anything, Clara." He said earnestly, lightly sucking on her neck and she gave a low mewling moan in her throat.

"Even if I'm pissed off at you?" She asked with a tiny squeak.

He pulled back and gave her a nod. "Yes. Then again, that's a…different kind of beautiful." He said mischievously.

Clara herself raised her eyebrows, deciding to store away the mischievous thought she just had about his words. _Not yet. Not just yet._ "Well, I'll think of something." She said simply, moving up just slightly so she could kiss up and down his own neck, before sucking lightly, almost causing his hand to slip around her chest, but she caught it with a small smirk.

"Clara." He moaned in a small whimper, as the woman rolled him over onto his back, pushing his arms down flat against the bed, as she continued to kiss at every sensitive point just beneath his jawline. Then, she kissed up his neck, up his right check before catching his earlobe between her teeth, pulling with just the right tension, before letting go and kissing his ear.

"You gave me a very good idea, my Doctor." She purred in his ear.

The Doctor felt something cold around his wrists, which was followed by two small yet simultaneous clicking noises, and he found his arms restrained suddenly by handcuffs against the bed. "What?" He muttered, his arms restrained against the bedside, only able to move them up from the mattress just slightly until the handcuffs held him back. "Clara, when did you-"

"Shhh." She muttered, before drawing back and tilting her head with a seductive glare that sent very pleasant shivers through his body. "You must do only one thing, Doctor. Do you know what that is?" She asked in a husky whisper, to which he shook his head silently. "Don't move an inch." She said as she leant down, shoving her tongue right down his throat for a few moments, before she cruelly parted, pressing her soft, velvet like cheek against his face in a taunting manner that made him whimper. "I did promise you a reward after all." She purred, tracing her kisses down his chest, down his abdomen, until he felt her soft lips right there.

"Clara." He moaned, almost involuntarily moving his head, but he felt the barest scrape of her teeth and he stopped.

 _"Shhh. It's all right."_ He heard her husky voice in his mind, before she continued in her worship, and all he could do, restrained against the bed, trying not to move a single inch, was to howl her name throughout their own room, all into the rest of the night.

**AN: *Shrugs* Honestly, I have no clue where this came from. I just felt like writing it. Hope you enjoyed it…for one reason or another. ;)**


	44. Smith, Oswald and Jones

**Smith, Oswald and Jones**

**Martha's Flat  
** 27th April 2008

 _Never knew getting ready could take so…well, never mind._ Martha mentally quipped dryly as she threw on her black jeans, a short teal top and a very dark blue jacket before equipping her dark brown bag.  _Phone? Check. Keys? Check. Wallet? Check. Others? Check._  After she finished getting ready, she checked the time.  _9:00am. Plenty of time._ Martha gave a quick sigh of relief, for the only way she would be late to work now was if her entire family came to her doorstep and started hounding her about the party again. At that thought, she paused, took out her phone and placed the notification sound on. She wasn't going to ignore them; Besides, their arguments can get rather funny. Other times, of course, they could get exhausting. She placed her phone back into her bag, then stretched her arms and clicked her back with a small groan. The woman was 29 years old, 5 foot 2, with black eyes and hair, and dark skinned. At that, she made sure that her hair was tied behind her head, checked that the lights in her flat were off, and then closed and locked the front door before moving off on a new yet regular day. Martha was currently working at the Royal Hope Hospital. Well, she was somewhat working but was more or less studying to become a doctor.  _At least if I can pass my exams._ She quipped mentally to herself as she waited for a pedestrian traffic light to turn green before moving across the road and straight into the regular amount of buzzing people that were always found within the London city.  _Besides, if it all goes wrong, I'll probably just blame it on the exams anyway. If they weren't hard enough as it wa-_ Her mental thought was cut off mid walk as her phone suddenly started to screech and ring in her pocket, and she knew only one thing.  _I am going to get call after call because of the party later on tonight, right? It can't be anything else._ She took out her phone, flicked it back and checked the number, smiling as she did. Trish, who was only a few years younger than her, always made her smile. She didn't believe in favorites, but Trish…was close.  _But not close enough._  Martha just beamed and answered the call. "You're up early. What's happening?"

 _"It's a nightmare."_  Trish answered.  _"Because Dad won't listen and I'm telling you, Mum is going mental. Swear to god, Martha, this is epic. You've got to get in there and stop him."_

Martha laughed. "How do I do that?"

 _"Just tell Dad he can't bring her."_  Trish said simply.

 _And who just said that he won't listen?_  Before she could reply, her phone rang again, so she checked the number. "Hold on, that's Leo. I'll call you back." She flicked over the call to Leo. "Hi."

 _"Martha, look, if Mum and Dad start to kick off, tell her I don't even want a party. Didn't even ask for one. Hell, they could always give me the money instead."_  Leo remarked.

 _Like that one will go over well._ "Yeah, well, why do I have to tell them? Why can't you-" And again, yet another family member interrupted the call. "Hold on, that's Mum. I'll call you back." She flicked over the call to the next number. "Hi Mum." She greeted warmly.

 _"Martha, I don't mind your father making a fool of himself in private, but this is Leo's 21_ _st_ _. Everyone is going to be there, and the entire family is going to look ridiculous."_  Her mother, Francine, rambled.

"Mum, it's a party." Martha responded. "I can't stop Dad from bringing his girlfriend."

 _"Not that you like her either way."_  Francine argued. A small moment of silence followed before Martha and Francine shared a hearty laugh.  _"Sorry about all this, darling."_  She said warmly.  _"No one meant for the party to happen while you're busy studying."_

"You're family, Mum." Martha retorted. "I can make room for you guys." Right then and there, another phone call interrupted, and Martha groaned.

 _"That your Dad?"_  Francine guessed.

"Yep."

_"Did you just get two calls from-"_

"Trish and Leo, yeah." Martha quickly answered, and Francine chuckled.

_"Have a good day, dear."_

"You two, Mum." She hung up the call, switching the line over to her Dad, Clive. "Hi, Dad." She said cheerily.

 _"Hi, darling."_  Clive responded warmly as she heard a car door close.  _"Okay, tell your mother that Leo is my son as well, and I'm paying for half that party. I'm entitled to bring who I like."_

"I know, Dad, but think what it's going to look for Mum, because you'll be standing there with Annalise."

 _"What's wrong with Annalise?"_  Clive responded.

 _"Is that Martha?"_  Martha heard a slightly high-pitched voice in the background as another car door closed shut.

 _"Yeah. Say hi."_  Clive said.

 _"Hi Martha."_  Annalise greeted, her pitch going just a tad too high.

"Hi Annalise." Martha greeted.

 _"Big kiss, lots of love. See you at the party, babes. Now,"_  Annalise started, her attention back on Clive,  _"take me shopping, big boy."_

Martha quickly hung up at that.  _Okay, ew. I don't say that often, and I don't like saying it but…ew!_

"Like so!" Two random people shouted at her in unison as they appeared from out of nowhere, standing in front of her. Their appearance and their loud words caused Martha to shudder up in shock as she stared at them in utter bewilderment. One was really tall and skinny, wearing a brown pinstripe suit with spikey hair, the other was a woman about her height with a Northern accent, wearing a blue sweater and black jeans, looking rather like a school teacher. Then, the man took off his tie and wrapped it around the woman's eyes, completely blinding her. "See?" They said again before they started to walk off. Well, at first, the woman started to walk in the wrong direction, almost stumbling into Martha before the man caught her with his arms around her waist.

"Wrong way, missy." He said, turning her around till she faced Martha's left before they walked off, the tie still around the woman's eyes, but she didn't seem frightened at all. In fact, she was giggling, a lot.

Martha quickly moved to the building beside her and leaned against it. Then, she just blinked, looked around, and she could find no sign of the pair. They were completely gone, vanished from sight.  _Well, first things first, they weren't a pair. Obviously, they were a couple. She didn't object once to his arms around her waist, otherwise that would be a REALLY weird friendship. Second of all, what the hell was that?!_  Martha checked her phone to find her calls placed on hold with Trish and Leo had hung up, obviously having figured out she was being called by everyone in the family. Either way, Martha just took a deep breath, and started back off on her path again.  _Riiiight. Either that's a bad omen for the day getting even weirder, or those two were a literal couple of jesters. For my sanity, please let it be the latter._ Martha turned another corner to see the Royal Hope Hospital enter view, just as the cloudy sky began to rumble with the oncoming thunde-  _Wait a minute._ Martha turned around to look at the sky behind it. It was clear, blue and bright with warm sunlight. Yet the sky around the hospital was dark grey, blocking any light or blue sky from view.  _Heh. "Goodbye, Blue Sky-"_  Martha was drawn out of her mental solitude as a large man clad head to toe in black leather, wearing a matching pitch-black motorcycle helmet, bump into her shoulder as he stormed past and towards the doors of the hospital. "Oi! Watch it mate!" Martha growled. The man stopped, then he turned to stare at her for a few moments before he turned back around and walked away. Martha had to admit that whoever that man was had, in one simple, silent stare, sent more nerve-wracking chills down her spine than any doctor's operation could ever do. Which is saying something considering…you know…they're operations. Either way, Martha decided to calm herself with a sigh before moving through the doors into the hospital, down its hallways towards the lockers, where she opened her personal locker. There, she replaced her jacket with a white doctor's coat, and took out her I.D card, hooking it onto her coat pocket. As she went to close the locker door, she felt a rather painful shock of electricity, making her mutter a low "Ow" as she shook her hand. After a small moment, she tapped the locker door, and after gaining no electric shock, she closed the door and locked it. Now, she had to go to work, and they were going to be looking at a few patients today.  _This is going to be a long day._

* * *

"I was all right till this morning." Martha heard one of their patients say earnestly. The patient's name was Florence Finnegan, a 73-year-old woman with greying blonde hair, blue eyes, and was wearing flower inspired pajamas, ones obviously supplied by the hospital. Martha's supervisor, Mr. B. Stoker, a 67-year-old balding man, who wore a dark blue suit and was also the head of the Hospital, had taken Florence's hand in reassurance.

"Then?" Mr. Stoker asked.

"Then…I don't know." Florence said with a shrug. "I woke up and I felt all dizzy again. It was worse than when I came in."

Mr. Stoker gave her a smile before he gently inspected her pulse on her hand. "Pulse is slightly thready." He deducted, letting go of her hand before turning to Martha and the five other students who stood with her. "Let's see what Britain's finest might suggest." He quipped lightly before turning to the first, a man with brown hair and had his doctor coat buttoned up professionally. "Any ideas, Morgenstern?"

The man blinked nervously for a moment. "Uhh…d-dizziness could be a sign of early onset diabetes." He suggested.

Mr. Stoker chuckled. "Hardly early onset." He quickly caught himself with his words. "Forgive me, Miss Finnegan."

"Not a problem." Florence said with a humorous smile.

"Any more ideas?" Mr. Stoker asked the students. "Swales?" He nodded to a black-haired female student who stood beside Martha.

"Ummm…could recommend a C.T scan." She suggested.

Mr. Stoker raised his eyebrows at her in slight shock. "And spend all our money?" He muttered, breathing out as he did. Then, he looked straight at Martha. "Miss Jones?"

Martha thought for a small moment. "We could take bloods and check for Meniere's disease?" She offered, already getting a feeling that it was the wrong answer, but she honestly couldn't think of anything better.  _Blame it on being put on the spot, eh?_

"Or, we could simply ask the patient." Mr. Stoker said simply. "What did you have for dinner last night?" He asked.

Florence blinked. "I had salad."

"And the night before?"

"Salad again."

"And salad every night for the last week, contrary to my instructions." Mr. Stoker said before shrugging. "Salt deficiency. That's all. Simple, honest salt." He looked at Florence with a farewell nod before he led Martha and the students from the room.. "Hippocrates himself expounded on the virtues of salt. He recommended the inhalation of steam from seawater. Though no doubt if he'd been afflicted with my students, results might have been more colorful." They entered into another hospital ward, where Mr. Stoker drew back a blue curtain, and Martha's heart jumped up into her throat in shock. There, sitting on the bed, was the same weird man from this morning, and sitting in a chair beside him, holding his right hand, was the same woman. Only difference now was that the man was dressed in hospital garments, but they were indeed exactly the same people. "Now then, Mr. Smith, Miss Oswald, a very good morning to you."

"Good morning." They greeted in unison, making Mr. Stoker chuckle.

"They do that naturally." He explained to his perplexed students as he saw some of their puzzled expressions, and they just nodded. "How are you today, Mr. Smith?"

"Oh, not so bad." Mr. Smith said with a shrug. "Still a bit…you know…blah."

"John Smith admitted yesterday with severe abdominal pains. Lucky man has a good lady watching over him." Mr. Stoker said with a nod to Miss Oswald.

"Of course I'm watching over him." She said obviously. "That's my job, isn't it?" She remarked, earning a chuckle from everyone in the room.

Mr. Stoker looked at Martha. "Jones, why don't you see what you can find? Amaze me."

Martha nodded, taking a stethoscope and walking around the left side of the bed to stand before him. "That wasn't very clever running around outside, wasn't it?"

He blinked, exchanging a small glance to his girlfriend. "Sorry?"

"Chancellor Street, this morning. You came up to me, took your tie off, wrapped it around her eyes and walked away giggling like children."

The couple, to Martha's surprise, looked genuinely and utterly bewildered. "Really?" They asked in unison. "Why would we do that?"

Martha shrugged as she plugged the stethoscope buds into her ears. "I don't know. You just did."

"Not us." Miss Oswald said with a shake of her head. "I was sitting here, looking after matchstick man here. You can ask the nurses."

"Clara." The man whined. "Stop calling me-"

"No." She interrupted simply, and he just pouted in return.

"As time passes, and I grow ever more infirm and wearier, Miss Jones." Mr. Stoker remarked lightly to his age.

"Oh. Sorry." Martha quickly said. She placed the stethoscope pad down, but it was on the right side of his chest. There, to her ever more increasing bewilderment, she heard the "Thump-thump" of a heart. She quickly took the pad off and placed it on the left side of his chest. Once again, she heard the rhythmic beating of a heart, and she frowned, before glancing up at the couple. John just looked at her without expression, but Clara had the ghost of a smile on her face for just the briefest second, before it vanished. Martha blinked.  _Did I just miss hear it, or does he have two-_

"I weep for future generations." Mr. Stoker interrupted her mental thought. "Are you having trouble locating the heart, Miss Jones?"

Martha blinked, a tiny bit flustered by his blunt quip. "Um…I don't know. Stomach cramps?"

Mr. Stoker sighed. "That is a symptom, not a diagnosis. And you rather failed basic techniques, by not consulting first with the patient's chart." Mr. Stoker walked to the foot of the bed and grasped the clipboard, but as he did, he got a very painful electric shock from the clipboard, causing him to drop it onto the floor.

"That happened to me this morning." Martha quickly said as Mr. Stoker shook his hand to relieve away the pain.

"Yeah. I had the same thing on the door handle." Morgenstern said.

"And me. In the lift." Swales inputted.

Mr. Stoker smiled, but only a bit faintly as he rubbed his hand. "Well, that's only to be expected." He said as he got down on one knee to pick up the clipboard carefully, getting up with a sigh of relief as he didn't get another shock. "There's a thunderstorm moving in, and lightning is a form of static electricity as was first proven by…" He trailed off, but no one answered, so he frowned. "Anyone?"

"Benjamin Franklin." Clara and John inputted in unison.

Mr. Stoker gave them a rather impressed smile. "Correct."

"Oh." Clara got a distant smile as the Doctor sat up beaming. "Our mate Ben. That was a day and a half."

"You got rope burns from that kite." Clara said with a giggle. "Took me ages to patch you up."

"That was after I got soaked and electrocuted." The Doctor agreed. They, in unison, turned to look at the people surrounding them with beaming smiles, who just stared at them in amazed bewilderment.

"Quite." Mr. Stoker muttered with a blink. "Moving on." He quickly said, leading the students away before leaning over into Swales. "I think perhaps a visit from psychiatric as well." He quickly said to her, and she nodded vehemently. "And next…"

For Martha, the rest of the hour until midday went on like a blur, going around from patient to patient, given almost quiz like questions to which she answered when she could, either correctly or incorrectly. But her mind kept going back to that strange, oddball couple.  _No one can have two heartbeats, that's impossible. And what do they mean, Benjamin Franklin was their mate? They're delusional, they must be. Then again, they must be just having fun._  Every time Martha walked past John's bed, she would see them either holding hands and giggling to each other at an in joke, or Clara would have his head on her shoulder as he napped away while she just stroked her hair with obvious loving care. Either way, once break time had come, Martha stood in the kitchen as she moved about to grab a quick lunch, before her phone rang. It was Trish. She pulled out her phone and answered the call. "Hiya." She greeted cheerily.

 _"Good day over there?"_ Trish asked.

"So far, it's all right. You?"

 _"Oh, not too bad, thanks."_  Trish replied warmly.  _"By the way, did you-"_

"No, Dad won't listen." Martha interrupted, and she heard a sigh from Trish.

_"Well, if she does come, things are going to-"_

"No, listen, I've worked out a plan." Martha interrupted again. "We tell Annalise that the buffet tonight is 100% carbohydrate, and she won't turn up."

 _"I wish you'd take this seriously."_  Trish remarked.  _"That's our inheritance she's spending on a fake tan."_

Martha laughed, earning a giggle from Trish in return. Not in context to the conversation, Swales, who was also in the kitchen, gave her a puzzled look and Martha shrugged, whispering, "In joke." Swales nodded and went back on her way as Martha returned her attention back to her sister.

 _"Tell you what, I'm not that far away. I can drop by for a bite and a coffee, and we can draw up a battle plan."_  Trish offered.

"What? In this weather?" Martha remarked to the pouring rain outside the hospital window. "I'm not going out, it's pouring down."

 _"It's not raining here."_  Trish said. Martha blinked, but before she could ask about it, Trish spoke again.  _"God, that's weird. It's raining right on top of you. I can see it, but it's dry where I am."_

Martha frowned, as realization crept slowly into her mind.  _It was looking rather bad over the hospital earlier, but not anywhere else. I though it was just…_ "Trish, is it just over the hospital or is it anywhere behind it?" She asked.

_"No, it's on the hospital. It's like in cartoons when a man has got a cloud over his head."_

Martha sighed, giving a low growl in her throat.  _I thought I wanted this day to NOT get any weirder. The weather, the motorbike guy, then the couple talking about Ben Franklin, now this. Come on, Martha, peaceful thoughts._  "Okay, listen. We tell Dad and Annalise to get there early, about 7:30, and we tell Leo to get there at about the same time so we can talk about that birthday stuff."

 _"Okay."_  Trish responded timidly, since her mind might still be on the weather.

"We tell Mum to get there about 8:30 or 9:00, and that gives me time to have a word with Annalise and-"

"Martha." Swales interrupted, pointing to the window while not at all looking at her.

"What?" Martha asked, placing her hand over the speaker part of her phone.

"The rain."

Martha blinked. "It's just rain."

 _"Martha, have you seen the rain?"_  She heard Trish say from her phone.

Martha frowned. "Why is everyone fussing about rain?"

 _"Martha, the rain is going up."_  Trish said at once, causing Martha to turn her head to look out of the window. Her words were indeed true. The rain was flying up from the ground and back into the sky. Then, Martha heard her line to Trish go dead and she quickly checked with a frown to see that her phone had no signal anymore. But before she could question it, upon a sudden, there was a bright flash of lightning that blinded Martha and Swales, the sound rumbling throughout the room as the hospital gave a violent shake and a shudder, sending the pair stumbling to the floor with shrieks of surprise. Every form of material decoration that had been placed around the room, be it a flower vase on a table, or kitchen supplies placed on the counters, were sent crashing and smashing to the floor as loud screaming could be heard throughout the hospital as it shook and rattled about. Then, just as it started, upon a sudden, it came to a stop. Everything stopped moving, the thunder stopped clapping and rumbling in their ears ceased entirely. After Martha and Swales calmed themselves, cleared their ears of the low ringing sound, and got slowly up on their sluggish legs, they looked around the room and back out into the hallway, seeing the chaotic mess that the shaking had caused to the hospital. Thankfully, at least in their line of view, nobody was injured.

"What the hell was that?" Martha muttered in gasping shock.

Swales didn't have an answer for that. Instead, she asked, "Are you all right?"

"I think so, yeah." Martha said, leaning against a wall as she let her legs calm down from their shivering. "It felt like a…an earthquake or…" Martha trailed off as she looked out of the window. It was night, except the ground proved otherwise.

"Martha, it's night." Swales said, since she couldn't see the ground outside, only the pitch black mixed with stars from her window view. "But…but it was lunchtime." She protested in a small whimper.

"It's not night." Martha said, inching towards the window so she could properly see the ground outside. There was only one possible answer for it, and it had been possible since 1969. "We're on the moon." Martha said, both in delighted excitement that she had never felt before, but also in a quaking fear that she had never felt either.

"We can't be." Swales denied as she stepped towards the window, but the sight quickly proved her wrong. Even the sight of the Earth itself, distant though it was, all proved Swales wrong.

"We're on the bloody moon." Martha muttered, as the shock of it really got to her and she gave out a sigh of excitement and disbelief. Then, all at once, everyone began screaming in fear and terror throughout the hospital, causing Martha and Swales to rush out of the kitchen and into a now crowded hallway. Martha, quickly and as politely as she could in the current circumstance, moved her way through the people as she tried to get to the nearest ward, where she got a small tap on the shoulder by someone. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Florence standing there with a very worried expression on her face.

"Have you seen-"

"I'm sorry, I can't right now." Martha quickly apologized before moving on her way again and into the nearest ward. "All right now, everyone, back to bed." She said, quickly taking command. "We've got an emergency, but we'll sort it out. Don't worry, back to bed." The people in the ward, after a moment of gathering themselves but still quite obviously feeling shock and fear, went back to their beds, but in a timid and terrified manner. Then, she walked past a bed area that had it's blue curtain drawn and towards the large window, where she got a proper look outside. "It's real." She marveled. "It's actually real. Hold on." She went to grasp the window handles, but Swales, who she just realized had been trailing along from the kitchen and into the ward, quickly reached her hands out to stop her.

"Don't!" She cried. "We'll lose all the air!"

Martha frowned. "But they're not exactly airtight. If the air was going to get sucked out, it would have happened straight away, but it didn't. So, how come?"

"Very good point!" Two voices suddenly exclaimed in unison as the blue curtain drew back, for standing behind it was John and Clara. John, to Martha's surprise, was dressed up in a similar suit to the one he, apparently, had on this morning, except it was blue and without the overcoat.

"Brilliant, in fact." John said solo. "What was your name?"

"Martha." She said, with a small flustered blink at their appraisal.

"And it was…Jones, was it?" Clara asked, to which she nodded. "Well then, Martha Jones, the question is: How are we still breathing?" She asked, her and John moving swiftly over to the windows.

"We can't be." Swales denied with a whimper.

"But, obviously, we are, so don't waste our time." John retorted.

"Oi!"

"What?"

"Rude." Clara said simply, and John gave a defeated sigh.

"Sorry." He muttered to Clara.

"Martha, what have we got? Is there a balcony on this floor or a veranda or-"

"In the patient's lounge, yeah." Martha quickly said.

Clara nodded to that before John took her hand with a smile. "Fancy going out?" He asked.

She returned his smile warmly. "Why would I not?" They giggled, quickly moving to the door. "Come on, Martha." Clara said, before she shot a small glare at Swales. "Not her. She'd hold us up."

"Oi! Who's being rude now?" John retorted.

"You are." Clara retorted with a grin, as they moved down the hallway, past the door to the patient's lounge, and to the glass double doors of the balcony. There, they opened the doors and stepped out, before taking a deep breath and leaning with their hands pressed against the balcony handrail. Martha stepped out beside them, still looking at the scenery before her in amazement.

"We've got air." She muttered. "How does that work?"

"Just be glad it does." John remarked lightly.

Martha took it all in, and she gave a light chuckle, but it was more in nervous realization than in amusement. "I've got a party tonight." She said as if she had just realized it properly in her mind. "It's my brother's 21st. My mother's going to be really…" Martha trailed off, also realizing that she hadn't spoken with her mother since this morning.

"You okay?" Clara quickly asked in concern.

Martha nodded with a small gulp. "Yeah."

"You sure?"

Martha shook her head before she could stop herself. "Not really, no."

"Do you want to go back in?"

Martha shook her head again. "No way. I mean, we could die any minute, but all the same…it's beautiful."

From the corner of her eye, she could see them staring at her with a light smile. "Do you think?" They asked.

"How many people want to go to the moon?" Martha asked rhetorically. "And here we are."

Their smiles grew at her words. "And here we are, standing in the light of the Earth." Clara agreed, leaning her head on John's shoulder, which Martha had to admit, was a bit adorable, then she remembered how they could speak in unison so effortlessly, so she just shook her head with a smile.

"What do you think happened?" Martha asked them.

They shrugged. "There's a few ideas." John said. "What do you think?"

"Extraterrestrial." Martha answered without missing a beat. "It's got to be." They cocked their eyebrows at her, and she shrugged. "I don't know. A few years ago that would've sounded mad, but these days? That spaceship flying into Big Ben, Christmas, those Cybermen…things." That last thought made her sad, for she remembered how she and her family wept but only a year ago. "I had a cousin, Adeola. She worked at Canary Wharf. She never came home." She said sadly.

"I'm sorry." Clara said grimly.

Martha gave a sad smile. "Don't be-"

"No, I am." Clara interrupted, making Martha blink. "Because I was there. We both were, in the battle. It was…" Clara trailed off on that sentence, but she shook her head. "We lost a friend that day."

Martha's sad gaze turned to them. "Who was she?"

"Rose. She was a great friend, but now she's…long gone." John just stroked her hair gently at her last two words, and she gave him a sad smile, to which he returned.

Martha sighed. "I promise you, Clara and John, we will find a way out. If we can travel to the moon, then we can travel back. There's got to be a way." She said sternly, but it was more in reassurance to herself than to them, since they seemed more collected than she did.  _Then again, John has apparently got two hearts, so what's up with Clara?_

"It's not "Smith"." John interrupted, making Martha blink.

"Sorry?"

""John Smith" is not my real name."

"Who are you, then?"

"I'm the Doctor."

Martha nodded with a nervous smile. "Me too, if I ever pass my exams. What is it, then, Dr. Smith?"

"Just "The Doctor"."

Martha frowned.  _Okay…I guess._  "How do you mean, "Just "The Doctor""?"

He frowned back at her, but his was in puzzlement. "Just…"The Doctor"."

Martha blinked. "What, people call you, "The Doctor"?"

"Yeah."

"Martha," Clara interrupted before Martha could speak again, "his name IS "The Doctor". That's it. No other name, no nothing, just "The Doctor"."

Martha stuttered at that for a few moments before she relented with a sigh. "Okay. I would've said, "You've got to earn that title" but apparently he already has." She said.

"No, he's more than earned it." Clara said, clearly in adoration, and she gave him a smile. "Prove it."

John, or really, the Doctor, just shrugged. "All right. Let's have a look." He moved away from the balcony to the nearest potted plant, where he took a handful of dirt, and walked back out. Then, he tossed the dirt in front of them and off the balcony, but the dirt suddenly melted and shattered as it hit a hidden field, which crackled and pulsed with a blue light before it shimmered back into nothingness. "Force field." He deducted. "It's keeping the air in."

Clara's eyes widened, and she spoke as Martha just received the information. "But that would mean that this air we have is the only air we've got." She deducted.

"Martha, how many people are in this hospital?" The Doctor asked.

Martha shrugged. "A thousand, perhaps?"

His teeth gritted together. "One thousand people, suffocating."

Martha's eyes widened in horror. "Why would anyone do that?"

"You could ask them yourself." Clara answered for Martha, her gaze looking straight up above them. The Doctor and Martha looked up as well. Soaring past their heads and over the hospital were three large, cylinder shaped ships, all a blend of grey and charcoal black, and the undersides bore four engine vents, firing out light blue fuel as they soared away from the hospital, before landing slowly but swiftly onto the moon's surface. Then, with a distant creak and a groan, landing ramps lowered and extended before three large groups of black clad figures emerged from the ships, marching towards the hospital in lines of two.

"Aliens." Martha muttered in new found disbelief. "That's aliens. Real, proper aliens."

"Judoon." The Doctor said simply.

Clara took his hand and tapped Martha's shoulder. "Come on. We need to get to the ground Floor."

The trio raced down the stairs to the ground Floor and into the Reception room, which was already being filled with screams and shrieks of terror as they heard a large mass of thunderous marching, right as they took cover on the raised floor of the room, just a little while away from a now deactivated escalator. The newcomer aliens, which the Doctor had called "Judoon", were all clad in black spacesuit armor, bearing dark red equipment and weapons upon their holster belts, and also had a small red plug hole in their chests. Their belts also bore out swaying bits of what could be black leather, or some other kind of material their raced used, and it reminded the three a tiny bit of Scottish kilts, but only a tiny bit. Then, to their puzzlement, the helmets of the Judoon looked a bit like rhino heads. But before they could question that thought, one of the Judoon stepped into the middle of the now fearful yet silent room and grasped it's helmet with its hands. Then, it took off its helmet, and lo and behold, it was remarkably similar to a rhino, complete with horns, the ears and eyes, the lot. The people in the room, upon seeing the face of the alien, started to screech in terror once again, but the Judoon just stood there, silent, staring at everyone. After a few more moments, once confusion started to blend in with the fear, everyone went silent again, and the helmetless Judoon spoke. "Bo sco fo do no cro blo co sho ro!" The rest of the Judoon, still wearing their helmets, drew out their weapons and aimed them at everyone around the room. The only answer to the Judoon's affront, aside from the gasping and sobbing from the people on their knees, clinging to each other, was Morgenstern, who stepped timidly up to the Judoon without his helmet, who was by now obviously the Captain. He went to speak, but it came out as a croaked whimper, but it still got the Captain's attention.

"Um…we are citizens of planet Earth. W-we welcome you in peace." The Captain just tilted his head at Morgenstern and blinked, as if he understood what he was saying but not WHAT he was saying, odd as it was to Martha. Then, the Captain grasped Morgenstern by his coat lapel and pushed him against the wall, before shoving a device right in front of his face, only a mere two inches from his mouth, and he pressed a small black button. "Please don't hurt me." He pleaded. "I'm sorry. Don't hurt me. P-please don't-"

Before Morgenstern could finish, the Captain loosened his grip on his lapel, and placed the device into the slot within his chest, before pressing the button again. It played back Morgenstern's exact words he had spoken to the device, but in a fast and rapid succession that it quickly became incoherent. Then, the Captain grumbled. "Bo. Blonglish. E...Eng…English. English dialect." He finally spoke, his words after those short moments of stammering becoming clear and pronounced, almost as if he already knew the language by heart. "Language assimilated. Designation: Earth English. You will be catalogued." Then, he used the device like a pointer, holding it even more inches away from Morgenstern's forehead, and he pressed the button. The device, Martha suddenly realized, had been turned from a language assimilator to a DNA scanner, as the Captain declared, "Human." Then, he flipped the device in his hand, took Morgenstern's own hand, and with surprisingly gentle care, drew an "X" with a black felt pen into the back of his hand. Then he let go, and the Judoon all went at ease with their weapons, replacing them with their own scanners. "Catalogue all suspects." On his order, the Judoon went around the confused but still frightened and whimpering people, scanning and cataloguing them about as quickly as someone could shuffle a deck of cards.

"Oh, look down there, you've got a little shop." The Doctor suddenly remarked to Clara and Martha. Martha blinked at his comment, which quickly turned into a frown of puzzlement when Clara giggled. "I like a little shop." Martha just looked at them, so it was Clara that explained.

"In joke."

Martha blinked again, but she nodded, somewhat. "Okay, but what are the Judoon?"

"They're like police. Well, police for hire. They're more like interplanetary thugs."

"And they brought us to the moon?" Martha deducted.

"Yep. It's neutral territory. According to intergalactic law, they've got no jurisdiction over the Earth, so they isolated it. That rain and the lightning, that was them, using an H20 Scoop."

"There really is an intergalactic law?" Martha asked.

"Yeah. Just like Earth's got its laws, every other planet has their laws as well."

Martha thought for a moment, before her mind went to work on the puzzles.  _Intergalactic police, cataloguing anyone they find in the hospital, specifically their species. So…_

"Martha?" Clara asked, already seeing the distant look in her eyes. "What is it?"

"Is someone on the run? Is that who they're looking for?" She asked.

The Doctor and Clara gave her impressed looks at her questions. "Yes. Well, something Non-Human, that's who they're looking for, and that is very bad news for me." The Doctor said.

Martha's eyes widened. "Oh my god, you were never joking about it, were you?"

"Nope." He said simply.

Martha nodded, then she looked at Clara. "What about you?"

Clara actually got a confused look on her face. "I have no clue what I am. Which means if the Judoon find me, they will be standing there all day trying to figure me out. Which is why I've got to stay out of the way. I may hold them up."

"Troop 5, Floor 1." The Captain suddenly ordered, cutting off the trio's conversation. "Troop 6, Floor 2. Identify Humans and find the transgressor. Find her!"

"We need to get a shift on." Clara said, the Doctor and Martha silently agreeing as they got up and fled from the room. "We need to look at the logs."

"Admin office, seventh Floor." Martha said, rushing in front of them to lead the way. Once they had reached the office, the Doctor and Clara went straight to the main computers, taking out small silver devices from their pockets. "Cameras." Martha said to herself, moving to another computer and flicking it on to security footage. The first Floor, as she discovered, was already filled with Judoon cataloguing visitors, patients and staff, which was the same for the second Floor. She flicked over to the third Floor, where the Captain, his own squad of Judoon, along with Morgenstern in tow, walked down a corridor filled with cowering people. "They've reached the third Floor." Martha reported.

"Good to know." They replied in unison.

 _"Prepare to be catalogued!"_  The Captain proclaimed through the camera audio.

 _"Do what they say!"_  Morgenstern said, trying in some way to keep everybody calm.  _"All they want to do is a quick scan. It's all right. They're not going to hurt us."_

"What's wrong with these computers?!" The Doctor exclaimed suddenly, smacking a screen with the palm of his hand.

"Oi!" Clara snapped at him, which made him stop before he closed his eyes and gave a sigh.

"Sorry, Clara." He said honestly, returning to work silently before Clara came over and wrapped one of his arms around her as she proceeded to help him, to which he gave her a thankful smile. "I'm going to run out of ways on how to say, "I'm sorry"." He quipped lightly, but it made Clara giggle, to which he was obviously proud.

"The Judoon must have locked it down." Clara said, as she realized that they truly couldn't get into the computers, so she unconsciously wringed her hand through the Doctor's.

"Judoon platoon upon the moon." The Doctor remarked lightly, then, to Martha's surprise, who still kept herself silent as she watched the couple with amusement, he spoke in a perfect Scottish accent. "Judoun platoun upon the moun." Clara just slowly turned her head at him, and he coughed to clear his throat. "Sorry, darling." He continued in Scottish. "Judoun platoun-no, I can't say it." He said in defeat, earning a giggle of bewilderment from Clara. After a small moment, the Doctor and Clara glanced behind them towards Martha as if they remembered she was there, an act that added to her amusement. "We were just traveling past." He quickly said, reverting back to English. "I swear it, just wandering. But we noticed these plasma coils around the hospital. Been building up for two days now, so we, but more so me, checked in. We thought something was going on inside. It turns out the plasma coils were the Judoon up above."

"If the Judoon are looking for a Human looking alien that isn't you, don't they have a photo or something?"

"Nah." Clara denied for him. "Might be a shape changer. Would explain why they're looking based on DNA, or biology, or whatever."

"Whatever it is, can't you just leave the Judoon to find it?" Martha asked, but they fervently shook their heads.

"If they declare the hospital guilty of harboring a fugitive, they'll sentence it to execution."

Martha, for yet another moment today, had her eyes widened in horror. "All of us?"

They nodded. "Oh yes."

"But if we can find this thing first-oh!" He suddenly exclaimed, making Clara and Martha jump as he bore a crazed expression on his face. "Do you see?! They're thick! Judoon are thick! They are so completely thick! They wiped the records!" He used the sonic on the computer, and all the records came up blank, before a barrier message in the Judoon's own language, which Martha still didn't understand, appeared on the monitor in place of the records. "Oh, that's clever."

"What are we looking for?" Martha asked.

"Any patient admitted in the past week with unusual symptoms." Clara answered.

"Maybe there's a backup." The Doctor said, he and Clara went back to work on the computer's with their strange devices.

Martha had to think. There are quite a few people that always get admitted with unusual symptoms, Florence is one that comes to mind, but is it HER or is she innocent? "Just keep working, I'll go ask Mr. Stoker, he might know." Martha said, and she bolted from the room, racing down the hallway towards Mr. Stoker's office. Walking up to the door, she knocked twice before entering. "Mr. Stoker-" She cut herself off as she saw a body on the ground. Then, her mind went into overdrive.  _Body. Stoker's suit. Stoker's body. Motorbike guy. Same as one this morning. No, two of them. And-_

Florence came up from behind Mr. Stoker's desk with a straw in her mouth, and there were faint traces of blood in the straw, to which she was slurping and sucking delightedly. Then, one of the men tapped her on the shoulder, and she looked up, seeing Martha standing there in the room. Martha turn and ran just as Florence cried, "Kill her!"

Martha ran back into the hallway, being caught right by the Doctor and Clara, who held her with excited smiles on their faces. "We restored the back up." They said in unison.

"Yeah, and I found her." Martha said hurriedly.

"You did what?" They asked. The answer to that came by the crashing of a door, where one of the leather clad men came out of Mr. Stoker's office, and the couple immediately understood. "Run!" They ordered, Martha taking off into a sprint after them down the hallway as the leather man raced to catch up. Bounding through the stairwell door, they leapt all the way down to the fourth Floor, and were about to go down to the third, but they stopped upon seeing a group of Judoon just beneath them. "Yeah, no!" They said, turning to race into the fourth Floor, where they raced down empty hallway after empty hallway, until they reached a door to the "Radiology" room. The Doctor slammed the door shut before he used his device on it, before he raced through the glass doors into the X-Ray room.

"Clara, when I say now, press the button!" He said, inserting his device into the X-Ray machine, which was linked to the console with Clara and Martha.

"Which one?!" Clara yelled.

"The big yellow one!" Clara placed her hand ready on the button as the door was quickly smashed down. The leather man's sight fell on the Doctor, and he advanced forward. "Now!" Clara pressed the button, causing a bright light to fill the X-Ray room, and both Clara and Martha had to shield their eyes from the light as a loud whirring noise filled their ears until it quickly stopped, and they heard a body slam onto the ground. They opened their eyes to see the leather man slumped face first on the floor, unmoving and not making a sound, while the Doctor stood calm and completely fine.

"Doctor?" Clara asked worriedly, to which he gave her a comforting smile. "What happened?"

"Increased the radiation by 5000%. Killed him/it dead."

"Won't that kill you?" Clara retorted, to which he shook his head.

"Nah. It's only Roentgen radiation. We used to play with Roentgen bricks in the nursery." Clara's face turned to relief, but the Doctor carried on. "It's safe for you to come out, I've absorbed it all. All I need to do is expel it." With that, he began snorting and twitching his head like someone with a cold. "If I concentrate, I can shift the radiation out into one spot." He began hopping up and down on his feet, still snorting and twitching before he beamed and raised his left leg up. "It's in my left foot now. Here we go, easy does it." He twirled his foot round and round before he winced. "Out! Out!" He said, kicking his foot in the air. "Ow, ow, ow! Ow, ow, ow! Ah, ah, ah, ah! Itches! Itches! Itches!" He then took hold of his shoe with both hands and tore it off before tossing it into a nearby yellow trash bin. Then, he looked at Clara with a beaming grin. "All done!" Then he frowned. "No, wait. I look daft with one shoe." He tore off the other shoe and tossed it into the bin. Then, he grinned again as he twitched his toes. "Bare foot on the moon."

"You sure you're okay?" Clara asked.

The Doctor just stepped forward, grasped her head and placed a kiss upon her lips before pulling away with a slightly smug smile. "That answer it?" He whispered, to which she nodded.

"Yeah." She said, and he pressed one more kiss on her before she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a hug. They remained in a silent hug for a few moments before pulling away and turning to look at a frowning Martha.

She just looked at the two of them and shook her head. "I'm just not going to say anything." She stepped forward two paces to the leather body before she stopped and looked at them again. "You two are completely mad." She said bluntly and they smiled.

"We know."

Martha let out a snort as she rolled her eyes before they turned their attention properly to the leather man. "So, what is that thing?"

"It's just a "Slab"." Clara answered for the Doctor as the three of them either squatted or knelt around the body. "Basic slave drones. Made of solid leather, all the way through."

The Doctor nodded. "Someone has got one hell of a fetish."

"It was that woman, Miss Finnegan." Martha said as the Doctor stepped back up to inspect the now deactivated X-Ray machine. "It was working for her, just like a servant."

"Who?" Clara asked, standing up with Martha.

"She was one of the patients, but she was admitted in because of-"

"No!" The Doctor whined, cutting off their conversation. "My sonic screwdriver!" Martha and Clara turned to see him holding up his device, but it was completely scorched and torn to pieces.

"You're what?" Martha asked.

"It burnt out my sonic screwdriver."

Martha blinked. "That's not really a proper answer."

Clara shook her head. "No, really, it's a screwdriver and it's sonic. Look." She took out her own device, and it looked the same to the Doctor's before it was trashed, except the light on the end wasn't blue but orange. "See?" She pressed the button up at the ceiling, and it switched off the light before she flicked it again, and it switched back on. "Sonic." She said.

Martha nodded.  _Okay. Sonic screwdriver, not "Device(s)"._

Then, the Doctor tossed the sonic over his head as if it didn't interest him anymore. "No need to worry." He said with a smile. "I can build another one after this is over."

Martha and Clara nodded. "Anyway, Florence had this-"

"Clara has one of her own, so she can do all the-"

"Doctor!" Clara interrupted, making him blink. "Martha is trying to tell us something."

He got a small childish look on his face before it melted away and he looked at Martha. "Sorry. You were saying?"

"Anyway, Miss Finnegan, or Florence, is the alien. She was drinking Mr. Stoker's blood out of a straw."

The Doctor and Clara frowned. "Funny time to take a snack." Clara muttered. "You'd think she'd be hiding." The Doctor's eyes suddenly squinted, making Clara frown. "Doctor?"

"Hold on." He said, running his hands through his hair. "Hold on, hold on-yes!" He exclaimed suddenly, making Martha jump, but Clara kept still with an inquisitive face. "Shape changer! An internal shape changer! She wasn't drinking blood, she was assimilating it!"

"What for?" Martha asked. "To…" She trailed off and she nodded. "To hide her DNA from the Judoon's scanners."

"Only problem is with the whole Slab ordeal, she would've gone straight to the Judoon to be catalogued." Clara deducted.

"We've got to find her." The Doctor agreed, the three of them racing from the room. They stopped upon hearing a single pair of boot like footsteps down the hallway, so they took cover, waiting and waiting until another Slab passed right on by and down the hallway again. "That's the thing about Slabs. They always travel in pairs."

"Does that mean you both are Slabs?" Martha asked. The couple looked at her in confusion, and she just shrugged, making their jaws drop incredulously.

"Martha, no." They just said.

"Well, have you got backup?" Martha asked, and surprisingly enough, their jaws dropped yet again.

"Humans," The Doctor remarked, "we're stuck on the moon, running out of air, with Judoon and a bloodsucking criminal, and you're asking personal questions."

Martha blinked as they went to stand up. ""Humans"." She muttered. "So, what would we say to your people in a remark?"

The answer came from them turning a corner straight into a group of Judoon, where the first held up its scanner to the Doctor's forehead. It then declared in a deep and modulated voice,  _ **"Non-Human."**_

"Well, that's my answer." Martha muttered as the Doctor took Clara's hand.

"And again!" The Doctor exclaimed as they took off, quickly doving around a corner as the Judoon drew out their weapons and fired, but the shots missed. The trio went straight back into the stairwell as the Judoon raced after them, where they went back up to Floor seven. Locking the doors as they went, they entered into an empty hallway, where they paused for a moment to catch their breaths.

"Can the Judoon outrun us?" Martha asked, and they shook their heads.

"Great big lung reserves. They won't slow down. Where's Mr. Stoker's office?" The Doctor asked.

"It's this way." She led them through a few turns, until they reached the required destination, yet it was empty, except for the body of the unfortunate Mr. Stoker, lying on the floor.

The Doctor knelt down beside the pale and unmoving body, where he placed his fingers on Mr. Stoker's cheek, and it was dreadfully cold to the touch. "Drained him dry. Every last drop." He looked over to Clara. "I was right. She's a "Plasmavore"."

"What's she doing on Earth?" Clara asked, kneeling down beside him.

He shrugged. "Hiding. On the run. Like Ronald Biggs in Rio de Janeiro." The Doctor put his hand forward, closing the lids on Mr. Stoker's face, before he and Clara got up and moved from the room. "Okay, think, think, think, think. If I was a wanted Plasmavore surrounded by police, what would I do?" He looked up at the directional signs on the wall, and the one that jumped out to him said "MRI". "Oh. She's as clever as me. Almost as clever as Clara." He said with a wink.

"Thank you." Clara smiled in return. They heard people in the nearby hallways screaming suddenly, and the distant gruff voice of the Captain, while indescribable, was still noticeable. The Doctor turned to look at Clara, but she spoke first. "Go on. I'll buy you some time." She said, as people starting running around a corner, and the thundering stomps of the Judoon came closer and closer.

"You sure about this?" He asked, placing his hands on her shoulders.

She smiled.  _You will live. You must._  "Trust me, Doctor." She said softly, and he smiled.

"I already do." He leant forward to press one good and passionate kiss on her lips before he parted, then with one last stroke of the finger on her cheek, he took off down the corridor and out of sight, just as the Judoon came around the corner, the Captain at the head.

"Martha, stay with me." Clara said, and Martha stood with her. "Don't say a word."

Martha frowned. "Why not?"

Clara smiled mischievously. "We won't need to."

"Find the Non-Human! Execute!" The Captain ordered, as they got closer to the couple, moving through the terrified people that lay huddled against the walls and each other. The Captain marched up to the pair, first using his device on Martha. "Human." He declared before taking her hand and marking an "X". Then, he turned to Clara, and used the device on her. "Human." Then, he eyes blinked. "Wait. Non-Human traces suspected. No, Human DNA confirmed. Wait, Non-Human DNA configuration detect-." Suddenly, his device sparked and convulsed, half of it turning suddenly into metal splinters and he recoiled, dropping the trashed scanner to the floor. "What are you?" He demanded, grasping Clara's shoulder and pushing her into the wall.

Clara, on her part, remained far too eerily calm for Martha's taste, and she just smirked. "I have got no fucking clue."

The Captain blinked, but it wasn't at her words. He pressed two fingers against her throat, and he squinted his eyes. "Why do you have no pulse?" He asked, his question surprising Martha even more than she had already been today.

"My heart is dead. Literally." Clara answered.

"Authorize full scan." The Captain ordered, taking another Judoon's scanner and using it on Clara. "Condense the scan." He said, and the device whirred and pulsed for a few seconds before he grumbled. Then, he put the device away. "Conclusion: Human DNA has been modified to contradictory levels, and the presence of foreign DNA intervention has equalized it. You should not be alive." The Captain stated.

"Ah well." Clara shrugged bluntly.

The Captain glanced at his subordinates. "Continue the search." He then reached into his hostler and pulled out a small piece of paper in a laminated bag. "You will need this." He said, putting the paper into Clara's hands.

Clara frowned. "What's this for?"

"Compensation."

The Captain then started to walk away from a puzzled Clara, who had shot the look to Martha and received a shrug in return. "Wait!" Clara called, making the Captain stop and turn to look at her. "We know where the Non-Human is."

The Captain straightened himself up. "Where?" Clara tapped the directions on the wall, specifically "MRI" and the Captain started off immediately, Clara, Martha and the Judoon in tow. They entered into the room as they heard a body collapse onto the floor, mixed in with rather loud electrical static. They saw that the body was a semi-pale Doctor, and the two that stood over him was Florence with a straw in her hand and the other Slab beside her.

"Oh, look what you've done." Florence said innocently yet accusingly. "This poor man just died of fright."

"Scan him!" The Captain ordered, and a Judoon took out his device and scanned the Doctor. "Confirmation: Non-Human deceased."

"No, he isn't!" Clara growled.

"Stop." The Captain ordered. "Case closed."

"Let me through right now." Clara snarled, and the Captain relented after a moment of grumbling, allowing Clara to kneel beside him and check his pulse. She found that it was faint, but still there. "You're looking at the wrong one." Clara said with gritted teeth to the Captain.

"Judoon have no authority-"

"She's not Human!" Clara retorted.

"Oh, but I am." Florence interjected, holding up her marked hand. "I've been catalogued."

Clara smiled, a very cold and dangerous smile that made Florence falter. "Too bad." Clara said, snatching one of the Judoon's devices and used it on Florence.

"Oh, I don't mind." Florence said, just able to keep in her nervousness. "Scan all you like-"

"Non-Human." The Captain proclaimed.

Florence blinked. "Uh, what?"

"Confirm analysis." The Captain ordered, and the rest of the Judoon in the room all took out their devices and started to scan.

"Oh, but there's been a mistake, surely." Florence protested. "I'm Human. I'm as Human as they come."

"Confirm: Plasmavore." Upon the declaration, Florence's expression set into a clenched jaw of restrained anger. "Charged with the crime of murdering the child princess of Patrivole Regency Nine."

"Well, she deserved it." Florence snarled. "Those pink cheeks and those blond curls and that simpering voice. She was begging for the bite of a Plasmavore." She declared proudly.

"Then you confess?"

"Confess?! I'm proud of it!" Florence walked pass the Slab into a glass room, and she ordered, "Slab! Stop them!" The Slab turned to the Judoon, took one step forward, and it was quickly disintegrated into ash and flames per the firepower of one of the Judoon.

"Verdict: Guilty." The Captain declared. "Sentence: Execution."

Florence stood up from behind the glass, just as the machine started to screech a warning alarm, but she just smiled. "Enjoy your victory, Judoon. Cause you're going to burn with me. Burn in he-" Her exclaim turned into a scream of anguish as the Judoon all took out their weapons and fired upon her, melting the glass and disintegrating the woman into ashes.

"Case closed." The Captain declared.

"Not yet." Martha interjected as Clara knelt beside the Doctor. "The scanner should not be doing that. She's done something to it."

The Captain listened to her, before he turned to the machine and used his device on it. "Scans detect lethal acceleration of monomagnetic pulse."

"Well, do something!" Clara snarled. "Don't just stand there!"

The Captain turned to her and shook his massive head. "Our jurisdiction has ended. Judoon will evacuate." He then took out a different device from his holster and spoke into it. "All units withdraw." They then went to leave the room, leaving Clara to snarl as she began to perform CPR on the Doctor, while Martha went to the door with a scowl on her face.

"You can't go!" Martha yelled, but the Judoon ignored her.

"Martha!" Clara yelled, making her rush back into the room as she took out her sonic and tossed it to Martha. "You need to disable the scanner! Quickly!"

"How-"

"I don't know!" Clara snarled. "Just figure something out!" Martha, with a fearful look on her face, went to work on the console linked to the scanner, while Clara kept forcing air down his throat before bracing her hands on both sides of his chest, one at a time. "One, two, three, four, five." She said, pressing her hands in rhythm with her counting. "One, two, three, four, five." She kept on pressing away, every instance breathing in deeply before forcing the air down his throat, each attempt making her wearier and wearier, but she kept on going.  _Come on, Doctor. Please._  With one last deep breath, she forced the air down his throat as her eyes got blurry and her head started to throb, but she heard and felt the Doctor give a violet shudder as he gasped for breath, before it slowly calmed into a raspy panting, right as Clara collapsed onto the floor beside him.

"Clara?" She heard him ask as he slowly, with a few ragged pants, wrapped his arms around her and drew her in close. "Clara?" Clara didn't answer in words, but in slowly placing her hand through his and gave a small squeeze, to which he smiled weakly in relief. "You'll be okay." He whispered, kissing her forehead. "You'll be okay, my Clara." He looked up to see Martha wrenching wires out of the console before she took hold of a big blue wire and used the sonic to split it apart, which drained the power out of the scanner, and the sparking electricity stopped in an instant. At that, the Doctor took Clara up into his arms and carried her out of the room, Martha following quickly behind as they walked into a nearby ward and looked out of the window at the Judoon ships that were lifting off from the surface of the moon. "Come on." He pleaded as Martha got an oxygen mask, and she placed it over Clara's mouth which the woman to breathe deeply, yet her eyes remained half closed lazily. "Come on, Judoon, reverse it." Then, as the Judoon ships left, the rain returned outside, pouring onto the windows, and it made the Doctor smile. "It's raining, Clara. It's raining on the moon."

Then, there was a massive clap of lightning, bright light filling up the room from the outside, and they returned back to the Earth, the warm and bright sun quickly pouring into the room again. Martha grinned. "Thank god for that. Doctor-" She turned around, but the Doctor had vanished, and Clara with him. Martha ran back out into the hallway, but there was no sign of him. The strange couple had vanished, the only trace of them being the missing oxygen mask that Martha had placed upon the weakened Clara. They were gone.

* * *

When the hospital came back to Earth, police and ambulances stormed in, bringing out everyone to make sure they were okay, the only signs of alien intervention being just a chaotic mess throughout the hospital. Martha sat silently at the back of an ambulance, for she was fine, albeit still processing the events of the day, and why would the strange, quirky couple leave so swiftly.  _Maybe the Doctor just wanted to take care of Clara, no questions asked. It must be that._  Then, Martha looked up and gained a smile upon seeing her sister Trish, who was walking through cops, doctors and the hospital staff to get to her. She was wearing black knee-high boots, a dark blue plaid skirt that came down to just above her knees, and she had her dark brown curly hair tied up behind her head. She was also Martha's own height, having got their height genes from their mother.

"Martha!" She exclaimed in joyful relief, immediately bringing her into a hug, which she reciprocated. "I thought you were dead. What happened?" Trish asked.

Martha just gave her a blank look and shrugged. "Honestly, I still don't know. I just…I looked out of the window, and we were on the moon."

Trish's eyes widened. "You literally went to the moon?" Martha nodded. "Didn't you…suffocate or something?" She asked, and Martha gave a snort.

"You just love to suck the joy out of everything." Trish gave a snort, before Martha shrugged again. "Something about an air field." Martha was trying to avoid talking about specifically the Doctor and Clara, since despite the fact that she quite enjoyed being around them, she still didn't get them.  _One's an alien, and the other is…something. Even she doesn't know._

"Well, it had to be aliens." Trish said. "And it would prove Mr. Saxon right. Both last Christmas and the one before that, then Canary Wharf, then Downing Street, now this." Trish then frowned. "But why? Why all of that show? Half of the city is now closed down because of it. Mum and Dad are trying to get through but traffics a nightmare. Why would the hospital just…"

Martha answered her silent question as best she could. "The intergalactic police came looking for a blood sucking alien."

Trish blinked. "Eh?"

"I know." Martha nodded. "It was weird when they turned out to be rhinos."

Trish blinked again, and her eyes widened in disbelief. "Rhinos?"

Martha smiled, but inside, she couldn't tell if it was a nervous smile or an amused smile.  _Either way, when Mum and Dad get here, this will be very fun._

* * *

The rest of the day passed rather well for Martha, which did included finally seeing her mother in person, who for some time fretted and worried about her safety before she calmed down enough, and Martha just warmly embraced her. Then later came Leo's party. Martha found it to be rather fun. By no means the greatest party in the world, but it was fine enough. Then, of course, Dad arrived, but the elephant in the room quickly became Annalise, his blonde girlfriend who chose to wore a golden dress over her, as Martha admitted to herself bluntly, really awful tan.  _I mean, I wouldn't admit it to her face, that's way too rude, but…ugh._ But what started to kill the night for her was one question that Annalise asked.

"Are you sure you actually went to the moon?" Annalise asked, who then continued before Martha could answer. "Because I don't believe it for a second."

Martha, however, wasn't the one that retorted. It was her mother that came to her defense. "Well, I do." She snapped, laying a hand on Martha's. "It's all well and fine when you go ahead and make yourself an orange bimbo but won't actually believe when my daughter could have died and had no way back home."

"Don't bring my tan into this!" Annalise snapped as Clive tried to interject, but Francine wouldn't allow it.

"I already did. And that's not a tan, whatever THAT is." Francine said with a scowl, motioning up and down Annalise's poorly tanned body.

Annalise snarled, grabbed her jacket and turned to leave, and Clive moved to follow. "Babe, where are you going?"

"I am not staying in there to be insulted." Annalise said, turning around with a scowl that couldn't match with Francine's in the least, as the rest of the Jones family followed them out the door of the pub.

"She didn't mean it, sweetheart." Clive said gently. "She just said that you look healthy."

"No, I did not." Francine retorted. "I said "Orange"."

"Clive, that woman is disrespecting me." Annalise whined, and Martha rolled her eyes. "She's never liked me."

"Oh." Francine scoffed. "I can't think why, after you stole my husband."

"I was seduced." Annalise retorted. "I was entirely innocent. Tell her, babes."

"What, after that attitude you tried to take with my daughter?!" Francine snarled.

"Mum, I don't mind." Martha interjected calmly. "Just leave it, please."

"Oh. "I've been to the moon."" Annalise retorted mockingly. "As if. They were drugged. It said so on the news."

"Since when did you watch the news?!" Francine retorted. "You can't handle "Quizmania"!"

Trish snorted. "Annalise started it. She did. I heard her."

"Trish." Leo warned in a small whimper. "Don't make it worse."

"Come off it, Leo." Trish rejected. "What did she buy you? Soap! A 75-pence soap."

"Oh, I am never talking to your family again!" Annalise growled to Clive before storming off.

"Oh, stay!" Francine called sarcastically.

"Annalise, don't you dare." Clive called. "I'm putting my foot down!"

"Oh, make a fool of yourself, Clive." Francine said with a scowl to her ex.

"This is me putting my foot down!" Clive called as he walked after Annalise, the Jones family quickly in tow, except for Martha, for stayed put.

"God knows you've been doing it for the past 25 years! Why stop now?!"

"Mum, wait!" Leo called as him and Trish followed.

"We asked the DJ to play that song!" Trish continued, but to Martha, their voices began to grow faint as they walked off down the street, at points stopping for another shouting argument of incoherent voices. Then, Martha's gaze fell to a street corner behind her as she gazed around, and standing there, was the Doctor and Clara, the latter now perfectly fine and the pair of them bore warm smiles on their faces. Then, they turned and disappeared around the corner, just as Martha started to follow them, finding the pair leaning up against a blue phone box in an empty alleyway.

Martha sighed with a smile. "I went to the moon today." She said obviously.

They raised their eyebrows up for a split second. "Bit more peaceful than down here." Clara remarked.

"You two never even told me who you are." Martha pointed out as she stepped forward.

"The Doctor."

"Clara Oswald."

"Okay." Martha said, still puzzled. "I mean, you are…something." She said to Clara, who laughed.

"I know."

"I tried to figure out what she became, but I still don't know." The Doctor said, scratching the back of his ear with his finger. "I just call her the "Hobbit Elf"." That made Clara swat his arm, making him mutter an "Ow".

Martha just shook her head with a small chuckle. "Okay, what species are you?" She asked the Doctor after a moment. "It's not every day I get to ask that."

"I'm a Time Lord."

"Right." Martha nodded. "Not that I have a clue what that is." Then, Martha quickly widened her eyes. "Oh, by the way, Clara, I've got your…" She trailed off as she reached into her pocket and frowned as she found it empty. She looked up to see Clara holding her sonic with a mischevious smirk on her face. "How did-"

"I did." The Doctor said smugly. "We're too good at it." Then, he gave a small sniff, as Clara leaned her head on his shoulder. "We just thought, after I helped Clara back into shape of course, that since you saved our lives, and I've got a brand-new sonic screwdriver," He said, pulling a brand new sonic out of his pocket and twirling it up in the air before catching it, "and it needs road testing, you might fancy a trip."

"What, into Space?" Martha asked. They nodded and Martha quickly shook her head. "I can't. I've got exams. I've got things to do. I have to go into town first thing and pay the rent, I've got my family going mad over what happened." Martha rambled, but Clara held up her hand for her stop.

"You didn't let us finish." She said, and Martha held herself silent. "We also travel in Time."

"Get out of here." Martha retorted.

"We can."

"No, no, no, no, that's just going way to far." Martha rambled, making them chuckle.

"Then just wait here and we'll prove it." Clara said, and her and the Doctor went inside the blue box, closing the door behind them. There was a small moment of silence before a loud groaning wheezing came from the box as the light on the top flashed blue over and over again, and a sudden rushing of wind came into the alleyway as the box, to Martha's widening eyes, began to shimmer and fade from existence until it was completely gone. Martha stepped forward and reached her hand out, but she couldn't feel anything, for it was actually gone. Then, the wheezing came right back, this time behind her, and she turned around to see the box fading back into view, until it landed with a thud. The door then opened, and Clara, with a brown tie around her eyes, came stumbling out with the Doctor following her, who had changed from a blue pinstripe suit into a brown one, and even threw on a brown over coat.

"Told you." The Doctor said smugly to her, as he caught Clara's shoulders and held her still. "Easy now." He quipped to his giggling girlfriend, before he took the tie away from her eyes.

"Told you." Clara said, before the Doctor turned her around to face Martha, and she laughed. "Told you." She repeated, as Martha stared at them in amazement.

"No, but that was this morning." Martha tried to excuse, but they nodded.

"Yeah, it was."

Martha's jaw dropped at their simple but unified words. "Oh my god. You can travel in time." Then, just as the Doctor was tying the tie around his neck again, she frowned for a quick moment. "But hold on, if you two could see me this morning, why didn't you tell me not to go into work?"

"Crossing into established timelines is strictly forbidden." The Doctor explained. Then, he added with a twinkle in his eye, "Except for cheap tricks."

Martha nodded with a beaming grin that she could barely restrain. "And that's your spaceship?" She asked.

"She's called the TARDIS. "Time and Relative Dimension in Space."" Clara said as Martha stepped forward alongside them and placed her hand on the box doors.

"Your spaceship's made of wood."

 _*Beeps*_ (Well, I can't change that)

Martha withdrew her hand, as she once again had her jaw drop, for the ship had actually talked to her, yet it was in mechanical beeping. "It just-"

"She." They interrupted. "Not "It". "She"."

"And yes, she did talk to you." Clara continued solo.

"Okay." Martha said as she took a deep breath. She quickly took a look around and gave them a smirk. "There's not much room. I'd get why you two would like to be intimate, but I don't see how I would-"

"Not that kind of intimidate." Clara retorted slyly. Then, she took hold of the door handle and opened it a fraction. "Go on."

Martha squinted her eyes at them as she entered the box, and she quickly discovered to her ever-growing bewilderment that it was not a box. It was a full-on spaceship, with metal grating floors, coral themed archways, and a golden light hue to the entire room, with a large console in the center and a glass pillar that extended right up to the ceiling from the center. "No, no, no, no, no." Martha muttered to herself as the couple laughed, and she stepped outside and started to fully inspect the exterior, which was still made of blue phone box wood. "It's just a box. But it's huge!" She stepped back into the doorway, seeing the couple leaning against the handrail with grins on their faces. "How does it do that?" She asked as she knocked on the outside walls. "It's wood. It's like a box with that room just rammed in." Martha then walked back inside, gazed around the room filled with the humming sound of the ship, and she grinned. "It's bigger on the inside."

What Martha did not know was that the Doctor and Clara had mouthed "Bigger on the inside" alongside her, before they spoke up. "Is it? We hadn't noticed."

Then, the Doctor closed the door as Clara raced up to the console before he followed her, tossing off his overcoat onto one of the coral archways. "All right, then, let's get going." He said as he and Clara began to prep the ship for flight.

"But, is there a crew, like a navigator and stuff? Where is everyone?" Martha asked.

"Just us."

"Well, to be technical," the Doctor started, "the TARDIS does need six pilots to fly it, but it's just us." Then, he blinked. "Or was it seven?" He asked, giving a wink to Clara.

Martha frowned. "Just you two? Doing the work of six or seven people?"

"Well," the Doctor started, "the TARDIS makes things easier, the great girl," he patted the console as he said that, "but sometimes we have friends and guests."

Then Clara stepped forward to stand before Martha. "Besides, you didn't answer us." Martha blinked. "Do you want to come on a trip with us?"

At her question, the Doctor stopped his work and came alongside Clara, but Martha immediately grinned. "Ship this cool, aliens being real, you two being far too much fun to let go. Oh, yes please."

Clara shook Martha's hand, echoing her grin. "Welcome aboard, Miss Jones."

"It's my pleasure, Miss Oswald." Martha returned as the Doctor raced back around the console.

"Now then, close down the gravitic anomalizer."

"Eh?" Martha asked and Clara just shrugged.

"Just go along with it." She said simply.

"Fire up the helmic regulator. And finally, the hand brake, or dematerialization lever, if you would do the honors, my dear Clara." He said and Clara placed her hand on the lever just as the Doctor gave a gasp. "Oh, forgot to say, welcome aboard Miss Jones." He said as he reached over and shook Martha's hand.

"Pleasure is all mine, Mr. Smith." Martha returned with a quip.

Then, the Doctor braced his hands on the console, motioning for Martha to copy him as Clara looked at her with a barely restrained grin. "Ready, Martha?" She asked.

"Nope."

Clara giggled. "Off we go." She pulled the lever down, sending the TARDIS straight into lift off, and Martha gave a small gasp as she felt herself flung down against the console, but it didn't hurt at all.

"Blimey, it's a bit bumpy!" Martha called over the wheezing of the TARDIS engines, to which they just gave her a thumbs up. "So, where to?!" She asked, receiving a unified answer once again.

"The past!" And with that, Martha kept herself braced against the console as she went along for the ride, with no true idea of where they were going. But she couldn't wait, not even for a second.

**AN: Yeah, welcome aboard Miss Jones. Season 3 is definitely going to be fun. Anyway, hope you guys/gals enjoyed reading and please leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	45. The Shakespeare Code

**The Shakespeare Code**

**All Hallows Street, Southwark, London  
** 1599

_"Lilith!"_

Lilith nearly sighed tiredly at his voice, but she restrained it beautifully. Moving her way through her disgusting hovel, she motioned for her two "Mothers" to hide themselves within the darkness of the room, and she crossed up to the window, and assumed her fair face. Normally, one of her kind would look like what these strange creatures call "Witches", with wrinkled skin, filed teeth, deadly piercing eyes and long, scythe like nails, dressed in tatters and rags, and speaking in either hoarse or high-pitched voices. Hers would normally be high pitched, as she was "Younger" than the other witches, but not really by much, since they have all been around for a very long time. Now, in her fair face, she looked like a very beautiful young woman, with alluring blue eyes and soft red hair that reached down just past her smooth, pale shoulders. Her voice even had a seductive, purring quality to it that made seducing suitors breathlessly easy. She took a candle, lit the flame to help show her "Lover", Wiggins, her approval, and she opened the window, looking down upon the brown-haired man-  _Wait no, boy_ , who held a musical instrument in his hands.  _I can never remember their names. There's one they put by their mouths, and one like this that they use their hands with. That's about all I know._  Pushing her inner thoughts aside, as she already assumed what Wiggins would be hoping from her on this night, she gave him a soft yet seductive smile as she leaned against the windowsill and he lifted the instrument in his hands and began to sing.

" _Her face was like a winter moon that lights the traveler's way. Her smile was like a summer bloom that bursts then fades away. My love is night, my love is day. My love, she is my world_."

As he finished, Lilith gave him a chuckle of approval. "Such sweet music shows your blood to be afire."  _And it will be…no, not yet, little Lilith._  "Why wait we on stale custom for consummation?"

His smile grew wide and full of life, with an added splash of nervousness from an obvious first-time lover. "Oh yes. Tonight's the night."

Lilith sped down the stairs of the two-story hovel, sliding up to the curtain that hung behind the front door, where upon the entrance of Wiggins, she drew it back just a tad to let her face, bearing a very seductive smile, show in the candle light. "Would you enter, bold sir?" She purred.

"Oh, I would." He returned, and she drew the curtain back, allowing him to enter. She could tell even with her head turned away from him that some of his bold bravado had evaporated upon the sight of her home. She wondered very briefly if he would blame it on the smell or the rotting animal corpses, the bubbling cauldron over the fire or the bags of bones, or the masks of her ancient brethren. She also silently thanked her brethren comrades, Mother Doomfinger and Mother Bloodtide, for they had hidden themselves away so beautifully well into the shadows that even she could not see them. She set the candle in her hands down on a barrel in the corner and walked up to Wiggins' back, just as his breath continued to hitch up at the abhorring sights his eyes laid upon. "Lilith, this cannot be the home of one so beautiful." He said with a slight whimper.

Lilith gave the ghost of cocking her eyebrow behind his back, which faded as he turned to her with a look that grew paler by the second. However, his fear turned to concern as he laid eyes upon her again for but a brief second.  _Hmmm, my fair face is very fair indeed. Thanks, my elder Mothers._

"Forgive me, but this is foul." Wiggins continued, unknowing to her inner thoughts.

"Shhh." She purred, placing her finger upon his lips. "Sad words suit not upon a lover's tongue." The man without another second of doubt moved forward and placed a very inexperienced kiss upon her lips, and as his eyes closed, Lilith let her fair gaze drop like a waterfall, and she pulled back, relishing at his dreadfully terrified face. "Oh, your kiss transformed me." She mocked, her voice now higher and absent of her seductive purring. Her hair had even turned sickly black, messy and knotted with no care whatsoever. "A suitor should meet his beloved's parents." She then called out into the room, "Mother Doomfinger." Said Carrionite popped out from the shadows, and her ghastly old and wretched crone like face made him gasp in shock. "And Mother Bloodtide." She called again, and the answer was a hoarse shrilling laughter that pierced the young boy's heart as she swept into the room. Then, without warning, they sprung upon the terrified man, whose screams of pain and agony were cut short as Lilith reached her hand around and sliced open his throat, but not enough to end his life. Mother Doomfinger dragged the boy off his feet, letting his head bang upon the ground, before she and Mother Bloodtide began to feast upon the boy. Mother Bloodtide drank greedily from the flowing rivers of his neck, whereas Mother Doomfinger gave punishment for his attempt of "Seduction" by removing him of his manhood. Once the boy had stopped any form of resistance, not that it was doing anything, Lilith ripped out his barely beating heart, and devoured it whole. "Continue to gain your sustenance, my Mothers." Lilith purred, and they gave her a very grateful and warm smile. Ones that Lilith were sure the Humans would find unnerving and chilling, but to Lilith, it meant everything to her. "Soon, at the hour of woven words, our sisters and mothers shall rise again, and this fleeting Earth will perish!" She declared proudly before giving out a cackle of shrilling laughter. And she had nothing to fear. Not even their "Neighbors" could hear them, for their magic was just too good.

* * *

"But how do you travel through the "Vortex"? What makes it go?" Martha asked as the Doctor and Clara raced around the console.

"Oh, let's take the fun and the mystery out of everything." The Doctor muttered sarcastically to himself.

"Martha," Clara started, earning the woman's attention, "you don't want to know. It's a story too long and complicated."

"Hold on tight!" The Doctor and Clara braced themselves against the console while Martha held onto the handrails, and the TARDIS gave a sudden lurch and a thud as they landed, and the room ceased into a calm standstill.

"Blimey." Martha muttered, the three of them standing up with a small groan. "Did you have to pass a test to fly this thing?"

"Yes, and I never took it." Clara said with a shrug.

"And I failed. A lot." The Doctor said, as he took his overcoat, and with Clara's help, slipped it on before they raced to the doors with Martha in tow. "Now, we're giving you one trip, so, make the most of it." The Doctor said as he grasped the handles, Clara leaning on him with her elbow on his shoulder. "Outside this door, brave new world."

"Well, not really "New"." Clara retorted, and he shrugged.

Martha's gaze just flittered between the two of them. "Where are we?"

"Wrong question." They said in unison.

Martha blinked. "Okay, when are we?"

They smiled and the Doctor opened the door. "Take a look." Martha smiled and went straight out the door before the Doctor took Clara's elbow and linked his arm through hers. "Come on, Clara." He winked, and she readily went with him outside, just as they heard Martha exclaiming-

"Oh, you're kidding me. You're so kidding me." She had her jaw dropped as they stared out into the busy Elizabethan street of London. "Oh my god, we did it. We traveled in time." She smiled and looked at the beaming couple. "Where are we-no, sorry. Wrong question again. When are we-"

"Watch out!" They interrupted, taking Martha's arms and yanking her back just as a man in a two-story window above them yelled-

"Gardez l'eau!" They watched him tip a bucket upside down, spilling its contents out into the street before them, and it would've hit Martha had she not been yanked back.

"We are somewhere before the invention of the toilet." The Doctor said simply. "Sorry about that."

Martha just shrugged, since it didn't bother her…that much. "I've seen worse. I worked during the late-night shift, A&E. But are we safe?" She asked, and they blinked at her. "I mean…can we move around and…stuff?"

"Yeah." They said obviously in unison.

Martha slouched her shoulders with a small sigh. "It's like in films; You step on a butterfly, you change the future of the Human race."

"Movies aren't always accurate." Clara said simply. "It's why they're movies, not documentaries. Besides, what have butterflies ever done to you?" She asked with a frown.

"Nothing-"

"Good." Clara interrupted with a nod. "So, don't step on any butterflies."

"But what if I kill my granddad by accident or something?"

"Will you?" They asked in unison, and Martha was still a bit freaked out by how perfectly timed and in sync they were with each other.

"No." Martha said obviously.

"Well then." They retorted, and started to move off, leaving Martha standing there for a short moment with her jaw dropped again, before she raced to catch up with them.

"So, this is London?" She asked.

"It looks like Elizabethan. So it could be the very late 16th Century." Clara said with a nod.

Martha blinked. "How did you guess-"

"I was a teacher." Clara answered before she held up a hand. "Okay, to be fair, I wasn't very good at history, teaching or otherwise." She started to get a bit flushed from Martha's raised eyebrows, and she elbowed the Doctor softly. "Come on, help me out here."

"1599." The Doctor answered instantly.

"Wait, wait, hold on." Martha quickly said, making them frown at her. "Am I all right? I'm not going to get carted off as a slave, am I?"

"Why would they do that?" The Doctor asked with genuine curiosity.

"Not exactly white, in case you haven't noticed." Martha answered, pointing to her dark skin.

"He can't notice." Clara inputted. "Time Lords and all. With them, everyone starts to look the same."

"Well, I haven't gotten there yet." The Doctor defended, but only lightly. "Besides, I'm not Human and Clara's…something-something-such-and-such. Just walk about like you own the place, it works for us. Also, you might be surprised. Elizabethan England is not so far off from your time." He then pointed to a few dark-skinned ladies in somewhat decent clothes walking together down the street, having a nice chat with calm and peaceful smiles on their faces. "Look over there." The Doctor said, Martha looking to where he was pointing, seeing a man shoveling a pile of horse manure and loose hay piles into a bucket.

"Water cooler moment." Clara said, nodding to a couple of men leaning on a water barrel, drinking from it in small sipping cups. The trio then went under an archway, getting closer to a man that had been yelling incoherent nonsense for the last few moments, but now they could understand him.

"And the Earth will be consumed by flame!" He yelled.

 _It's a preacher. Great._ Clara just leaned over to Martha and said not in a whisper, "Yeah, global warming." Martha laughed at that, while the Doctor chuckled, and the preacher's face fell a bit.

"Oh, and there's entertainment." The Doctor said. "Popular entertainment for the masses. Now, if I'm right, we're just down river by Southwark, right next to…oh, and it's blocked by buildings." The Doctor groaned to himself, taking Clara's hand and racing off down the street, down past London Bridge, where they turned a corner and their desired destination came into view. A massive round building made of blue on the roof and white on the walls with every window streaming with light.

"The Globe Theatre." Clara introduced as the Doctor just stared at it in barely restrained childish excitement. "Okay, technically it's not a globe. It's a tetradecagon, 14 sides, not a giant circle like the Colosseum." Clara explained to Martha. "Just opened, brand new and containing the man himself."

"Oh, I've always wanted to meet him." The Doctor almost squealed, which made Clara shake her head at him as she took his arm.

"Why do you think we're here, then?" Clara quipped, and he gave her a quick peck on her lips before laughing. "You coming?" Clara asked Martha.

Martha's eyes, which had been locked on the Globe, had widened in disbelief. "You mean it? Shakespeare's in there? The real Shakespeare?" She asked, pointing to the building.

Clara just cocked her eyebrows up for a brief second in answer. "Miss Jones, will you accompany us to the theatre?" Clara asked, holding out her hand, which Martha took readily, keeping her excited eyes on the Globe.

"Miss Oswald, I will." She returned and they started to walk up to the building.

"When you get back after this, you can tell everyone you've seen Shakespeare." The Doctor said.

"Then I could get sectioned." Martha quipped, making them laugh. Walking through the building, they bought, or rather swindled their way through the front, before finding themselves slap bang in the audience, with what looked like a hundred or more people crowded into the Theatre, all of which were clapping in applause and excitement as the actors, all dressed up in garb, came out onto the stage and waved at everyone with smiles on their faces. "Oh, that's amazing! Just amazing!" Martha squealed in joy as the trio clapped and whistled with the audience. "It's worth putting up with the smell." Martha, while her excitement didn't falter in the slightest, did frown ever so slightly at the sight of some actors dressed up as women, complete with pale face makeup, red dots on their cheeks, dresses and corsets, the lot. "And those are men dressed as women, yeah?"

The Doctor and Clara just shot each other an amused look. "London never changes."

"Well, where's Shakespeare?" Martha asked, looking around the room and double checking the stage but there was no sign of the iconic man. "Where is he? I want to see Shakespeare! Author! Author!" She called, then blinked and looked at them with a nervous face. "Do people shout that? Do they shout "Author"?"

"Author!" A man called behind Martha, making the trio's eyes widen in bemused confusion. "Author!"

Then before long, to their bewilderment, the entire crowd was chanting or screaming, "Author! Author! Author! Author! Author! Author!"

"Well, they do now." Clara said, still clapping despite her puzzlement.

"Author! Author! Author!" Then, the doors that led to the backstage were flung open and a man with brown hair, a brown beard, and wearing a simple yet somewhat dashing black suit, with a white shirt that was unbuttoned at the top and black trousers came on to the stage. Once he did, the whistling and cheering grew ten-fold, and the man gave an ecstatic jump kick of his right leg before flourishing his right arm into the air, giving the entire audience a warm smile of gratitude and welcome. He then started to pace around the front of the stage as the actors behind him joined in the cheering and clapping, while he kissed and waved to as many people as he could see.

"He's a bit different to his portraits." Martha commented, which made Clara shrug, yet the Doctor just couldn't help but grin in admiration.

"They're paintings and drawings, Martha." Clara reminded. "They're always bound to miss out A detail."

"Genius." The Doctor muttered.

"What?" Clara asked, almost missing the word, and he took his eyes away from Shakespeare and back on her. She felt rather amused and a bit swooned that the admiration in his eyes on Shakespeare was very different and very weak compared to the adoring admiration that he gave her.  _Dammit, he knows how to be sweet._

"He's a genius. THE genius." The Doctor grinned. "One of the most Human Humans, and now we're going to hear him speak." He squealed in joy. "Always, he chooses the best words. New, beautiful brilliant words-"

"Ah, shut your big fat mouths!" William called to the audience, which made them all roar with laughter, but the Doctor's face fell into disappointment.

"God dammit." He muttered, and Clara quickly nuzzled him in close, which did the job and quickly improved his mood. "Thank you, Clara." He said with a smile again, pressing a kiss upon her forehead.

"He should never meet his heroes." Clara said to a smirking Martha. "That's his problem."

"Oi!" The Doctor whined.

"You've all got excellent taste, I'll give you that!" William called as the cheering and clapping died down, but the excitement that filled the Theatre did not drain in the slightest. "Oh, that's a wig." He said nonchalantly, pointing to a man with loose brown hair in the audience, who quickly became the target of laughter, but the man accepted it graciously, tearing off his hair to reveal his bald head, and it even got a few whistles from some of the actors on stage. Then, once the clapping died down yet again, William obviously cleared his throat to speak clear and true to the audience. "I know what you're all saying. "Love's Labour's Lost". That's a funny ending, isn't it?"

The audience gave a cheer of "Yeah!" and he just shrugged.

"I know. It just stops like that." He said with a snap of his fingers. "Will the boys get the girls?" He cocked one eyebrow with a smirk. "Well, don't get your nose in a tangle, you'll find out soon."

"When?!" The audience cried and William just held his hands up.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." He quickly said, and the audience shushed. "All in good time. You don't rush a genius." He quipped with a bow, earning laughter, before he shot back up, causing everyone to laugh again, this time with a bit of puzzlement. Clara noticed however that the gleam he had in his eyes was no longer genuine but…not so genuine. "When?" He asked rhetorically, pausing for a moment of silence, yet Clara and now the Doctor noticed his eyes darting off to the top seats of the building for but a split second, however those seats were out of their view point. "Tomorrow night!" The audience roared with cheering and whistling, and his grin grew broader, although the actors beside him had some nervous puzzlement in their eyes that they exchanged for a brief moment. "The premiere of my brand-new play, a sequel no less and I call it: "Love's Labour's Won"!"

The cheers returned in full force, the audience clapping at his declaration, to which he and the actors just bowed before they left the stage and the audience began to shuffle out of the Globe. Martha had joined in with the clapping for a few moments, but she stopped upon seeing the frowns that the couple bore, all the while they had been deep in thought upon William's declaration. Once they had exited the Globe, Martha spoke up to relieve the silence. "Okay, I'm not an expert on Shakespeare or anything, but I've never heard of "Love's Labour's Won"."

"Because there never was such a play." Clara responded. "It's mentioned in the lists of his plays, but it never turns up. No one knows why. It just doesn't exist, only in rumors and whispers."

"Have you got a mini disc or something?" Martha asked, making them blink.

"A what?" They asked in unison.

"We can tape it. We can flog it." Martha explained. "Sell it when we get home, make a mint."

"No." They immediately said, and Martha promptly nodded.

"That would be bad." She agreed.

"Yeah."

"How come it disappeared in the first place?" Martha asked, and the answer she got was a small whine from the couple.

"Fine." They groaned.

"We were just going to give you a quick little trip in the TARDIS." The Doctor said with a pout. "But fine, we can stay a bit longer."

Martha nodded, but she was still confused over the lost play. "So, where do we find Shakespeare?"

"At an inn."

**The Elephant**

"Here you go, Will." William looked up from behind his candlelit desk to see the landlady, Dolly Bailey, a woman with dirty blonde hair, walking into the room and placing three mugs onto the desk for him and the main acting pair from his troupe. "Drink up." She said cheerily. "There's enough beer in this lodgings house to sink the Spanish."

William, with a thankful smile, took one of the mugs and sipped the drink. "Dolly Bailey, you've saved my life." He said as he placed the mug down.

"I'll do more than that later tonight." She flirted, and William just raised his eyebrows at her in a small challenge, before she took the empty tray and stood up, turning around to look at a brunette servant girl, working away in the corner of the room. "And you, girl, hurry up with the tasks. The talk of gentlemen's best not overheard." She said with a smirk.

"Yes ma'am. Sorry, ma'am." The girl quickly said, but everyone missed the small glare of fire in her eyes that disappeared as quickly as it appeared. After Dolly left the room, one of the actors picked up from the table a page from William's new play and gave it a small scrutinizing look that blended with incredulous nervousness.

"You must be mad, Will." Said the actor on the left, Richard Burbage, who had brushed black hair and light, scruffy hairs on his face, the beginnings of a beard. ""Love's Labour's Won"? It's supposed to be next week and we're not ready." He pointed out as he placed the paper back on the desk. "What made you say that?"

"You haven't even finished it yet." Inputted the actor on the right, Will Kempe, who had messy brown hair and a scruffy goatee.

William just sighed. "I've just got the final scene to go. You'll get it by morning." He reassured before taking another drink from his mug.

"Hello!" The three looked at the door as two voices spoke in unison, before a rather handsome man in a brown suit and a beautiful brunette in a rather odd sweater came into the room with beaming faces.

"Not interrupting anything, are we?" Clara asked.

"Mr. Shakespeare, isn't it?" The Doctor asked and William groaned.

"Oh, no." He muttered before placing his hand on his face. "No, no, no. Who let you in?" The pair blinked and he rolled his eyes. "No autographs. No, you can't have yourself sketched with me, and please don't ask where I get my ideas from. Thanks for the interest. Now, be a good boy and girl and shove-" He stopped short when he saw the pair's companion enter the room behind them.  _My lord, she is just…*Growls*_  "Hey, nonny, nonny." He purred, and Martha just raised her eyebrows in surprise, earning amused looks from the pair beside her. "Sit right down here next to me." He said in invitation before looking at Richard and Will. "You two, get sewing on them costumes. Off you go." He said as Dolly entered the room to get their empty mugs.

"Come on, lads." She said, patting them on the shoulders, as they gave her amused looks, to which she returned. "I think our William's found his new muse." She said, taking the empty mugs and the three of them left the room, allowing Martha to sit in one chair and Clara in the other, the Doctor standing behind her with his hands on her shoulders.

"Sweet lady." William said to Martha, looking over her…very sensual form. "Such unusual clothes. So…fitted."

"Um…" Martha started with a stutter, "verily, forsooth. Egads!" She said, making William blink.

"No." The pair said in unison, which made William blink again. "Don't do that."

Then, the Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out a leather wallet. "I'm Sir Doctor of TARDIS. My fair lady here is Dame Clara of TARDIS." He introduced, and William didn't miss the wink he gave to Clara, or the beaming smile she sent him in return. "And this is our companion, Miss Martha Jones."

William cocked his eyebrows, but his gaze remained on the paper. "Interesting, that bit of paper. It's blank."

The Doctor's jaw dropped while Clara frowned. "Oh, that's…very clever." He grinned and Clara just let the frown melt, before raising her eyebrows up slightly. "That proves it. Absolute genius."

William just shrugged with a smug smile, while Martha interrupted with a blink. "No, it's says right there." She said, pointing to the paper. ""Sir Doctor, Dame Clara, Martha Jones." It says so."

"And I say it's blank." William retorted.

"Psychic paper." Clara interrupted Martha before she could continue. "Long story."

""Psychic"?" William questioned, leaning back in his chair to stare at the pair. "Never heard that before, and words are my trade. Who are you, exactly?" Then, he blinked with a smile. "More to the point, who is your delicious blackamoor lady?" He winked.

Martha just stared at him with her jaw dropped again. "What did you just say?" She asked with a small chuckle under her breath.

"Whoops." William said, leaning his elbow on the table and placing his head upon his hand. "Isn't that a word we use nowadays? An ethiop girl, a swarth, a Queen of Afric?"

Martha just stared at the pair beside her with a smile. "Can't believe I'm hearing this."

"It's political correctness gone mad." The Doctor said, him and Clara shaking their heads at William's flirty behaviour.

"Martha's from a far-off land." Clara inputted. "It's called-"

""Freedonia"." The Doctor interrupted, before Clara slapped his hand. "Ow!"

"Freedonia sounds like a dead-end pub you'd find in Ireland. A poor man's version of Ireland at that." Clara admonished.

William just looked between the two of them before glancing at Martha. "Couple?"

"Couple." Martha answered with a nod.

"Excuse me! Hold hard a moment!" A man called before swiftly entering the room, making William and the servant girl frown at his entrance, while the trio just blinked in puzzlement. The man was dressed all up like he was very rich and important, complete with an embroidered black hat, a large golden necklace, and even his white frill ended in golden lining. "This is abominable behaviour. A new play with no warning?" He shook his red bearded head with a scoff. "I demand to see a script, Mr. Shakespeare. As the Master of the Revels, every new script must be registered at my office and examined by me before it can be performed."

"Tomorrow morning, Lynley, first thing." William said to the man. "I'll send it round."

"I don't work to your schedule, you work to mine." Lynley growled. "The script, now!"

"I can't." William said with a clenched jaw.

"Then tomorrow's performance is cancelled." Lynley announced.

"Blimey." Martha breathed out, looking over at the TARDIS couple. "It's all going on around here, isn't it?"

"I'm returning to my office for a banning order." Lynley declared as he moved to the door. "If it's the last thing I do, "Love's Labour's Won" will never be played." Then, without a word, he sped from the room, nobody gaining notice of the servant girl having disappeared as well.

"Well then, mystery solved." Martha quipped to the couple, and they just smirked at her in return. "Although, I thought it might be something more…you know…mysterious." The couple just shrugged at that. Then, upon a sudden, they heard Lynley screaming and gagging in agony outside, and it was quickly accompanied by the horrified shrieks of nearby men and women. "Bloody hell, I spoke too soon." Martha muttered, the three of them and William rushing outside to the source of the noise.

* * *

Lilith, keeping her head down to remain somewhat anonymous, managed to sneakily bump into Lynley, who frowned down at her. "Oh, sorry sir." She quickly said with a small squeak, and it did the job by somewhat lessening his frown. "Begging your pardon, sir. Mind you don't hurt that handsome head of yours, sir." She said, using her small scissors to snitch a small lock of hair from the back of his head, which he didn't notice.

"Hold hard, wanton woman!" He spat, and Lilith took the initiative to appear aghast at his words, and it made him clear his throat in apology. "I shall return later." He said with an approving eye, and Lilith blushed, which made him wink before he turned and walked off without a word. Lilith, who's expression went from blushing and ever so slightly swooning to a very dull glare, dashed off into a hidden corner blanketed in shadow, where she took a barrel of water and removed the lid before pulling out a small doll and began to tie Lynley's stolen hair around its head. "Oh, my Mothers." She breathed in a whisper. "One seeks to stop the performance tomorrow."

 _"But it must be tomorrow."_  Mother Doomfinger replied in her head.

 _""Love's Labour's Won" must be performed."_  Mother Bloodtide inputted.

"Shhh." Lilith said with a small smile. "Fear not, my Mothers." She reassured under her breath. "But I require your aid. Chant with me." Upon her words, she finished tying the hair around the doll, and she heard her Mothers breathe in a deep sigh inside her head.

 _"Close your eyes, Lilith."_  They whispered to her and she did so, stroking a hand along the head of the doll.

"Water damps the fiercest flame, drowns down girls and boys the same." She spoke, her Mothers whispering the chant in unison with herself. "Water damps the fiercest flame, drowns down girls and boys the same." Then, she took the doll and plunged it into the water, keeping it within the ice-cold liquid until she heard the acknowledgment of her work by Lynley gagging and screaming distantly, quickly accompanied by the sweet shrieks of horror.  _Just a few more moments, Lilith. Just a few more._  She let herself count up to 5, before taking the doll out and grasping her scissors in her other hand. "Now to halt the vital part. Stab the flesh and stop the heart. For eternal sleep shall be thine." She then pierced the chest of the doll, twisted the blade, then removed it before twisting the doll's neck. She heard the distant thud of a body slamming the ground, and she smiled. "Thank you, my Mothers." She whispered earnestly before she moved out from her hiding place within the shadows.

* * *

"It's that Lynley bloke." Martha muttered as they exited the inn to see Lynley gagging and spluttering water like nobody's business.

"What's wrong with him?" Clara asked.

"Leave it to me." The Doctor said, moving to catch Lynley by the shoulders. "I'm a doctor."

"So am I." Martha said, moving forward before adding under her breath, "Well, near enough." Without warning, Lynley gave a wrenching choke before he collapsed to the ground, gagging on the water no longer, and his body went still. "Mr. Lynley." Martha said, while Clara and the Doctor just gazed around with squinting eyes but found nothing to answer the man's death. "Can you hear me?" The answer came from more water bubbling up from within his throat, and Martha recoiled before looking at the couple as they squatted down beside her. "What the hell is that?"

The Doctor just gently took Lynley's face in one hand to gaze into his throat. "I've never seen a death like this. His lungs are full of water. He drowned and then…a blow to the heart. An invisible blow."

Clara just placed her hand on Lynley's eyes to close them before standing up and looking at Dolly, who was standing with William and a small group of people, watching the scene unfold. "Good lady, this poor man had died. A sudden imbalance of the humors. A natural yet unfortunate demise. Call the constable and have him taken away."

"Right away, ma'am." Dolly nodded before the servant girl gently placed her hand on Dolly's arm.

"I'll do it, ma'am."

"Thank you, dear." Dolly nodded gratefully before the servant girl left and Clara went back to squat beside the Doctor.

"And why did you tell them that?" Martha asked Clara.

"This lot still have one foot in the dark ages." Clara answered. "Tell them the truth, they will panic and think it was witchcraft." Martha just nodded silently before Clara asked the Doctor, "How did he die?"

"Witchcraft." He answered simply, and Clara just gave him a dull glare.

"Bloody hell, I was only half serious." Clara muttered to herself. They then left to re-enter the inn after the body was removed, and they went into William's room, before Dolly came to the door and looked at the couple.

"I got you a room, Sir Doctor, Dame Clara. It'll be just across the landing." She said before looking at Martha. "You're a bit lucky. There's a spare mattress for you, but it'll have to be on the floor." She said, and Martha just shrugged.

"It's fine, thank you."

"Poor Lynley." William muttered as he sat at his desk. "So many strange events. Not least of all, this land of "Freedonia" where a woman can be a doctor."

"Where a woman can do what she likes." Martha retorted and William just raised his eyebrows in interest before looking at the couple.

"And you, Sir Doctor, how can a man so young have eyes so old?"

"I do a lot of reading." The Doctor said, keeping any grim tones from his voice.

"A trite reply, yeah. That's what I do." William remarked, earning a smirk from the Doctor. "Don't think I missed that, Dame Clara." He said, pointing to her unconsciously taking his hand. "Then again, Martha looks at you like she's surprised you exist."

"What?" Clara muttered but William held up his hand.

"Not like the kind that you and your Doctor look at each other. No, it's more…confused. Bewildered than…romantic."

Clara just nodded. "Trust me, I'm as much of puzzle to anyone as I am to myself."

William just sighed. "Well, I must to work. I've got a play to finish before tomorrow morning. And hopefully, I shall get my answers tomorrow, Doctor. Both you and Clara, and why this constant performance from the two of you."

"All the worlds a stage." The Doctor remarked, and William gave a look of approval.

"Hmmm, I might use that." William said to himself before smiling. "Goodnight Doctor, Clara."

"Nighty-night, Shakespeare." The Doctor said before he led Clara out of the room, Martha following closely behind. They entered into their allotted room, which the couple mentally agreed that it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. It did have a wardrobe, a king-sized bed and a mattress beside it on the floor, all of which had blankets and pillows. Thankfully.

"Not exactly five-star, is it?" Martha quipped.

"Oh, it's all right." The Doctor returned. "I've seen worse."

"We haven't even got a toothbrush." Martha muttered.

The Doctor patted his pockets, but he didn't find what he wanted. "Damn, it must be in the other suit. Shame, it has Venusian spearmint. Really good." Then, he lay back first onto the bed, Clara snuggling in beside him, while Martha took a seat on her mattress.

"Mmm. Not bad." Martha said to herself as the mattress was decently soft. "So, magic and stuff. That's a surprise. It's all a bit "Harry Potter"."

"Wait until you read book seven." The Doctor said as Clara rolled over to the side of the bed to look at Martha, while the Doctor just placed his head on her shoulder. "Oh, I cried."

"But is it real, though?" She asked. "I mean, witches and black magic and all that, it's real?"

"Eh, kind off." Clara said with a shake of her hand. "It looks like witchcraft, but it isn't."

"There's such a thing as psychic energy but a Human couldn't channel it like that." The Doctor said, scratching the back of his head. "Not without a generator the size of Taunton, and they would've spotted that. No, there's something I'm missing Clara."

Clara shifted herself around to look at him properly. "How'd you mean?"

"There's something really close, staring at me right in the face and I can't see it." His tone and expression went suddenly solemn. "I really am getting old, because I should know, but I don't remember it."

"Do you forget everything?" Clara asked, stroking his hand.

"I forget things I shouldn't. I only had one partner before you." He said, and his tone now went sorrowful. "And I can't even remember her name. Or the family we had, all but Susan. And they're all gone now. Even my friend."

Clara blinked. "Your friend? The TARDIS?"

He shook his head. "No, not her. I had a friend before I had a family. Just one friend, but he was, and still is, my oldest friend. He was so much like me, and oh the times we had. I used to go to his father's land all the time. We'd run practically all day, right on through the red grass and calling the most random nonsense up at the sky." He sighed, but it was very shaky. "Then the time came for the Academy, and after the initiation he..." He trailed off with a shake of his head. "We tried to remain friends, always meeting, always talking, even when we traveled separately, even on Earth. But when the War came, he just disappeared. And I know that he is not coming back. And now I…I miss him. I miss him, Clara." He admitted softly.

"What was his name?" She asked as she took his cheek in her hand.

"His name was "The Master"." He muttered with a gulp. "Even right here, right now, he'd know exactly what to say. He always did. Sometimes he could be smarter or thicker than me, but he'd always know what to say. And now he's gone."

"You must still have hope." Clara reassured, but he shook his head, still gazing at her with sad eyes.

"That's the trouble with hope, Clara. It's hard to resist."

* * *

"Lilith." Mother Doomfinger mewled as Lilith re-entered, changing in a flash from her servant girl outfit and back to her black rags. "The potion is prepared. Now, take it. Magic words for the playwright's fevered mind."

Lilith gratefully took the small bottle filled with a green gas. "Shakespeare will release us. The mind of a genius will unlock the tide of blood." Mother Bloodtide purred.

Lilith just smiled. "Upon this night, the work is done. A muse to pen "Love's Labour's Won"." Lilith's smile grew while her Mothers giggled, but they quickly silenced themselves. "Not yet, my Mothers. First, a visit." Then without another word, she disappeared from the room, moving in silence through the night until she stood below the candlelit window of William's room, where with a wave of her hand, the window unlatched and slowly swung open. Then, she hovered up into the air, peaking her head in where upon the sight of William on his own and his back turned to her, she took the potion and blew it gently in his direction, where upon he shuddered, swayed for a moment before falling fast asleep on the table, his quill still in his hand. Lilith then hovered right up into the room, coming down onto her feet before she took out of her pocket a puppet of Shakespeare, wrapped in his own hair and attached to strings. She placed her free left hand on the puppet's head and caressed it softly with a small smile. "Bind the mind and take the man." She whispered with a low purr. "Speed the words to writer's hand." Then, she gently tugged the head up, and William's own head echoed it, popping up with wide open eyes, yet his body and mind remained fast asleep. Lilith with the puppet began to write the necessary key words as the last sentence of the play, each scritch and scratch of the quill made her want to grin, but she held it in patience. Then upon finishing, she let William's head drop back onto his desk, where she placed the puppet back into her pocket and put her hand upon his head. "Thank you." She whispered earnestly, placing a kiss into his hair-

"Will!" The sudden voice of Dolly made Lilith shoot up in shock for a moment, before she caught it and let it melt away into nothing. "Finished cleaning, just in time for your special treat." Lilith heard Dolly enter the room before the sound of her broom touched the floor and then came a sigh. "Oh all right. Not the first then."

Lilith, with a malicious smile, turned around with her fair face melted into her true face, and she stared at the now horrified Dolly, but more specifically, her broom. "I'll take that to aid my flight, and you shall speak no more this night." Then, upon baring her teeth, she gazed at Dolly, but she decided to not give her a grim death, but instead a merciful one. She quickly whispered an incantation under her breath that went unheard by Dolly, before she dashed at her, and the woman screamed, dropping the broom straight into Lilith's hands before she collapsed to the floor, unmoving and dead.  _Quick, and easy. That is our mercy._

* * *

The Doctor and Clara shot up from their entangled embrace with a start upon hearing the horrified screams of a woman in agony. "Dolly." They muttered, racing from the room with Martha quick in tow, entering into William's own room as he stirred from his sleep, the window having been flung open before they entered.

"What?" He muttered, blinking the sleep from his eyes. "What was that?"

The Doctor and Clara knelt down beside Dolly's deceased body, while Martha ran to the window to see Lilith's shadow as she sped off into the night sky upon Dolly's broom, cackling like nobody's business. "Her heart gave out." The Doctor said after a moment. "She died of fright."

"Doctor, Clara." Martha called, and the couple raced over to the window.

"What did you see?" Clara asked.

"A witch." The couple didn't respond to that, but they squinted ever so slightly at that knowledge.

"Dolly, I am sorry." They heard William say as he had left his desk and knelt down beside her body. "I am so sorry."

"We need to get the constable, have her taken away." The Doctor said solemnly, and William agreed. Without another word, he hoisted up Dolly's body into his arms and removed her from the room.

Dawn, the Next Day

"Oh, sweet Dolly Bailey." William sighed as he stood by the window, looking out at the now clear sky, while the TARDIS trio just sat in silence around his desk. "She sat out three bouts of the plague in this place. We'll run like rats." He turned around to lean against his desk with his hands braced upon it. "But what could have scared her so? She had such enormous spirit."

""Rage, rage against the dying of the light"." Clara quoted.

"I might use that." William said in admiration, but Clara shook her head to his disappointment.

"You can't. It's someone else's."

"But the thing is, Lynley drowned on dry land, Dolly died of fright, and both were connected to you." Martha pointed out.

"You're accusing me?" William asked in defense.

"No." Martha quickly responded. "But I saw a witch, big as you like, flying and cackling away, and you've written about witches."

William looked astounded. "I have. When was that?"

"Spoilers." The Doctor quickly said to Martha.

William gave a low "Hmmm" under his breath. "Peter Street spoke of witches."

"Who's Peter Street?" The Doctor asked.

"Our builder. He sketched the plans to the Globe."

"The architect." The Doctor muttered with squinting eyes. "The architect. The architect. The architect!" He exclaimed, slamming his palms on the desk before speeding off out of the room. "The Globe! Come on!"

Martha and William glanced at Clara, who just sighed. "Just do as he says." She said, right as William took the entire script in hand before the three of them sped off to catch up the Doctor, leaving the inn and going down the streets before entering into the empty Theatre. The Doctor went to stand in the middle while Clara stood beside him. "Doctor?" She asked.

"Columns there." He pointed to the stage, which indeed had two large mahogany brown and golden columns on either side. "And there's 14 sides. Doesn't that strike you as odd?" He asked Clara. "Why 14?"

Clara just shrugged. "Why 14 sides, Will?" She asked, yet she kept her frowning face on the Doctor.

"It's the shape Peter Street thought best, that's all. Said "It carries the sound well"."

"14." The Doctor muttered. "Why does that ring a bell, Clara?" He asked.

"There's 14 lines in a sonnet." Clara said with her arms crossed. "14 sides, 14 facets. Words and shapes following the same design."

"That there is." The Doctor agreed before smacking his head. "Oh my head! Think, think, think!"

"Come on, this is just a theatre." William inputted.

"But a theatre is magic, isn't it?" Clara retorted. "You should know, you stand on this stage and say the right words with the right emphasis at the right time…you can make men weep or cry with joy, you can change them."

"Change them." The Doctor muttered under a breath, making Clara turn around.

"Doctor?"

"You can change people's minds, Clara. Just with words in this place. So you exaggerate that…say the right words…oh." He whined. "It's staring me in the face, Clara, and I can't remember it."

"It's like the police box." Martha interrupted to their relief. "Small wooden box with all that power inside." She said dramatically.

"Oof." Clara said with a smile. "Martha Jones, we like you." She commented.

"…Thank you." Martha said despite her confusion. "Was a compliment or what?" She whispered to William, but he just shrugged.

"Tell you who would know. Peter Street." The Doctor said. "Can we talk to him?"

"You won't get an answer." William said, shaking his head. "Month after finishing this place, he lost his mind."

"Why? What happened?" Martha asked.

William shrugged. "Started raving about witches, hearing voices, babbling. His mind was addled."

"Where is he now?" Clara asked.

"Bedlam."

"Bedlam? Bedlam what?"

"Bethlehem hospital. The madhouse."

"Then that's where we're going." The Doctor said, taking Clara's hand. "Come on."

"Wait! I'm coming with you." William called as they moved to the exit, just as the two actors, Richard and Will, started in. "I want to witness this at first hand." He then handed the full script he had in his hands to Richard. "Richard! The last scene as promised. Copy it, hand it round, learn it, speak it before the curtain goes up. Always remember: Project, eyes and teeth, for you never know. The Queen might turn up." He then turned to catch up with the TARDIS trio before rolling his eyes.  _As if. She never does._  Walking back alongside them, he regained Martha's attention. "So, tell me of Freedonia. Where women can be doctors, writers, actors."

"This country's ruled by a woman." Martha retorted.

"Ah, she's royal. That's god's business. Though you are a royal beauty." He flirted, and Martha laughed with her jaw dropped.

"Whoa, Nelly!" She said with her hand up. "I know for a fact you've got a wife in the country."

"Martha, this is town." He purred.

"Come on!" Clara interrupted as her and the Doctor stopped walking. "We can all have a good flirt later!"

"Is that a promise, Clara?" He flirted.

"Oi!" The Doctor interrupted. "Leave her alone!"

"And who would leave you alone?" William flirted, and the couple just gave each other a look of dread.

"Oh, 57 academics just punched the air." He muttered. "Now, move!" He said, and the group rushed back up onto their trail.

* * *

_"The light of Shadmock's hollow moon doth shine on to a point in space betwixt Dravidian shores-"_

Mother Doomfinger, turning with a frown to the cauldron, moved towards it before grabbing a handful of dust and whispered, "Globe Theatre". She then tossed the dust into the cauldron, the liquid shimmering with a grim light before the faces of Richard and Will appeared, both of which were standing on the stage in the Theatre and holding pages of a script in their hands. Then, she quickly motioned for Mother Bloodtide and Lilith to join her.

 _"Dravidian shores and linear 593016-"_  Richard stopped upon hearing and feeling a sudden rush of wind, causing him to look about the Theatre in puzzlement.

"A spirit stirs the ether." Mother Doomfinger reported as the wind came with a small hissing of one of their brethren. "Too soon, too soon."

"Not too fear, my Mothers." Lilith said reassuringly. "Tis merely a rehearsal of what's to come." Upon her words, the Mothers relaxed with a calm smile as the actor went on.

 _"And strikes the fulsome grove of Rexel 4."_  Then, their eyes widened as they stared up above their heads, and the Mothers and Lilith quickly guessed that they had seen a mere shadow of one of their brethren.

 _"By all the saints."_  Will muttered.  _"What was that?"_

 _"…A spirit."_  Richard answered in a low murmur.  _"A vile shade."_  They quickly looked down at the pages, then back at each other, and Richard said,  _"I think we should never speak of this again."_

 _"Good idea."_  Will readily agreed.  _"Else we'll end up in Bedlam ourselves."_

**Bethlehem Hospital**

Already the TARDIS trio, and even William, had wanted to leave this awful place. The agonized wailing of those imprisoned within these murky and gloomy walls made them shiver down to their bones. As the Warden let them inside, he unlocked a corridor door with the jangle of his keys, and they walked right on inside, the first "Patient" to greet them muttering, "Please. Please." When they gave him no answer, he rattled against the cell doors, even going as far as to smash his own head against the bars, only stopping when the Warden whipped his hands with his lash. William remained grim yet silent, the couple looked on in restrained, seething anger, while Martha was utterly disgusted.

"I would make a Dark Souls joke here, but I'm not going to." Clara growled to the Doctor, who just gave a slight nod of his head, but did not speak.

"Does my lord Doctor and my lady Clara wish some entertainment while they wait?" The Warden asked over his shoulder. "I'd whip these madmen. They'll put on a good show for you. Mad dog in Bedlam."

"Yes." Clara snarled, and they heard the Warden gulp. "Get on your knees and whip your own back." The Warden gave her a wide-eyed look of incredulous terror, and she gave a thin, cold smile. "Don't make that kind of offer again." She warned, and he quickly nodded.

"Well, if you wouldn't mind waiting here, my lady, I'll make the man decent." He quickly trotted off down the corridor as if he himself was being whipped, and Clara let her smile fade back into anger, quickly grasping the Doctor's hand to keep herself calm.

"Sorry." She muttered to him, and he stroked his thumb on the back of her hand, which worked…somewhat.

"Is this what you call a hospital, yeah?" Martha asked William in clear disgust. "Where the patients are whipped to entertain the gentry, and you put your friend in here?"

"It's all so different in Freedonia." William retorted, but it had no bite whatsoever.

"Do you honestly think that this place is any good?" Martha asked.

"You may think me clever, but I'm not all the time." William responded. "I've been mad. I've lost my mind. Fear of this place set me right again. It has a purpose, even when nobody likes it."

Martha went to make another question, but she held her tongue for a moment to calm herself. "Sorry." She muttered, and William nodded in forgiveness. "Mad in what way?"

"You lost your son." The Doctor inputted.

"My only boy." William said somberly with a nod. "The Black Death took him, and I wasn't even there. It made me question everything. The futility of this fleeting existence, to be or not to be-" Then, for a small moment, the TARDIS trio managed to get amused, serene smiles as his eyes widened. "Oh. That's quite good." He said in obvious approval.

"You should write that down." Clara agreed.

"Mmm," William started with a shake of his hand, "maybe not. Bit pretentious?"

"You'd be surprised if you use it right." Clara disagreed.

The Warden came walking back up to them, still looking nervously at Clara as he reported, "This way, my lord, my lady." They followed him down the corridor until they arrived at a dead end, where the Warden unlocked the door and let them into the cell. The "Patient" within was Peter Street, but he was hunched over, sitting on his ruined bed with his back turned to them. "They can be a bit dangerous. Don't know their own strength." The Warden said, but from the look on the Doctor's, Martha's and even William's faces, he immediately regretted it.

"It helps if you don't whip them, idiot!" Clara retorted in a snarl.

The Warden retreated from the cell, right as the Doctor stroked Clara's hand with his thumb to calm her again. "Clara." The Doctor whispered, his voicing making Clara give a sigh. "Please stop."

Clara just gave him a small, yet sad look and she nodded. "I'm sorry."

He smiled and kissed her on the forehead. "No more of that today, okay?" Clara nodded again, letting go of her hand to kiss her cheek before moving away and towards Peter. "Peter?" He called, but the man didn't answer. "Peter Street?"

"He's the same as he was." William inputted as the Doctor squatted in front of the hunched man. "You'll get nothing out of hi-"

"Hush." Clara interrupted, and William kept his mouth shut.

"Peter." The Doctor said as he placed his hand on Peter's shoulder. The man's head shot up and his wide, wild eyes stared back at the Doctor, his hair, his clothes and even his teeth were an utter mess.

* * *

 _"Peter."_  A voice of a man sounded in Lilith's head, and she blinked, touching her head as she felt a strange presence beginning to cloud her away from Peter Street.

"What is this?" She hissed, earning her Mothers attention. "I must see." She grabbed a small handful of dirt and whispered, "Bethlehem" then upon she chucked the dust into the cauldron. The image in its liquid showed Peter staring with wide eyes at a man, who was squatting before him. "That stranger." Lilith muttered with a frown. "He was at the inn with Shakespeare. I thought then he smelt of something new."

"And now he visits the madhouse, for the architect!" Mother Bloodtide pointed out with a hiss.

The Doctor gently reached forward and placed his hands upon Peter's temples.  _"Peter, I'm the Doctor."_

Peter tried to shake his hands away, but then the witches saw a small hand upon his shoulder, and a woman then appeared beside the Doctor with a gentle look. _"It's okay. It's all right."_

Her own presence seemed to calm him, while Lilith looked once again with a frown. "That woman. She was with this Doctor too." She muttered.

 _"Go into the past."_  The Doctor implored in a hushed voice.  _"Let your mind go back. Back to when everything was fine and shining. Everything that happened in this year since happened to somebody else. It was just a story, a winter's tale. Let go."_  His words, the witches found to their growing dismay, were working marvelously, for Peter began to relax, the mad glint in his eyes dimmed just enough and the Doctor guided him back onto the bed.  _"That's it. That's it. Just let go."_  Then, once Peter was lying flat on his back, he looked up at the couple with wide eyes of fear and wonder, while the Doctor whispered to Clara,  _"All yours."_

 _"Tell us the story, Peter."_  Clara said, her looking beginning to turn grave.  _"Tell us about the witches."_

"Who are these two?" Lilith asked to herself. "Why do they come now at our time of glory?" She gave a sigh, and ordered without turning her head, "Mother Doomfinger, transport yourself." When she heard Mother Doomfinger beginning to purr at her order, she turned to her with a smile. "Doom the Doctor and Clara. Doom their very hides."

"Hide." Mother Doomfinger whispered, her eyes twinkling and glittering, before she turned and walked swiftly from the room.

"Always one for a dramatic entrance, we are." Lilith quipped to Mother Bloodtide, before they turned their attention back onto the cauldron's view.

* * *

"Witches…spoke to Peter." Peter said to the couple, Martha and especially William looking positively confounded at his clear speech, even if the pattern of it was still stained with madness. "In the night, they whispered. They whispered." He said, wriggling his fingers by his ears with almost insect like noises with his chattering teeth. "Got Peter to build the Globe to their design. THEIR design." He emphasized with a small cackle. "The 14 walls. Always 14." He said in a distant voice for a small moment. "When the work was done…" He trailed off with a mad cackle, which slowly but surely turned into a confused frown, the only clear and pure expression he had given so far, "they…they snapped poor Peter's wits. Why would they snap poor Peter's wits?" He asked the couple. "He had done everything they said."

"It's called covering your own tracks." Clara said with a low growl. "One would call it smart, another cowardice." Then, she knelt in front of Peter to get in close. "Where did Peter see the witches, where in the city?" Peter shook his head and was about to protest, but Clara snapped her fingers right in front of his eyes. "Peter…" She snarled, "you have got to tell us. And I will not ask it again." She warned.

Peter, after a moment of tense silence, took a gulping breath before he stared up at Clara and said clearly, ""All Hallows Street"."

"Too many words." Mother Doomfinger hissed suddenly from beside them, causing Clara to slowly stand up as the Doctor tugged her away, while Martha and William looked at her in frightful astonishment.

"What the hell?!" Martha exclaimed.

"Just one touch of the heart." She twitched her right forefinger at them before pressing it down upon Peter's chest.

"No!" The couple yelled in unison, but it was too late. For a small second, the man gave an agonizing wail before the life and madness in his eyes quickly paled and faded away, and Mother Doomfinger gave a wailing moan as she stood back up straight again.

"Witch!" William muttered in fearful shock. "I'm seeing a witch!"

"Now, who would be next, hmm?" Mother Doomfinger asked, twitching her finger again. "Just one touch." She said, her smile growing brighter and more sinister by the second. "Oh, I'll stop your frantic hearts!" She cackled. "Poor fragile mortals!"

"Let us out!" Martha exclaimed, suddenly pounding on the bars of the cell door. "Let us out!"

Clara snorted, a sound that made Martha stop and turn to stare at her with a frown, which William echoed. "That's not going to work. Everyone in this place is shouting that."

"Who would die first?" Mother Doomfinger asked.

Clara's eyebrows raised in challenge. "If you're looking for a volunteer…"

"Don't, Clara!" Martha exclaimed but the Doctor held up his hand.

"Wait a moment." He mouthed to her, and William saw it.

"Can you two stop her?" William asked, and Mother Doomfinger hissed.

"No mortal has power over me."

"No, but there's a power in words." Clara retorted sarcastically with a roll of her eyes.

"All we have to do is just know you." The Doctor said with squinting eyes at the witch. "Just find the right words."

"None on-"

"Earth has power over us." Clara quickly interrupted, finishing her sentence. "God, can you please just shut up?" She snarled, and Mother Doomfinger was taken aback.

"Thank you." The Doctor said to Clara with a smile. "Now, think, think, think, Humanoid female, using shapes and words to channel, and has a fetish for 14-ah! 14!" He suddenly exclaimed, and Mother Doomfinger recoiled slightly. "That's it, 14! The 14 stars of the Rexel Planetary Configuration!" The witch began to shake in a sudden terror, and the Doctor proclaimed with a wild look, "Creature, I name you: Carrionite!" Mother Doomfinger gave a bone chilling shriek as she glowed with a bright light, and suddenly vanished from the room. A small moment of silence fell, filled only by the Doctor giving a small breath to calm himself again.

"What did you do?" Martha asked in almost a whisper.

"I named her." The Doctor said simply. "The power of a name. That's old magic." He said, cocking his eyebrows at a smirking Clara.

"But there's no such thing as magic." Martha protested.

 _"I never thought I'd have to spoil a comic book movie."_  Clara spoke mentally to the Doctor. "You call what a Carrionite does "Magic", but at home you call it "Science". In reality, Martha, they are just one in the same thing. Humans, we use mathematics. Use the right string of numbers, or the right equation," She clapped her hands together for effect, "thine atom becomes split. As the Carrionite just proved, they use words instead, for words always have their own power."

"But what will they use them for?" William asked after Clara finished.

"The end of the world." The Doctor said in a grim tone, and they remained in silence after this, even as they left.

* * *

Back now in William's room in the Elephant, this time his own bedroom, William used a bowl of water to wash his hands and his own face before he gave a small sigh with his head in his water clad hands. Martha was sitting at a table while Clara leaned against the wall, and the Doctor just paced back and forth within the room. ""Carrionites"?" William asked after he took his hands away, turning to face them as he used a towel to dry his hands.

"Yes." The Doctor responded. "The Carrionites disappeared, way back at the dawn of the universe. Nobody was sure if they were real or legend."

"I'm going for real." William said dryly as he put the towel down.

"What do they want?" Martha asked.

"A world of bones and blood and witchcraft." Clara said with a dramatic flair, which made the Doctor smirk. "It's really just another way of saying good old global domination." She reiterated with a shrug.

"But how?" Martha asked. Clara and the Doctor just looked over at Shakespeare, who gave them an incredulous frown.

"Me? But I've done nothing." He defended.

"Hold on." Martha interrupted. "What were you doing last night when that Carrionite was in the room?"

"Finishing the play." He said obviously.

Their eyes went wide. "What happens on the last page?" The Doctor asked.

He shrugged. "The boys get the girls, they have a bit of a dance. It's all as funny and thought provoking as usual…" He trailed off, his expression steadily getting more confused and uncertain.

"William?" Clara asked, and the sound of his name brought him back.

"Except for those last few lines." He finally said. "Funny thing is, I don't actually remember writing them."

"That's it." The Doctor said slowly as he took his hands out of his pockets and walked to William. "They used you. They gave you the final words, like a spell, like a code. "Love's Labour's Won", it's a weapon!" He proclaimed. "The right combination of words, spoken at the right place, with the shape of the Globe as an energy converter! The play's the thing!" He went to leave, but stopped only a few steps away from William, and he turned back. "And yes, you can have that." He turned around, already picturing clearly the bright smug smile on William's face. "Map, map, map, map." He muttered, quickly searching around William's study, going at a rapid pace through books and scrolls until he figuratively tore out a piece of paper and he laid it upon the table. "Okay, All Hallows Street. Where are you?" He asked, Martha looking at the map from the side and Clara looked at it beside his right shoulder.

"Bloody hell, it's like an engineers map." Clara muttered, for she could only see a mass blur of lines and writing. "How are you supposed to tell-"

"Right there." The Doctor said, pointing to a point on the map.

"What?"

"There."

"Where?"

"There!"

"Where?!" Clara repeated, and the Doctor groaned, taking her hand.

"Clara is a slow poke." He quipped, clicking his tongue on the "K" in "Poke" as he placed her finger directly at All Hallows Street.

Clara blinked, then shook her head. "Nope. Still don't get it."

The Doctor groaned again. "I'll just have to show you the way, then." He quipped. "Will, we'll track them down." He said to Will. "You get to the Globe. Whatever happens, you must stop that play."

"I'll do it." William said confidently, shaking the Doctor's hand. "All these years, I've been the cleverest man around. Next to you two, I know nothing."

"Well, don't complain." Martha said with a chuckle.

"I'm not." William said with a shake of his head. "It's marvelous. Good luck, Doctor, Clara."

"Good luck, Shakespeare." They said in unison before they bounded to the door. "Once more unto the breach!"

"I like that!" William proclaimed proudly before- "Wait." He muttered with a blink. "That's one of mine!"

"Oh, just get a shift on!" Clara ordered from the door as the trio disappeared around the corner.

* * *

"All Hallows Street." The Doctor said as they arrived in the appropriate place. "But which house?" He muttered.

"I must not be getting something here." Martha muttered as she looked up at the quickly darkening sky, and she felt herself shiver from the chilly night air.

"Sorry?" The couple asked in unison.

"Well…" She started with some uncertainty, "the world didn't end in 1599. It just didn't. Look at me, I'm living proof. Even Clara is." She pointed out.

"Ah, I might end up surviving that considering my…condition." She put simply.

The Doctor nodded. "How to explain the mechanics of the infinite temporal flux? No, I know!" He said with a grin as he pointed to Martha. "Back to the Future. It's like Back to the Future."

"The film?" Martha asked, and they gave her a dull look.

"No, the novelization." He retorted sarcastically. "Yes, the film." He said with a small groan. "Marty McFly goes back and changes history."

"And he starts fading away." Martha added, and her eyes quickly widened at her own words. "Oh my god, am I going to fade?"

"You and the entire future of the Human race." The Doctor said, now in a grim tone. "It ends right now in 1599 if we don't stop it."

"But," Clara started in an input, "which house?" The answer came from the house in front of them, where it's front door creaked slowly open until it slammed against it's own walls. "Oh."

"Make that "Witch" house." The Doctor quipped lightly to Clara, who just snorted for a moment before they walked inside. They moved through a large black curtain that hang behind the front door, entering into the disgusting mess of a hovel, where they found standing near the back, with the window closed above her, was Lilith, who gazed at them with an almost seductive gleam in her eyes. "I take it we're expected."

"Oh, I think death has been waiting for you a very long time." Lilith returned, right as she started to eye at Clara. "And you're the one that unnerved Mother Doomfinger. I can see why now. It's the fierceness in her eyes. Rather…large eyes." She said with a small blink.

"Right, then." Martha spoke up as she patted the Doctor's arm. "It's my turn. I know how to do this." She stepped forward and pointed at Lilith, who quickly bore a terrified expression on her face. "I name thee…Carrionite!" Lilith's terrified face went rather dull, and she just darted her eyes back and forth before unconsciously letting out a snicker. "What did I do wrong?" Martha asked, looking back at the couple. "Was it the finger?"

"The power of a name works only once." Lilith interrupted, re-earning Martha's attention. "Observe." Lilith, now with a fierce flame in her eyes, pointed her finger straight at Martha. "I gaze upon this bag of bones and now I name thee Martha Jones!"

Martha gave a quick inhaling sigh, her eyes rolled back into her head, and she fell straight back into the catching arms of the Doctor and Clara. "What have you done?!" Clara demanded as they carefully let Martha drop back onto the floor.

Lilith quickly gave Martha's unconscious form a slightly puzzled look. "Only sleeping, alas. It's curious." She muttered. "Name has less impact. She's somehow out of her time." She gave the couple, who were now staring at her with daggers, an inquisitive yet accusing look. "As for you, Sir Doctor-" And she stopped, for the Doctor was just glaring at her, and the mention of his name had no impact on him. "Fascinating." She muttered again, tilting her head to the side inquisitively. "There is no name. Why would a man hide his title in such despair?"

"Leave him alone." Clara growled, earning Lilith's attention.

"Clara Oswald." Lilith purred, and she found that Clara's name had no impact on her either. "A living contradiction." She muttered curiously. "For some reason you shouldn't even be alive and yet…you are."

Clara just stood up with a snarl. "Oh, I'm sure I'm a fascinating specimen indeed." She said sarcastically, the Doctor standing up to join her. "The Carrionites vanished. Where did you go?"

Lilith stood up with a clenched jaw. "The Eternals found the right words to banish us into deep darkness."

"And how did you escape?" The Doctor asked.

"New words. New and glittering, from a mind like no other."

"Shakespeare." They said in unison.

Lilith nodded. "His son perished. The grief of a genius. Grief without measure. Madness enough to allow us entrance."

"How many of you?"

"Just the three." Lilith shrugged. "Myself, Lilith, Mother Bloodtide and Mother Doomfinger. But the play tonight shall restore the rest. Then, the Human race will be purged, as pestilence. And from this world, we will lead the universe back into the old ways of blood and magic."

"Busy schedule." The Doctor remarked. "But first, you've got to get past us."

Lilith gave them a very seductive smile, but she stepped forward first to Clara. "Oh, that should be a pleasure, considering my enemies are…so very beautiful to look upon." She purred, stroking Clara's hair suddenly with both hands, but Clara's eyes just glared fires at her.

"That won't work on me." Clara retorted as Lilith took her hands away from Clara's hair and put them on the Doctor's.

"Or me." The Doctor added.

"We'll see." Lilith whispered before she used her scissors and stole a single piece of the Doctor's hair before dashing away to the window, using her other hand to discreetly pocket away a small wooden stake.

"Lilith." Clara growled, and Lilith cocked her eyebrows.

"Oh, you are a sharp lady." Lilith purred as they started forward.

"Give that back now!" The Doctor snarled, but Lilith flung her hands out, swinging the window open, and she flew out of it to hover away from their reach. "That's just cheating." He remarked dryly.

"Behold, my dears, men and women to Carrionites are nothing but puppets." Lilith said, taking out a bare doll and wrapped the Doctor's hair around the head.

"You might call that magic, I'd call that a DNA replication module." The Doctor said as Lilith finished tying the hair.

"What use is your science now?" Lilith retorted before she used her scissors to pierce the doll's chest, and the Doctor gave an agonizing scream, falling straight away from Clara.

"Lilith!" Clara snarled, just as the witch took out her stake and tossed it at Clara, piercing the woman in her own chest, and she too gave a shriek of pain, falling down beside the unmoving Doctor. Lilith just cackled and laughed, before she quickly vanished into the night sky. Right at that moment, Martha stirred back up from her sleep, seeing the unmoving body of the Doctor and the surprisingly not bleeding body of Clara beside him.

"Oh my god, Doctor, Clara!" She exclaimed, rushing over to the two of them. "Don't worry, I've got you."

"Thanks for that." They muttered in unison, and it made Martha blink in shock before she grinned.

"Hold on a minute. You've got no heart," She said, patting Clara's shoulder, "and you've got two." She said, patting the Doctor's shoulder.

"Yep. No heart means no pumped blood or some such shit." Clara groaned, Martha placing her arms around Clara's shoulders to help her up. "I'm like Davy Jones, a heartless wretch." She and Martha helped the Doctor up onto his knees, before he and Martha helped remove the stake from Clara's chest, and she gave another cry of pain. "Still hurts like fucking hell!" She cursed, Martha quickly rushing over to rip at the curtain, and she bundled it up to put pressure on Clara's chest. "I liked this sweater." She growled. "Now I'll have to get a new one. Maybe it'll be blue instead of grey."

The Doctor gave a sudden cry, Clara quickly moving to catch him as Martha went around to his other side. "I've only got one heart working." He choked out. "How do you people cope?" He asked.

"Watch it." Clara warned. "Think how I feel."

"I've got to get the other one started. Hit me. Hit me on the chest." He said as he groaned and winced.

"Martha." Clara ordered, and Martha readily agreed, considering she was a doctor in training. She curled up a fist and hit his right side, causing him to cry in pain again.

"Other side!" He protested. Martha hit him on the left, and he gave out almost a blend of a groan and a moan. "Ooh. Ow. On the back. On the back." Martha curled up both her fists together and hit his back on the left. "Ugh. Left a bit." Martha hit him again, and he gave one final cry before he shot up and clicked his neck with a massive grin on his face, almost like nothing happened to him at all. "Lovely! There we go! Bada boom-agh!" He proclaimed, before hoisting his arms around Clara and helping her up onto her feet. "You all right?" He asked.

"Yeah." Clara said with a shrug, before she blinked. "Somehow."

"Then what are we standing here for?" He retorted, grabbing her arm and rushing out of the house with Martha in tow. "Come on! The Globe!" Clara rushed off ahead of them, and they had to run to catch up. "Clara!"

"What?!"

"You're going the wrong way!" Martha called.

"No, I'm not!"

"Clara!" The Doctor called, and Clara immediately did a 180 upon crossing the entrance to a dead-end alley, and she ran right past them.

"We're going the wrong way!" Clara yelled, the three of them racing back up the alleyways until they got out into the open and they saw the Globe in view, yet it had a rushing wind coming out from it's open roof, and it was lit with a pale crimson light. It was all steadily building into a mass of grey clouds, lit by the same crimson light, yet it was quickly turning into arcs of lightning, and the people around them witnessing this event began to scream and panic, running away in every direction.

"I told thee so!" The preacher called to them over the noise. "I told thee!"

"Bugger off!" The couple snarled in unison, and the preacher ran off in the other direction.

"Stage door!" The Doctor ordered, and they raced through the terrified Londoners, entering into the back door of the Globe and through the back stage, where they found William stirring groggily in his sleep in a chair. ""Stop the play"." He quipped sarcastically. "I think that was it. Yeah, I said "Stop the play"!"

"I hit my head." William defended.

"No, THEY hit your head." Clara retorted. "And don't rub it." She said, snatching William's hand away from his head. "You'll go bald." She paused for a brief moment, shooting the Doctor a smirk. "Not that I'm against that." She flirted.

The thunder that was sounding above the building began to intensify, and the couple sighed. "That's our cue." The Doctor quipped, and they raced through the doors and onto the stage. They saw the audience trapped in their seats as they looked at the growing cloud above them in horror. Then the trio and William saw the three Carrionites in the middle of the audience. The middle one, Lilith, was holding a purple crystal ball in one hand. The Mothers were cackling their heads off, but Lilith was looking straight at the trio with a malicious, if ever so slightly surprised smile.

"Watch this world become a blasted heath!" Lilith called tauntingly, and the ball glowed with the same pale crimson light, before it started to send a mass of clouds, lightning and small black shapes straight upwards in a mocking tornado. Lilith then quickly joined back in with her Mothers in cackling laughter, and the couple just stared at her with enraged eyes, before they tore them away and grabbed William by his arms.

"Come on, Will! History needs you!" The Doctor said.

"But what can I do?!" He asked.

"Reverse it!" They said in unison.

"But how do I do that?!"

"The shape of the Globe gives words power, but you're the wordsmith!" The Doctor said. "The one true genius, the only man clever enough to do it!"

"But what words?! I have none ready!"

"You're William Shakespeare!" He said obviously.

"But these Carrionite phrases, they need such precision!"

"Then trust yourself!" Clara inputted. "When you're locked away in your room, words just come, don't they, like magic! Words of the right sound, the right shape, the right rhythm! Words that last forever! That's what you do, Will, you choose perfect words! All you need to do is improvise!" The couple then quickly stepped back, and William, after a small moment where he didn't speak, had his expression quickly turn from self disbelief into confidence.

"Close up this din of hateful, dire decay, decomposition of your witches' plot!" William called above the raging noise. "You thieve my brains, consider me your toy, but my doting couple tells me I am not!" The trio watched with growing smiles as, while they couldn't hear the witches anymore, their expressions quickly went from self satisfied cackling to pure utter terror, almost blending in with the same expressions borne by the rest of the audience. "Foul Carrionite specters, cease your show between the points…" He quickly looked back at the couple for a reminder.

"761390!" They shouted in unison.

"761390!" William repeated. "Vanish like a tinker's cuss, I say to thee…" He trailed off again, looking at them for a small bit of help, yet this time, it came from Martha.

"Expelliarmus!"

"Expelliarmus!" William shouted to finish his monologue, and it worked, for the witches began to scream and screech as the lightning in the cloud vanished away and the black specters in the storm had vanished with it too.

"Good old J.K!" The couple yelled in unison, just as the stage door was suddenly flung open, and a huge mass of papers flew out and were sent flying up into the raging storm. Then the storm began to pulse with the pale crimson light, convulsing in on itself before it swiftly vanished, leaving not a trace behind. Once it did, the audience's fear and terror began to die down along with the noise.

 _"And that was the answer."_  The Doctor thought mentally to Clara as he took her hand.

_"Huh?"_

_"Those papers were "Love's Labour's Won", and now it's all gone."_  To the trio and William's surprise, the audience actually began to clap and cheer, causing the actors present along with William to bow in appreciation. "Come on, up to the witches seat." The couple then raced off the stage, leaving Martha to wave, kiss and bow with William.

"They think it was all special effects?" She asked him.

"Your effect is special indeed." He flirted, and Martha cringed a bit.

"That's not your best line." She quipped, and William chuckled. The two of them could see just from the top of their vision, the TARDIS couple, who were kneeling within the place where the witches had been and were looking at the glowing crystal orb in their hands before they shared a hearty laugh.

Dawn

"And I say, "A heart for a hart and a dear for a deer"." William said with a chuckle, sitting alone with Martha in the empty Theatre.

"I don't get it." Martha said bluntly.

"Then give me a joke from Freedonia."

"Okay." Martha said with a nod. "Shakespeare walks into a pub, and the landlord says, "Oi mate, you're bard"."

William couldn't resist the urge to chuckle, even as Martha gave him a rather puzzled look. "Oh, that's brilliant. Doesn't make sense, mind you, but never mind that. Come here." He said, wrapping an arm around Martha's waist, and while she wasn't blushing, she did look a little nervous. Then, as William started to lean in, Martha placed her finger on his lips to stop him as she leaned back.

"I don't know how to tell you this, oh great genius, but your breath doesn't half stink."

"What a way to suck the joy out of everything." William muttered as she withdrew his arm away, just as the Doctor and Clara came out from behind the stage hand in hand, the Doctor's other hand holding a large skull of some kind while Clara had a frill neck brace on.

"Good props store back there." Clara commented.

"Not sure about this, though." The Doctor muttered, staring at the skull. "Reminds me of a Sycorax."

"Syca-what?" Clara blinked.

"Sycorax."

"Syca-what?"

"Syco-oh, never mind." The Doctor muttered, even as Clara giggled beside him.

"Sycorax"? Nice word." William commented. "I'll have that off you, as well."

"We should be on 10%." Clara quipped to the Doctor. "How's your head?" She asked.

"Still aching." William groaned.

Clara gave him a glare. "I took a stake to the heart. You'll be fine." She retorted.

"How are you not bleeding out? Or anything?" Martha asked.

"Martha, I don't know, and I never will know, because I'm weird." Clara growled lightly, and Martha just nodded silently.

"But it still hurts." William whined lightly.

"Jesus." Clara rolled her eyes, before she let go of the Doctor's hand and removed the frill from around her neck. "Here, wear this neck brace for a few days." She said as she placed it around William's neck, said man twitching with it here and there to make himself comfortable with it.

"Although," The Doctor started with a look, "you might want to keep it. It suits you."

"What about the play?" Martha asked.

"Gone." They said in unison.

"We looked all over. Every single copy of "Love's Labour's Won" went up in the sky." The Doctor added.

"My lost masterpiece." William said with a hint of mournfulness.

"You could write it up again." Martha suggested before she shook her head. "You know what? Don't do that. That might be bad."

William nodded at that in agreement, missing the impressed looks the Doctor and Clara gave Martha. "Perhaps it's time I wrote about fathers and sons, in memory of my boy, my precious Hamnet."

""Hamnet"?" Martha quoted, and William nodded.

"That's him."

""Hamnet"?" Martha repeated, now with a clear touch of confusion.

"What's wrong with that?" William asked her.

"Anyway, time we were off." Clara interrupted. "We've got a nice attic in the TARDIS where this lot can scream for all eternity." She said, pulling the crystal orb out from the Doctor's pocket, which bore the moving images of the three Carrionites, who were seething, growling and screeching at them, making Clara flick the glass in a mocking gesture. "Shut it." She said, pocking the ball back inside the Doctor's pocket again.

"How…" Martha trailed off as the ball disappeared in his coat.

"Long story short, bigger on the inside." The Doctor explained simply.

"We've also got to take Martha back to Freedonia." Clara said.

"You mean travel on through time and space?" William retorted.

The couple blinked in shock at him. "You what?" They asked.

"You're from another world," He nodded to the Doctor, "you're a strange Human thing thing," he quipped to Clara, "and Martha's from the future. It's not hard to work out."

"Mine is." Clara retorted in a quip.

"Still, that…is incredible." The Doctor commented with a growing grin. "You are incredible."

William sent them a smile in return. "We're alike in many ways, Doctor. I sense your loss, your grief, your madness. But we both go on living, go on talking, go on hoping, we must. What else are we fit for? And if you don't, how will dear Clara here stay with you?" They rolled their eyes at him with a smile. "But I don't need to travel. This is where I belong." He said, motioning to the Theatre. "This is the whole Earth, the Globe. Give me a pen and ink, give me my mind's eye and I can go wherever I want." He said proudly before he turned to Martha. "Martha, let me say goodbye to you with a new verse, a sonnet for my dark lady."

"Bloody hell." The couple muttered in a giggle to each other as William took Martha's hand, said woman barely able to restrain her own chuckles.

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely, more temperate-"

"Will!"

"Will!" Came the sudden voices of Richard and Will Kemp, who came rushing into the Theatre from the main doors.

"Will, you'll never believe it!" Will said with a sudden ecstatic joy that made them blink a bit. "She's here! She's turned up!"

"We're the talk of the town." Richard said proudly. "She heard about last night. She wants us to perform it again."

"Who?" They all asked in unison, which briefly made the pair blink in shock before they caught themselves.

"Her majesty. She's here." And upon cue, a sudden fanfare was sounded outside, before a red headed woman in a regal dress came into the Theatre, accompanied by two armed soldiers.

"Queen Elizabeth the first!" The couple exclaimed gleefully.

Queen Elizabeth gave a sudden gasp of shock as she stared at them. "Doctor! Clara!"

"What?" They muttered in unison.

"My sworn enemies." She snarled.

"What?"

"Off with their heads!" She ordered.

"What?!"

"Well, never mind "What"!" Martha retorted, jumping up and grabbing their arms. "Just run!"

"Stop them!" Queen Elizabeth called, and the two soldiers began to run as the trio sprinted off through the back stage and out into the streets in the direction of the TARDIS.

"Stop! In the name of the Queen!" One of the soldiers called as they sprinted up to the doors of the TARDIS, the Doctor reaching into his pocket to unlock the door.

"What have you two done to upset her?!" Martha demanded.

"How should we know?!" The Doctor retorted. "We haven't even met her yet!"

"That's time travel for you." Clara added as the Doctor wrenched open the door. "Still, that's something to look forward to." She said, just as the Doctor entered, and he wrapped his arms around Clara's waist, hauling her inside and she squeaked at his sudden action.

"Close the door!" The Doctor ordered, and Martha slammed the door shut behind her just as one of the soldiers sent an arrow flying, but it didn't get through the doors, and they raced around the console to send themselves spiraling off into the Vortex.

**AN: Well, that was fun. Especially writing the Carrionites. They were so nice for me to do…and that's all I've got to say really. Thank you so much for reading and please leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	46. Gridlock

**Gridlock**

**TARDIS**

_*Beeps*_  (All patched up, Clara)

Clara, with a small wince, put her hand over her now healed chest, for after the TARDIS had figuratively worked it's miracle, there was now no trace of there ever being a literal bloody hole in her chest. Just without the bleeding, since she can't bleed. "Ow." She remarked to the TARDIS.

 _*Beeps*_ (Not my fault, big eyes)

""Big eyes"?" Clara frowned. "My eyes aren't-"

"Yes, they are." The Doctor interrupted as he entered into the med bay with his hands behind his back. "You all right, Clara?"

"Yeah." She nodded, standing up and clicking her back with a small groan. "I'm okay. What about the sweater?" She asked, and the Doctor shook his head.

"But," He started, bringing his hands out into view, "the TARDIS did make a new one for you."

Clara blinked, for the new sweater he held up looked the same as the old one, except it was now had a very nice blend of blue with grey, instead of just pure grey. "Thank you." She beamed to the TARDIS, placing a kiss upon the wall.

 _*Beeps*_  (You're welcome, big eyes)

Clara rolled said eyes. "That's going to get old very quickly." She muttered.

The Doctor shook his head as he helped Clara put the sweater on. "Knowing the old girl, there's nothing she can let go stale." He remarked before kissing her on the forehead. "Come on." Heading out of the med bay, they walked through the corridors of the ship until they entered back into the console room, where Martha was sitting patiently on the Captain's chair.

"Looking good as new, I see." Martha said, marching over and bringing Clara into a hug as the Doctor started to pace around the console.

"As good as I can get." Clara shrugged as they parted, and she walked over to join the Doctor in piloting the ship, while Martha leaned against a coral archway.

"My one trip's over then, huh?" Martha remarked with a tinge of sadness.

"That's what we said, yeah." The Doctor said. "Just one trip in the TARDIS and then home." Then, the couple exchanged a long look and a sigh. "Although…we could…"

"Stretch the definition." Clara finished.

"Yeah."

"One trip into the past, one into the future."

They then looked over at a surprised yet positively relieved Martha. "How about that?" They asked, and Martha just shrugged.

"No complaints from me." She said with a chuckle.

"How about a different planet?" Clara asked with a smile.

Martha shrugged. "I have no idea." She admitted. "Okay, is there any planets where they have like outer space cities, all spires and stuff, with great big temples and cathedrals, lots of planets in the sky, a beautiful sky with billions of stars seen at night, and millions of different alien species roaming about in their day to day lives?" Martha rambled.

Clara just blinked at her, while the Doctor, who had his head down with a smirk, worked solo on the console. "How many times exactly have you watched Star Wars?" She asked.

Martha flushed. "Well, not that much-"

"You and your family grew up on it, parents took you to see it like a ritual?" Clara continued.

"Well, it's got some really cool planets." Martha defended. "And other cool…stuff." She added with a small blink.

Clara gave a shrug at that. "Fair enough." She then stood silent for a few moments, slowly but surely gaining a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "You know, we actually did go to a planet like that. Feels like a lifetime ago." She muttered, drawing the monitor over. "How about it, Doctor?" She asked, but the Doctor didn't answer. "Doctor?"

He looked over at Clara with a sad look of longing in his eyes. "I do know of one planet." He admitted, and Clara, having already guessed the planet he was talking about, had let her eyes become inflated as she stared at him.

"Well, what's it like?" Martha asked with a gentle tone, as she felt the tone in the room quickly becoming sorrowful.

The Doctor, as he began to talk, never once took his eyes away from Clara. "The skies are burnt orange, with the Citadel enclosed in a mighty glass dome, shining under the twin suns. Beyond that the mountains go on forever, slopes of deep red grass, capped with snow." He finished, giving Clara a sad smile. "Me and my friend, we grew up there, always running around the fields of his father's estates on the slopes of Mt. Perdition. More than once we got told off for staying out too late, all before…" He trailed off with a shake of his head. Clara quickly took his hand and placed a kiss on his palm, to which he gave her a grateful smile.

 _*Beeps*_  (Come on, thief. Peaceful thoughts)

The TARDIS' interruption made him chuckle, and he patted the console. "Thanks, old girl." He said, and the couple went back to piloting the TARDIS with a renewed sense of energy that made even Martha smile again. "Go on, Clara. Tell her where we're going." The Doctor said.

Martha blinked. "But she was going to tell…what?" She muttered.

"Long story." They said, and Martha rolled her eyes.

"The year will be 5,000,000,053. The planet is New Earth." Clara said to Martha. "The second home planet for mankind. A complete total of fifty thousand light years from the original Earth, and we are landing right in the middle of New New York."

"Sorry?" Martha muttered with a chuckle.

"Yeah, seriously. "New New York"." Clara said as they landed the TARDIS with a thud, before she raced over to help the Doctor put on his overcoat.

"Well, technically," The Doctor started as they moved to the doors, "it's the 15th New York so it makes it "New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York". And, it is one of the most dazzling cities ever built." He wrenched open the door, and the arrow from Queen Elizabeth's guard almost smacked him in the face. "Bloody hell." He muttered as Clara wrenched it out and Martha stepped out first. Into a messy alleyway. In the rain.

"Oh, that's nice!" Martha growled lightly as she quickly became drenched in the downpour. "If this is your version of dazzling."

"Nah. Bit of rain never hurt anyone." Clara rejected.

"Well, unless it's acid rain." The Doctor added. "And there are a couple of planets that-"

"Don't ruin the mood." Clara admonished as she took his hand. "Come on, let's get under cover." She led them racing through the alleyway until they rounded a corner, where they found the alley now had four large rusted green shop vendors sitting against the walls. There was a small green roof over a pod on the right wall, and they quickly moved underneath, shaking the water from their clothes.

"Well, it looks like the same old Earth to me." Martha quipped. "On a Wednesday afternoon." She added dryly as Clara drained out the water from her hair.

"Hold on, hold on." The Doctor muttered. "Let's have a look." He moved to stand before a small inactive monitor, and he used his sonic on the screen, which sparkled into life, but all it gave them was static and a broken, modulated female voice.

 _"We've got reports of a multi-"_ The female voice was cut off by the static, and the Doctor squinted.

"This hasn't been used in a long time." He commented, using the sonic and banging the steel cover around the screen for a few moments. When he had finished, the screen finally turned into something proper to look at. It was a female presenter, however the screen itself, due to its underuse, only showed it's picture in a green hue, so they could only guess that she was blonde and had a black suit top, but the screen never changed in its broken colour.

 _"With an extra 15 new lanes open in the New Jersey expressway, driving should be clear and easy."_  The woman said, her voice, while still hindered a bit by static, was no longer broken or modulated as badly as before.

"They still have traffic?" Martha asked as the Doctor began to tinker around with the screen again.

"Wherever there's vehicles, being it flying or otherwise, there will always be traffic." Clara said, glancing at Martha. "It's like a good news, bad news situation. "Good news: Your car can fly. Bad news: So can all the others."" Clara quipped, as the Doctor stopped tinkering with the screen to bring up an outside stock footage view of the city of New New York, flying cars and all.

"Ah, that's more like it." The Doctor said, tapping the screen. "That's the view we had last time. This must be the lower levels. Some sort of Under-City, or the "Slums" if you will."

Martha glanced at them with a half glare. "You brought me to the slums?" She asked.

"Much more interesting!" The Doctor defended enthusiastically. "It's all cocktails and glitter up there!" He said as he pointed to the roof. "This is the real city."

"You two would enjoy anything." Martha muttered with a shake of her head.

"And the rain's stopped." Clara said aloud as the rain indeed stopped pouring, allowing them to exit from under the shelter.

"When you say "Last time"…" Martha trailed off, and they nodded.

"Yeah, we were here once before." Clara blinked. "Well…we didn't do much. We were…trapped inside a hospital under lockdown with a swarm of infected Humans."

"Ew." Martha muttered simply, and they just shrugged.

"We know."

"Oh! You should have said!" The sudden male voice made them blink, darting their eyes around the alley before one of the nearby green shop vendors suddenly swung open, and a scruffy man with brown hair looked down at them with a grin on his face, but they recognized immediately that it was more of a salesman's grin than anything else. "How long have you been there?" He asked rhetorically before smacking his hand on his shop vendor windowsill. "Happy. You want Happy. Happy Happy." He said, the Doctor and Clara sharing a dull glare while Martha sighed as two more shop vendors swung open, one with a dark-skinned lady and another with a…rather large woman, and they both bore salesman grins on their faces.

"Customers! We've got customers!" The lady called in excitement.

"We're in business." The other woman said with a smile on her face. "Mother! Open up the Mellow, not the Rage!" She called behind her, and the three of them began to rummage around out of sight before bringing out small bags containing coloured badges. At least, they looked like badges, but the constant swinging and shaking from the sellers made it a bit hard to tell.

"Happy Happy! Lovely Happy!" The man called to them.

"Anger! Buy some Anger!" The lady called.

"Mellow! Makes you all bendy and soft all day long!" The woman ushered.

"Don't go to them! They'll rip you off! Do you want some Happy?!"

"No thanks." The couple said in emotionless unison.

"Are they selling drugs?" Martha asked them in a whisper, as the trio of sellers continued to yell and call to them, but they let it slide into incoherent noise.

"I think they're selling moods." The Doctor whispered back.

"Same thing, isn't it?" Clara growled sarcastically, earning a chuckle from the Doctor and a smirk from Martha.

"Come here! Over here, sweetheart!" The "Mellow" woman called, and the trio turned around. Out of the alley came a miserable and deeply pale blonde woman, wrapped up head to toe in thick black wool and scarfs, but her eyes went straight to the badges that the woman was selling. "And what can I get you, my love?" She asked.

"I want to buy Forget." The pale girl said simply.

The seller nodded. "I've got Forget, my darling." Then she looked at the girl inquisitively. "What strength? How much you want forgetting?"

"It's my mother and father. They went on the Motorway."

The seller sighed with a sad look. "Oh, that's a swain." She reached back and pulled out a small bag with a badge inside of it. "Try this. Forget "43"."

"How much?" The girl asked.

"That's two credits." The girl pulled out two small coins and handed them to the seller, who took them in exchange for handing over the badge, and the girl took it with a gentle hand.

"Sorry." Clara interrupted, making the girl look over at her. "What happened to your parents?"

"They drove off." The girl said simply as she took the badge out of the bag, handing the plastic back to the seller, who was genuinely thankful of her action.

Clara frowned. "But they might drive back?"

The girl just shook her head. "Everyone goes to the Motorway in the end. I've lost them."

"But they can't have gone far. You could find them." The girl, for a brief second, looked at Clara as if she had suddenly grown an extra head. Then, she once again shook her head, and without a word, she slapped the badge onto her neck. "No! Don't!" Clara roared.

A small moment passed, and the girl's miserable expression slowly melted away into a serene, peaceful smile. There was also a brief glint of confusion in her eyes as she looked at Clara, and she blinked. "I'm sorry. What were you saying?" She asked.

"Your parents." Clara growled, but the girl didn't notice. "Your mother and father." The girl just shook her head. "They went onto the Motorway." Clara reiterated, but the girl still didn't get it.

"Are they?" She asked before she gave a small smile of content. "That's nice." Clara saw the Doctor's grim face at the girl's words while Martha looked horrifyingly dumbfounded. Clara however, just felt a surge of anger inside of her, but she kept it restrained, if for her own sake. "I'm sorry. I won't keep you." The girl said as she strolled past them and off into the darkness of the alley.

"So, that's the Human race 5 billion years in the future?" Martha asked with a small growl. "Off their heads on chemicals-aah!" Martha's sudden shriek made the Doctor and Clara turn around, seeing two complete strangers, a man and a woman behind her. The man had a tight grip around her shoulders while the woman held a pistol in her hands, continuously moving it back and forth between the TARDIS couple.

"I'm sorry!" The man said as Martha struggled and shrieked against him. "I'm really, really sorry!"

"Let her go!" Clara snarled.

"We just need three, that's all!"

"No, let her go!" The Doctor exclaimed as the man began to haul Martha away down the alley with the woman. "We're warning you, let her go!"

"We're so sorry! We need three!" The woman said as the man behind her reached a door and he wrenched it open.

"You let her go right now!"

"Sorry!" The man then hauled Martha through the doorway, before the armed woman followed, closing and locking the door behind them.

The Doctor swiftly took out his sonic, fumbling through the settings until the door unlocked with a "Clang", and he wrenched it open, him and Clara rushing through into the building tunnel behind, trying desperately to catch up with the quickly diminishing shadows at the end of the tunnel, and they heard yet another door slam shut. The Doctor in a split second decided not to use the sonic, instead using his shoulder to push the door open, and the couple saw a large black flying car speeding up above their heads. "Martha!" They called, but the car promptly disappeared from sight.

"Come on." The Doctor growled, taking Clara's hand as they rushed back into the alleyway, finding the shop stalls closed, and the Doctor banged his fist on one of the windows. It was pushed out and opened to reveal the lady that was selling Mellow and Forget, and she once again had her salesman's grin on.

"Thought you two would come back. Do you-"

"No." Clara interrupted. "Those people, who were they and where did they take our friend?" She asked through restrained rage.

"They've taken her to the Motorway." The man called, and the woman brought up a very apologetic expression on her face.

"Looked like carjackers to me."

"I'd give up now, darlings." The other woman inputted with the same expression. "You won't see her again."

The man nodded in agreement. "Used to be thriving, this place. No matter where you stood, you couldn't move. But they all go to the Motorway in the end."

"They kept on saying "Three". Why?" Clara asked.

"It's the car sharing policy, to save fuel." One of the ladies explained. "You get special access if you're carrying three adults."

"And how do we get to the Motorway?" The Doctor asked.

"Straight down the alley, keep going to the end. You can't miss it." The couple started to walk off, but the voice of the seller stopped them with a growl in their throats. "Tell you what, buy some happy Happy. Then you'll be smiling, my love."

 _"Let me."_  The Doctor said mentally to Clara, before he let go of her hand and walked back into view of the sellers. "Word of advice, all of you: Cash up, close down, and pack your bags." He snarled.

"Why's that then?" The woman retorted.

"Because as soon as we've found her alive and well, and we WILL find her alive and well, then we're coming back. And this street is closing TONIGHT!" With that, he walked off to re-join Clara without another word.

* * *

 _Ugggghhhh. I feel like crap._  Martha rolled and groaned in her drowsy sleep, her head throbbing and pounding as if she had a migraine and a hangover at once. It took her a few moments to let her head calm down, the blur in her eyes subside and the forced sleep melt away. Martha put her hand to her neck as she felt something irritating her skin, and she slipped it off, but it didn't hurt, and the irritation was now gone. She raised her head to look around, but her surroundings offered barely anything of note. It was a very tiny room, the walls were darker than charcoal, but there were some rather bright lights being flashed to the right of her vision. Turning her head, she saw two figures in seats rather akin to that of a sci-fi cockpit, and she heard, albeit rather incoherently due to the subsiding ringing in her ears, a pair of voices from the figures. She let her eyes widen and clicked her jaw, which cleared her ears and now allowed her to hear the voices. "They say the air smells like apple grass." A female voice said with wonder laced in her words. "Can you imagine?"

"And houses are made of wood." A male voice added in the same tone. "There are jobs going in the foundries. Everyone says so."

Martha glanced to the computer stand beside her, where upon the join of the keyboard and the monitor, she saw a black gun lying on its side, pointing towards the pilots.  _Well, I don't have a better idea. Might as well be like Hollywood._  Martha then reached out her arm and snatched the gun, the scraping of metal on metal as she held it pointed towards the pilots alerted their attention. "Take me back." Martha warned with a snarl. "Whoever you are, just take me back to my friends. That's all I want. I won't cause any trouble, just take me back."

"I'm sorry." The girl responded. Her eyes held a nervousness that she shared with her companion, but they didn't sound afraid. Just nervous. "That's not a real gun."

Martha found herself being taken aback, but she didn't want to show it, in case they were lying. "Yeah, well, you would say that."

The girl gave a nervous laugh. "Where do you get a gun from these days? I wouldn't even know how to fire."

"Nor me, either." The man added in the same tone.

Martha blinked, for the pair were being genuine in their admittance. She took a closer look at the gun and had to admit, she didn't like holding it, and true to the pilot's word, she also didn't know how guns worked, not really. "Yeah, nor me." Martha said, tossing the gun aside, and true to the pilots word, they didn't use the moment to their advantage. They just stayed in their seats.  _Okay, there goes that idea. And now it just got a little bit awkward. Good job, Martha, you idiot._

"W-what's your name?" The girl asked.

Now that Martha actually took the moment to look at them, even as the man was too busy focused on driving this…car ship thing, she saw the girl had skin rather akin to her own, along with dark brown hair and a round face, which Martha found just a tad bit amusing.  _No, Martha, that's just rude. Well…unless you're Clara, then it's fine._  The man was of the… _lighter skin tone, shall I say without being rude,_  and had short, but not quite cropped, black hair. "Martha." Martha said after a moment where she nearly banged her head on the roof, trying to slip out of the makeshift single bed. "Martha Jones."

"Well, I'm Cheen," The girl introduced, "and this is Milo." She said, placing an affectionate hand on her companions arm, which Martha did not miss.

_They must be. Or that would be weird if they weren't._

"And I swear, we're sorry. We're really, really sorry. We just needed access to the fast lane. But I promise, as soon as we arrive, we'll drop you off and you can go back and find your friends."

"Seriously?" Martha asked with a slight edge to her voice.

"I swear. Look." Cheen pulled her long hair away from her neck to show a small mood badge on her skin. "Honesty."

"All the same, it's still kidnapping." Martha retorted, which made the pair look apologetic once again. And just a little bit guilty. "Where are we anyway?"

"We're on the Motorway." Milo said as Martha looked at the front screen, but all she could see was a dark tunnel filled with flying black cars and a dense, murky mist.

"What's that, then? Fog?"

Cheen shook her head. "That's the exhaust fumes."

"We're going to Brooklyn." Milo added. "Everyone says the air is so much cleaner, and we couldn't stay in Pharmacy Town, cause…" He trailed off, placing his hand on a beaming Cheen's thigh.

"Well, because of me. I'm pregnant." Cheen admitted with an excited yet very terrified chuckle. "We only discovered it last week. Scan says it's going to be a boy."

"Right." Martha said with a nod, but she felt her own jaw clenching.  _Seriously? Pregnant and she's wearing a "Mood" badge?_  "What do I do now, congratulate my kidnappers?" She retorted sarcastically.

Cheen sighed. "We're not kidnappers. Not really."

"No." Martha agreed…somewhat. "You're idiots. You're having a baby and you're wearing that?" She reached forward and hastily removed the badge before tossing it aside. "Not anymore."

"That hurt." Cheen complained lightly, rubbing the spot on her neck where the badge had been.

"We'll be as fast as we can." Milo reassured. "We'll take the Motorway to the Brooklyn Flyover, and then after that it's going to take a while, cause then there's no fast lane, just ordinary roads, but at least it's direct."

"It's only 10 miles." Cheen added.

Martha sighed. "How long is it going to take?"

"About six years."

Martha's jaw just clenched up, and her eyes narrowed as she continued to stare at the front screen. "What?"

"Be just in time for him to start school." Cheen said, not really understanding Martha's tone, and she and Milo shared a small and nervous yet very adoring laugh at the thought.

"No, sorry, hold on." Martha interrupted. "Six years?" They nodded. "10 miles in six years?" They nodded again. "How come?" There was no answer to that, and they just shrugged at her.

* * *

"Here we go." The Doctor said as Clara used her sonic to unlock the scratched green Motorway Access door. "You ready?"

"Hell no." Clara admitted to his delight, before they wrenched it open and stepped through. The sight that greeted them was a long and loud grey tunnel, filled top to out of sight bottom with black cars, hovering with blue lights on their undersides, and every single one of them was using their horns. And it was very loud. So loud that the Doctor immediately put his hands over a wincing Clara's ears, but they realized too late that there was a very thick brownish mist hanging in the air. It smelled like a mixture of horrible gas and exhausted fuel smoke. The couple immediately felt their throats beginning to burn, and they started to choke and cough, but it didn't relieve it. In fact, it almost made it worse, even Clara placing her hands over her mouth didn't help. "Doc-" She tried to say, but it was cut off by another cough.

"Hey!" They heard a voice call to them. Despite the mass of honking cars, it seemed somewhat close by, and they saw at the end of the entrance ramp a single car opening its large side door and a man dressed head to toe in brown and black leather clothes, including a scarf around his mouth and goggles on his eyes, was waving to them. "You daft little street struts! What are you doing standing there?! Either get out or get in! Come on!"

 _"Getting in."_ They said mentally in unison, rushing forward and diving straight into the surprisingly small and cramped car, where they heard the door slam shut and two oxygen masks were placed over their mouths. The burning in their throats started to subside, until after only a few moments, they no longer coughed violently like outside.

"Did you ever see the like?" They heard the same voice ask, now much clearer, for the honking cars were greatly muffled inside the vehicle.

"Here you go." They heard a female voice say, and they felt two large cups filled with water placed into their free hands. "It'll be easy to hold onto the cups if you're not holding onto each other."

"Not happening." They said in unison as they took off the masks and drunk down the water.

"They were just standing there, breathing it in." The man, whose voice they recognized to have an Irish accent, took off his scarf and goggles, and the couple found to their surprise, but also childlike excitement, that the man was of Catkind. He had a light mixture of blonde and white fur, and even whiskers, as he regarded the couple like they were jokers. "There's this story, says back in the old days, on Junction 47, this woman stood in the exhaust fumes for a solid 20 minutes. By the time they found her, her head had swollen to 50 feet."

"Oh, you're making it up, Brannigan." The woman scolded in amusement. The couple saw that the woman had brown hair, and she sat in the seat next to the pilot, which they assumed was for the Cat, Brannigan.

"A 50-foot head, Valerie. Just think of it." Brannigan continued as he moved to sit next to the woman. "Imagine picking that nose."

"Stop it!" Valerie whined. "That's disgusting."

"What?" He asked with a cocked eyebrow. "Did you never pick your nose?" He teased.

"What? No." She denied before she looked ahead out of the screen and grabbed his arm. "Bran, we're moving."

"Right." He said, getting himself comfortable. "I'm there. I'm on it." He took the brakes off, started the vehicle up into action, and moved forward for only a few seconds before he stopped, put the brakes back on, and put the engine into standby. "Twenty yards." He said with a shake of his head. "We're having a good day." Then, the two of them looked at the entranced couple, both of which were still using the oxygen masks. "And who might you be, sir, ma'am? You're both very well dressed for hitchhikers." He added after his question, and the couple took off their masks.

"Thanks." Clara said as the Doctor cleared his throat.

"Sorry, I'm the Doctor. And this lovely lass here is Clara Oswald." He introduced before he wrapped an arm around Clara's waist and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"A medical man! Ha ha!" Brannigan exclaimed.

"With a teacher." Clara added.

"And a brilliant one at that." The Doctor commented, earning a sultry smile from Clara.

"You're incorrigible." Clara purred, to which he just winked at her.

"If you two are done flirting with yourselves," Brannigan started with a tease, making them blush, "my name is Thomas Kincade Brannigan, and this," he motioned to Valerie with a soft smile, "is the bane of my life, the lovely Valerie."

Valerie first sent a beaming smile to Brannigan before she gave them a kind smile with a nod. "Nice to meet you two."

"And that's the rest of the family behind you." Brannigan said, pointing to a curtain behind the Doctor and Clara. They turned around, the Doctor grasping and pulling back the curtain, and immediately their hearts melted. There, inside and surrounding a blanketed bed, was a small litter of furry, tiny, and wide-eyed meowing kittens.

"Aww." Clara mewled, reaching forward and taking a small black kitten with white paws and white fur around his neck, and she, with the Doctor, began to pet it like it was the most precious thing in the world. "Hello you." The kitten started to purr really loudly into her petting, which made the Doctor chuckle proudly. "How are you?" She whispered, and the kitten gave a small, almost croaky "Meow", and it made her giggle. "Is that right? How dare they." She said, giving the kitten's parents mischievous looks.

"You can speak "Cat"?" Brannigan asked in surprise.

Clara and the Doctor just shrugged. "It's very rusty." The Doctor admitted. "Last time we met a cat, she wore a nun's wimple and threatened us, claws and all."

"Ouch. Apologies." Brannigan said.

"Not your fault." Clara waved as the Doctor began to scratch the kitten under its chin. "How old are they?"

"Just two months." Valerie answered, Clara moving forward to allow the parents to greet one of their litter.

"Poor little souls." Brannigan said with a sigh as he kissed the kitten on the head. "They've never known the ground beneath their paws." The couple shot them a bewildered look, and Brannigan reiterated. "Children of the Motorway."

"What, they were born in here?" Clara asked, nodding to their car.

"We couldn't stop." Valerie explained. "We heard there were jobs going, out in the laundries on Fire Island. Thought we'd take a chance." She said with a shrug.

"What, you've been driving for two months?" She asked incredulously.

Brannigan scoffed. "Do I look like a teenager? We've been driving for 12 years now."

"What?" The couple asked in unison.

"Yeah." Brannigan nodded, despite being a little taken aback at their simultaneous question. "Started out as newlyweds. Feels like yesterday." He winked at Valerie, who rolled her eyes.

"Feels like 12 years to me."

"Ah, sweetheart, but you still love me." Brannigan teased, and Valerie chuckled.

"12 years?" The Doctor asked, his tone both bewildered and remarkably scared. "How far did you come? Where did you start?"

"Battery Park." Brannigan answered. "It's 5 miles back."

"You travelled 5 miles in 12 years?" Clara reiterated.

Brannigan shot Valerie a puzzled look. "I think they're a bit slow."

"Where are you from?" Valerie asked as Clara placed the kitten back into the litter.

"Never mind that, we've got to get out." Clara said, looking out of the front screen. "Our friend is in one of these cars. She was taken hostage."

"We should get back to the TARDIS." The Doctor agreed, and he wrenched open the side door, but immediately recoiled from not only the gas but also at the sudden disappearance of the Motorway ramp.

"You're too late for that!" Brannigan said as Valerie pulled him back and slammed the door shut. "We've passed the lay-by. You're both passengers now, I'm afraid."

"When's the next lay-by?" Clara demanded.

"Oh…" Brannigan started with a blink as Clara visibly started to seethe irritably, "six months?"

"How many cars are out there?" Martha asked, staring out of a side window at the hundreds of unmoving yet hovering cars within sight.

"I don't think anyone knows." Cheen answered as she rummaged about at the console. "Here we go. Hungry?"

Martha looked to see her holding a small bundle of what looked like rice crackers, and she decided to take one. "Thanks." She said, and she took a bite, and sure enough, it did taste like a rice cracker.  _It's not even that half bad._  Martha mused. "About how far down is it to this "Fast Lane"?"

"It's right at the bottom, underneath the traffic jam." Milo explained. "But not many people can afford three passengers, so…it's empty down there. Rumour has it," He started with a wondrous twinkle in his eye, "you can reach up to 30 miles per hour."

Martha just nodded, keeping her sarcastic thought to herself.  _Wow. If traffic gets worse in the future, I'd rather not be here that much, thank you._  "But how are you supposed to live inside this…thing?" She asked, motioning to the vehicle. "It's tiny."

"Oh, we stocked up." Cheen answered. "Got self-replicating fuel, muscle stimulants for exercise, and there's a chemical toilet at the back. And, all waste products are recycled as food."

Martha stopped, just as she was about to take another bite, and she glanced down at the rice cracker…thing in her hand with uncertainty.  _Ooook, not so half bad anymore._  Wordlessly, just so she didn't have to be rude, she placed the rice cracker down with a small disgusted squint in her eyes.

"Oh, another gap." Milo said, now with excitement entering into his voice as he grasped his vehicle communicator speaker, which Martha saw to be rather similar to a radio walkie talkie. "This is brilliant."

 _"Fast Lane."_  An automated female voice spoke from the computer, followed by a short second of static, which Milo stopped when he pressed the button on his speaker.

"Car 4-6-5-DIAMOND-6, on descent to Fast Lane. Thank you very much."

 _"Please drive safely."_  The computer responded as Milo let go of the button, placing the mic back onto the console and he started the vehicle up into motion.

"I said: We need to talk to the police!" Clara snarled into the computer.

"Is she always like this?" Valerie asked the Doctor.

"Not always." The Doctor responded, ever so slightly nervous at Clara's tone.

 _"Thank you for your call. You have been placed on hold."_  An automated male voice responded.

"But you're the police!" Clara retorted.

_"Thank you for your call. You have been placed on hold."_

Clara seethed her teeth together, and she placed the speaker back onto the computer before turning back to Brannigan and Valerie. "Is there anyone else? We once met the Duke of Manhattan. Is there any way of getting through to him?"

"Now you're sounding a little bit posh there." Brannigan remarked.

"We've got to find our friend." Clara retorted.

"You can't make outside calls." Valerie explained calmly. "The Motorway's completely enclosed."

"Okay, what about the other cars?" The Doctor asked, rubbing his eye with one finger.

"We have contact with them." Brannigan agreed before he blinked. "Okay, we have contact with some of them. They have to be on your "Friends" list." He reiterated before he turned on the console computer monitor, and he brought up a list of coded contacts. "Not that it makes much sense, anyway." Brannigan muttered dryly as he waggled a finger in front of the screen. "Now let's see. Who's nearby?" He tutted and hummed under his breath before he grinned without warning. "Ah ha! May and Alice! The Cassini sisters." He pressed the contact number and grabbed the speaker from the console and clicked the button. "Still your hearts, my handsome girls. It's Brannigan here."

"Thomas, stop it." Valerie giggled, and he just winked at her.

Their answer came as normal as ever to the pilots. There was a small moment of static, because speakers love static, and then an elderly, but not quite there yet, female voice responded in a dry tone,  _"Get off the line, Brannigan. You're a pest and a menace."_

Brannigan's jaw dropped dramatically, but both he and Valerie were proud that their new behaviour was making the Doctor grin and even Clara started to calm down into a small chuckle. "Oh, come on now, sisters. Is that anyway to talk to an old friend?"

_"You know full well we're not sisters. We're married."_

Brannigan pretended with blushing joy to be taken aback. "Ooh! Stop that modern talk, Alice. I'm an old-fashioned cat. Now, I've got a couple of hitchhikers' here, calls themselves "The Doctor" and "Clara Oswald"." He clicked the button and handed the speaker over to Clara. "There you go."

"Hello." Clara said into the speaker. "Sorry, we're looking for someone called "Martha Jones". She's been carjacked. She's inside one of these vehicles, but we don't know which one."

 _"Wait a minute."_ Alice said, and the line went static for a small moment before it clicked again, and now it was May Cassini that spoke.

_"Could I ask, what entrance did they use?"_

"Where were we?" The Doctor asked Brannigan.

""Pharmacy Town"."

"Pharmacy Town, about 20 minutes ago."

 _"Let's have a look."_  May muttered, and her voice was replaced by a rustling of papers, and a small groan from Alice.

 _"Just my luck to marry a car spotter."_  Alice's words made them snort out a chuckle.

_"In the last half hour, 53 new cars joined from the Pharmacy Town junction."_

"Anything more specific?" Clara asked without hesitation.

 _"All in good time."_ May responded calmly, which was followed by another moment of rustling papers until she spoke again.  _"Was she carjacked by two people?"_

"Yeah, she was. Yeah."

_"There we are. Just one of those cars was destined for the Fast Lane. That means they had three on board. And the car number is 4-6-5-DIAMOND-6."_

"That's it!" Clara exclaimed. "How do we find them?"

 _"Ah, I'm afraid I can't help there."_ May responded.

"Can you call them on this?" Clara asked Brannigan. "We've got their number."

Brannigan shook his head. "Not if they're designated Fast Lane. It's a different class."

"Great." Clara muttered sarcastically, and Brannigan just shrugged.

"We didn't make up the rules."

 _"You could try the police."_  May offered.

"They put me on hold." Clara said simply.

 _"You'll have to keep trying."_ Alice inputted.  _"There's no one else."_

Clara closed her eyes and gave a sigh, but she simply responded with, "Thank you." She then clicked the button and handed the speaker back to Brannigan. "We've got to go to the Fast Lane. Take us down." Clara said with a clenched jaw.

Brannigan scoffed. "Not in a million years."

"We've got four passengers. The rules will be more than satisfied." Clara retorted.

"And I'm still not going down." Brannigan retorted.

"She's alone, and she's lost." Clara growled. "And she doesn't even belong on this planet, and it's all our fault. I'm asking you, Brannigan, take us down."

"That's a no." Valerie interrupted with a light growl. "And that's final. I'm not risking the children down there."

"And I second that whole heartedly." Brannigan agreed with his wife.

"Why not?" Clara asked.

"We're not discussing it." Valerie retorted. "The conversation is closed."

"So, we keep on driving." Clara reiterated.

"Yes, we do." Brannigan answered.

"For how long?!" Clara snapped.

"Clara." The Doctor warned, but she ignored him.

"Till the journey's end." Brannigan answered simply.

Clara wringed her hands through her hair for a moment, before she reached forward suddenly, snatching the speaker back into her hand. "Mrs. Cassini, this is Clara again. Tell me, how long have you been driving on the Motorway?"

 _"Oh, we were amongst the first."_ Alice answered. _"It's been 23 years now."_

"And in all that time, have you ever seen a police car?" Clara asked. Brannigan and Valerie shot Clara looks that melted a glare with barely restrained terror.

 _"I'm…not sure."_  May answered.

"Look at your notes. Any police?"

_"…Not as such."_

"Or an ambulance? Rescue service? Anything official, ever?"

"Please, just stop it." Valerie snapped, but Clara ignored her.

 _"I can't keep a note of everything."_ May retorted with a hint of fear in her voice.

"What if there's no one out there?" Clara asked, and Brannigan immediately reached back and snatched the speaker from her grasp.

"Stop it. The Cassini's were doing you a favour." Brannigan admonished as he placed the speaker back.

"Someone's got to ask." Clara retorted in a low voice. "You may not want to talk about it, you may not even want to think about it, but it's there, in your eyes. What if the traffic jam never stops?"

"There is a whole city above us." Brannigan argued. "The mighty city-state of New New York. They wouldn't just leave us."

"So, where are they?" Clara retorted. "What if there's no help coming, not ever?"

"Clara." The Doctor warned again.

"What if there's nothing? Just the Motorway, with the cars going around and round and round and round, never stopping, forever?"

"Clara!" The Doctor snapped.

"What?!"

"Shut up!" He snarled. A deadly and tense silence fell into the vehicle, filled only with Brannigan's switching glances between the TARDIS couple and Valerie, as said couple glared at each other wordlessly. The Doctor's glare slowly set into a grim expression, while Clara's slowly melted from her worried rage into a sudden feeling of shame. The fire in her eyes died away, only to be replaced by said eyes inflating and filling with a sense of self-loathing, and the Doctor did not like seeing it in her eyes. "Clara?" He asked, his voice back to a calm state, whilst she just stared at him with her big brown eyes.

"I…" Clara was at a loss for words, slowly stepping away from the chairs until her back hit the wall of the vehicle, and her eyes quickly glanced down to the floor. "I…"

A sudden interruption into the tense moment came from the console monitor beneath the screen, where the same blonde news reporter from much earlier appeared, now viewed through obviously better technology, despite the static and distorted film grain.  _"This is Sally Calypso, and it's that time again."_ She said, and all four pairs of eyes in the room darted to the monitor. _"The sun is blazing high in the sky over the New Atlantic, the perfect setting for the daily contemplation. This is for all of you out there on the roads. We're so sorry. Drive safe."_

"You think you may know us so well," Brannigan started, not with any bite of anger or bitterness, just a restrained feeling of grim sorrow, "but we're not abandoned, not while we have each other." He immediately took Valerie's hand in his own, just as they could hear the hundreds upon hundreds of people within the Motorway beginning to hum to the song being broadcasted through the monitor. "Exterior speaker, Valerie." Brannigan muttered, and she flicked a button on the console before they sat back in their chairs, their hands still intertwined, and they joined in with the singing.

_On a hill far away, stood an old rugged cross_

_The emblem of suffering and shame_

_And I love that old cross where the dearest and best_

_For a world of lost sinners was slain_

_So I'll cherish the old rugged cross_

' _Till my trophies, at last, I lay down_

_I will cling to the old rugged cross_

_And exchange it some day for a crown_

Brannigan and Valerie finished the singing, letting go of each other's hands and giving out a small sigh, sitting in silence for a few moments before Valerie flicked off the exterior speaker and they glanced back. They saw the Doctor, his face turned from grim silence into a sad longing as he took Clara's hands in his. "Clara?" He asked again, and she looked back up at him, her eyes being prickled with a few tears.

"What am I doing, Doctor?" She whispered with a sniff.

"Clara." He said, cupping her cheek with his hand.

"I can't do that to them. It's not fair." She muttered as he wiped a tear away with his thumb.

"No, it isn't." He said softly. "You can't take their hope away for your own sake. It makes it worse for everyone." He leant forward and placed one kiss on her forehead, before pressing his own forehead against hers. "Okay?"

She blinked with a sniff, but she nodded. "I'm sorry." She whispered, and he brought her into a warm hug.

"I know." He said, placing a kiss on her head. "It's okay." He whispered, content to just hold her for a little while.

Brannigan, upon witnessing this, motioned Valerie sideways, so she leant closer, and he whispered, "They're a couple, been together for a while, and he hasn't put a ring on her finger?"

Valerie blinked, and she shrugged. "They need more time, perhaps."

* * *

 _"Fast Lane access. Please drive safely."_ The computerized voice said to Milo, and he gave Cheen a grin as he set the vehicle into motion.

"We made it. The Fast Lane." Milo said, as the screen began to fog up even more with a murky brown mist-

_***GROWL*** _

Martha's eyes briefly widened in shock, Cheen's furrowed slightly in puzzlement while Milo just darted his eyes from side to side at the low, animalistic snarl.  _That sounded close. Waaay to close._  "What was that?" Martha asked. The sound came again, almost like a warning call an animal would give, but for a…much larger creature. "It's coming from underneath."

Cheen's expression blended fear with childlike excitement at the noise, and she placed her hand on Milo's arm. "It's that noise, isn't it?" She asked. "It's like Kate said. Those stories, they're true."

"What stories?" Martha asked.

"It's the sound of the air vents, that's all." Milo responded calmly. "Exhaust fumes travel down, and at the bottom of the tunnel, they've got air vents. But…" He motioned to Cheen, "master storyteller, if you please." He quipped lightly, and Cheen shifted a bit to look at Martha.

"The stories are all about something living down there, right underneath the Fast Lane." Cheen said in a dramatic voice that made Milo chuckle. "No one knows where it came from, or what it is, but they say that people go missing on the Motorway. Some cars get their Fast Lane access, travel down, all is good, and then…they're gone. Just like that." She said with a click of her fingers. "So, the stories always say, "If you get lost on the road, it is waiting for you. It is hungry, it is alone, and it will get you, no matter where you are, for you can't hide"."

Martha took a small shaking breath, and Cheen took a small sip of water. "That wasn't bad." She commented.

"I want to get better, but "Meelo" isn't very good at it." Cheen said.

"Excuse me." Milo muttered with a smirk.

"One of my friends could help, if you asked nicely." Martha offered. "Her name's "Clara", and she's REALLY good at it."

"I'll keep that in mind." Cheen said with a nod, and their nice moment was yet again interrupted by another rumbling growl from underneath, and it now started to sound like it was reverberating all around them.

"Like I said: Air vents." Milo said, hoping to return the nice moment back, but Martha didn't agree.

"Except look out there." Martha said, nodding to the thick mist outside. "Does it look like the air vents are working?"

"No." Cheen responded, and her voice no longer had any courageous bravado like before, for it was now low, and mixed with fear.

* * *

 _"Well, we have to do something."_ Clara said into his mind after she took a while to calm down. "But what do we do?"

 _"Something really stupid."_ The Doctor returned, and he gave her a wink and a grin. _"Be sure to hold your breath."_  He removed himself from her embrace and turned to Brannigan and Valerie, who had after a while returned their attention back to the screen. "We won't ask you to help us, instead we'll just improvise."

"What?" They asked in unison. "What do you think you're doing?"

The Doctor shot Clara a puzzled look as he tore off his overcoat. "Is that what we sound like?"

She shrugged. "Apparently."

"Oi!" Brannigan called as the Doctor threw back the carpet rug and used his sonic on the hatch door. "What are you doing?!"

"Finding our own way." They retorted simply as the hatch unlocked and the Doctor opened it.

 _"Capsule open."_  The computer reported, as the Doctor and Clara saw a car coming to a screeching halt directly beneath them, and as a form of an extra bonus, it was quite a small drop for them as well. They could even see, despite the thin mist hanging in the air outside, that every car also had hatch doors in their roofs.

The Doctor quickly gave his overcoat to Clara, who then promptly tossed it to Valerie. "Look after that, please."

The Doctor gave the overcoat a small look of sadness for a moment. "I love that coat. Janis Joplin gave me that coat."

Clara blinked. "When?"

"I'll tell you later." He said simply. "Come on."

"Wait!" Valerie called, and it made them pause for a moment. "You can't jump!"

"If it's any consolation, Valerie, the both of us are having kittens." The Doctor responded.

"This Martha," Brannigan started with slightly squinting eyes, "she must mean a lot to the both of you."

"She's a friend." Clara responded. "And we've made her think she's just been a guest with us this whole time. "Just one more trip, Martha"." Clara quoted, then she shook her head. "I think it's time we stopped with that nonsense." She glanced at the Doctor, and he just nodded at her.

The couple then grinned at Brannigan and Valerie, and said, "Bye then!" The Doctor jumped down the hatch first, landing onto the roof of the vehicle below, and he reached his arms up to catch Clara as she jumped down after him.

"You two are completely insane!" Valerie yelled at them from within the vehicle, as the Doctor used his sonic on the roof hatch of the next car.

Clara winked with a grin at Valerie and Brannigan, who were peeping their heads through their hatch door. "That, and a bit magnificent!" She returned, as the Doctor hopped down inside the car, and Clara jumped down after him, and his arms once again caught her as she dropped inside.

"Who the hell are you?" The pilot asked. The pilot was a VERY pale man, but it looked more like real skin or even makeup that a personal problem to the couple. He also wore a completely white suit, which echoed the completely white interior of his vehicle.

"Car…hoppers." The Doctor said, as a choking cough interrupted him mid-sentence.

"Sorry. We have an appointment." Clara said as she took out her sonic and used it on the floor hatch as the Doctor closed the roof hatch.

"An appointment with what?" The man asked, whilst the Doctor re-joined Clara, kneeling on the floor beside the hatch.

"Long story." The Doctor returned before he squinted up at the man. "Do you…I don't know…" He blinked, glancing around the room, and then asked, "Do you have a fetish for the colour "White"?"

The man blinked rapidly with a shaking head. "What? No."

"Cool." The Doctor said swiftly as Clara wrenched the hatch open.

"Thank you and have a nice day." They said in unison as the Doctor jumped through first onto the vehicle below, catching Clara yet again as she dropped through after him.

"We need something for the smoke." Clara said, giving out a violent cough as the Doctor used his sonic on the floor hatch.

"I know." He said through a matching cough, before he wrenched the hatch open, jumped inside and caught Clara as she jumped through. This vehicle's pilots were both Asian females, and they were staring with wide eyes of disbelief at the couple as they closed the roof hatch and started to unlock their floor hatch, right as Clara took a couple of purple bandanas.

"Do you mind if we borrow these?" She asked through another cough, putting one over the Doctor's mouth as he unlocked the hatch. Then the Doctor took the other bandana and placed it around her own mouth. "They're not my colour-"

"Or mine-" The Doctor inputted.

"-but thank you very much." They finished in unison before hopping right through the hatch once again. They opened the roof hatch of the next car and jumped down inside the vehicle, finding themselves face to face with a man with greasy blonde hair, and a woman with brown hair down past her shoulders, and the both of them were completely naked. "Whoa!" They exclaimed as the Doctor went to work on the hatch.

"They still have nudists in the future?" Clara asked with cocked eyebrows.

"Yes!" The pilots exclaimed, and Clara just shrugged.

"All right. You do you, no pun intended. I mean…" She started innocently but with a twinkle in her eyes, "it's not like me and him do it in our own spare and alone time any-"

"Clara, come on!" The Doctor interrupted as he wrenched open the hatch, and Clara gave them a two-finger salute.

"See ya!"

* * *

"Try again." Cheen said with a slight ounce of irritation, and Milo pressed a command key on the monitor for "Exit 1".

 _"Brooklyn Turnoff 1 closed."_ The computer responded.

"Try the next one." Cheen said.

_"Brooklyn Turnoff 2 closed."_

"Oh! What do we do?"

Milo gave a shrug and a sigh before he looked over at Cheen. "We'll keep going around. We'll do the whole loop. And by the time we come back round, they'll be open."

Yet another of the deep growling from outside interrupted their conversation, which made Cheen more uneasy than she already was. "You're still calling that "Air vents"?" Martha asked in a retort.

"What else could it be?" Milo responded.

The answer came from a sudden rattling of the vehicle that made them all terrified, and the low growling now turned into a guttural snarl. "What the hell is that?" Cheen asked.

"It's just the hydraulics." Milo answered, yet the fear in his voice betrayed his words.

"It sounds like its…alive." Martha inputted after a moment.

"It's all exhaust fumes out there." Milo argued. "Nothing could breathe in that."

A sudden static crackling from the monitor drew their attention, and a female voice came through the console.  _"Calling car 4-6-5-DIAMOND-6. Repeat: Calling car 4-6-5-DIAMOND-6."_

Milo immediately grabbed the speaker and drew it up to his mouth. "This is car 4-6-5-DIAMOND-6. Who's that? Where are you?"

_"I'm in the Fast Lane, about 50 yards behind. Can you get back up? Can you get off the Fast Lane?"_

"We only have permission to go down. We-we need the Brooklyn Flyover."

 _"It's closed."_ The voice responded.  _"Go back up."_

"We can't. We'll just go around."

 _"Don't you understand?! They're closed! They're always closed!"_ Her words made Cheen's panic rise to a new level, but she kept going.  _"We're stuck down here, and there's something else, out there in the fog. Can't you hear it?"_

Yet another of the animalistic snarling came through the speakers, and Milo found himself very terrified of the noise now. "That's-that's the air vents." He denied, but it was a hollow denial.

_"Jehovah! What are you, some stupid kid?! Get out of here!"_

The snarling that came through the speakers intensified into full blown screeching and howling, and two more female voices joined in the noise, shrieking and crying out in terror. "What was that?!" Milo called.

_"I can't move! They've got us!"_

"But what's happening?!"

"What's got you?!" Martha interrupted as she leaned over. "What is it?!"

The only answer that came was more shrieking and crying, and now the three of them could the hear the sounds of a vehicle being torn apart violently. "Hello?!" Milo called.

_"Just drive, you idiots! Get out of here! Get out!"_

"Can you hear me?! Hello?!"

"Just drive! Do what she said!" Martha exclaimed. "Get us out of here!"

"But where?!"

"Just straight ahead! And fast!"

"But what is it?" Cheen asked through her terrified yet sudden sobbing. "What's out there?"

* * *

_"Capsule open."_

Charles Barnard, a dapper businessman in a black and white suit with small, thin white stripes on his coat and vest, glanced back behind him as the Doctor and Clara jumped inside, immediately taking off their bandanas and wiping their faces with them. "Excuse me. Is that legal?" Charles asked.

"Sorry." Clara responded before she gave out a very violent cough, causing her to keel over, bracing one hand against the wall.

"Have you got any water?" The Doctor asked through a cough as he held her other hand.

"Certainly." Charles immediately said, reaching over beside him to his water tank, where he took two cups and filled them to the brim with water. "Never let it be said I've lost my manners." He handed one cup to the Doctor, who immediately downed one before he took the other and gave it to Clara, who downed it at once, allowing them to relax despite their slightly hoarse voices from the Motorway fumes.

"You all right, Clara?" The Doctor asked, bringing her into a hug.

"Somewhat." Clara responded with a dry voice, and he rubbed her back with his hand in comfort.

Turning his head to glance back at Charles, he asked, "Is this the last layer?"

"Yes, we're right at the bottom. Nothing below us but the Fast Lane."

"Okay." The Doctor gave a swallow for a moment as he leaned his head against Clara's. "We're not going to ask you to go down. It's why we were…car hopping."

"I figured that." Charles responded dryly.

"Okay." Clara and the Doctor parted from their hug but moved over to kneel by the floor hatch of the vehicle, and they used their sonics to unlock it.

"You can't jump!" Charles exclaimed. "It's a thousand feet down!"

"We're just going to look." Clara said simply, and they threw back the hatch. All they could see was the brown fume mist, yet below the bottom layer of the traffic jam, it was much thicker and heavier, now more resembling fog than a thin mist. However what made the couple's eyebrows furrow in confusion was strange pairs of orange lights that dimly shone through the fog, and it was accompanied by distant yet deep and guttural animalistic growls. "What's that noise?" Clara asked, and they heard Charles gulp in his throat.

"I…try not to think about it." Charles responded meekly.

"What are those lights?" The Doctor asked as he waved away the fumes of the Motorway. "What's down there?" Clara tapped his shoulder, nodding towards the vehicle console, and he got the idea. The Doctor sprang over to the console and used his sonic on the outline of the monitor. "There must be some sort of ventilation. If I could just transmit a pulse through this thing, maybe I could trip the system." The screen popped out with a "Hiss", and the Doctor peeled it back to get at the wiring within, starting to mix and match certain wires together in his mission. "Give us a bit of a breeze!" He exclaimed, and after a few small moments of working silence, the Doctor put his sonic away and placed the monitor back into its slot before he made his way over to Clara. "Might shift the fumes a bit, give us a good look."

Charles got up out of his seat and peered over the hatch door as the Doctor unconsciously grasped Clara's hand in his own, and the fog below began to slowly thin away, and large shapes began to manifest from underneath and within the fog. "What are those shapes?"

"They're alive." The Doctor said, and the forms became much clearer now. The Doctor leant back with a grim face as he recognized them. They had changed quite a lot over the many long years, but they were still the same species. Enormous, larger than they ever were, and very much like a crab lookalike. They even had the massive, round crab pincers, and they were reaching up towards the traffic, snapping their pincers whilst snarling and growling as they shifted about on their six legs.

"What the hell are they?" Charles asked with wide eyes of shock, and the Doctor answered with one word.

"Macra."

* * *

"Go faster!" Cheen exclaimed as they drove through the blurry shadows of massive pincers, which were snapping and clawing up at them, most of the pincers missing the vehicle whilst only a few managed to even brush their pincers against them, causing the vehicle to shake and throttle, adding even more terror into their hearts.

"I'm at top speed!" Milo responded as he continued to turn and drive about. He reached his hand down to the monitor to once again attempt to gain access away from the Fast Lane, but it was proven fruitless by the computer saying-

_"No access above."_

"But this is an emergency!" Milo exclaimed into the speaker.

"Turn everything off!" Martha exclaimed suddenly.

"You've got to be joking!"

"No, listen, it's all fog out there, so how can they see us?!" Martha asked rhetorically. "Maybe it's the engines, or the sound, or the heat or the light, I don't know! Turn everything off, they might not be able to find us!"

"And what if you're wrong?!" Milo retorted.

"Have you got any other ideas?!"

"No!"

"Then, just do it!" Milo immediately reached over and switched every single one of the systems off. The vehicle darkened down except for natural dim light of the Motorway that barely reached the back of the vehicle, but Martha's order did the job. The snapping abruptly stopped, and it died down into a dreadful silence, filled only by their unsteady breathing, and the occasional animalistic growl from the creatures outside.

"They've stopped." Cheen muttered in a whisper.

"Yeah, but they're still out there." Milo responded.

Cheen glanced back at Martha. "How did you think of that?"

"I…saw it on a film." Martha responded simply, and her own words made her smile a bit to relieve her ragged breathing. "They used to do it in submarines, only…I can't remember what they did next."

"Well, you better think of something." Milo responded. "Because we've lost the aircon. If we don't switch the engines back on, we won't be able to breathe."

"How long have we got?" Martha asked.

"Eight minutes, maximum."

* * *

"But what are the "Macra"?" Charles asked the couple as they continued to stare down at the shifting crab creatures.

"The Macra used to be the scourge of this galaxy. Gas, they fed off gas. The filthier, the better. They even built up a small empire, using Humans as slaves and mining gas for food."

"They don't exactly look like empire builders to me." Charles retorted.

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, that was billions of years ago, billions. They must've devolved down the years. Now they're just beasts."

"But they're still hungry." Clara inputted in a grim tone. "And our friend is down there."

A sudden interruption came from the roof of the vehicle as the hatch unlocked and swung open. "Oh, for goodness sake." Charles growled dryly. "It's like New Times Square in here."

"We've invented a sport." The Doctor said with a grin at a smirking Clara, just as they closed the floor hatch and stood up to greet the new intruder, who was a female and one of Catkind, yet she seemed somewhat older than that of Brannigan, but not by a whole lot. She also seemed to wear a black nun's outfit and held a glowing green rifle in one hand.

"Doctor, Clara." She said, her words making the couple blink a bit in shock. "You are both hard people to find."

"No guns!" Charles exclaimed as he saw the rifle she held. "I'm not having guns in here!"

"I only brought this in case of pirates." The woman retorted before she looked back at the couple. "Doctor, Clara, you two have to come with me."

The couple just shared a sideways glance of confusion. "Do we know you?" They asked.

The woman gave a small chuckle as her gaze flittered between the two of them. "The both of you haven't aged at all. Time has been less kind to me."

"Wait." They muttered, and the Doctor grasped her shoulders so she could look at them, and a small silence fell for a few moments before their eyes widened and they beamed at the woman. "Novice Hame!" They brought her into a warm hug for just a small second before they pushed her back with frowns on their faces. "No, hold on!"

"Last time we met; you were breeding Humans for experimentation." The Doctor said.

"I have sought forgiveness, for so many years, under his guidance." Novice Hame defended. "And if you two come with me, I might finally be able to redeem myself."

"Oh, we're not going anywhere." Clara retorted. "You've got Macra living under this city, people trapped inside this Motorway and our friend is still alive, and she's stuck down there."

"The both of you have got to come with me right now." Novice Hame ordered sternly. "This situation is even worse than either of you could imagine." Novice Hame took both of their hands, wrapped Clara's through her elbow to free one of her own, and she pressed a button on her wrist pad. "Transport." She ordered.

"Don't you dare!" They exclaimed in unison, but it was too late. A bright flash of blinding light shone through their eyes as they disappeared from the Motorway, finding themselves face down flat on the floor of another room, and as the light faded away, it was replaced by a small aching in their bones.

"Oh, rough teleport." The Doctor groaned as he slowly stood up, shifting over to help a groaning Clara up from the floor. "You okay?"

"Fine. Ish." Clara muttered as she slowly got up, and her back clicked. "Ow." She said, rubbing her back with her hand as they stood up, whilst Novice Hame slowly got up with a small groan and a click in her neck, said person gaining the couple's attention. "Novice Hame, you can go straight back down and teleport people out, starting with Martha." She growled, but Novice Hame shook her head.

"I only had the power for one trip."

"Then get some more." They retorted with a roll of their eyes.

"Where are we?" The Doctor asked, trying to look around the considerably expansive room, which they deducted due to their voices echoing around them, but the room was pitch black except for the white spotlight, shining on the area that they were standing in.

"High above, in the Over-City." Novice Hame answered.

Their eyes flashed back at Novice Hame in a new, glaring light. "Good." Clara nodded with a clenched jaw. "Because you can tell the Senate of New New York that we would like a word. They have got thousands of people trapped on the Motorway! Millions!"

"But you are inside the Senate, right now." Novice Hame retorted, and her words made the Doctor and Clara's furious faces slowly melt into fearful puzzlement, so to provide the answer to their unspoken thought, Novice Hame turned a couple of dials on her wrist pad and clicked another button. "May the goddess Santori bless them." The room quickly lit up, chasing away the darkness, and the couple's eyes widened at the sight. They were in the Senate, but every single seat that they could see within the expansive room was occupied by skeletons. And there were many of them, even including the ones that lay strewn either in whole or in pieces around them on the floor. "They died in here. The city died."

"How long has it been like this?" The Doctor asked, his tone much softer but no less grim.

"24 years."

They knelt beside a skeleton, and whoever it had been had died on the floor spread eagled, and one of their legs had long ago broken off from the rest of the skeleton. "All of them?" Clara asked in the same tone as the Doctor. "Everyone? What happened?"

"A new chemical. A new mood." Novice Hame answered, and she knelt down and plucked off the skeleton's neck a small mood badge. "They called it "Bliss". Everyone tried it, but they couldn't stop. A virus mutated inside the compound and became airborne. Everything perished, even the virus in the end." Novice Hame said as she tossed the badge aside and stood back up again. "It killed the world in seven minutes flat. There was just enough time to close down the Walkways and the Flyovers, sealing off the Under-City. Those people on the Motorway aren't lost, they were saved."

"And the whole thing down there is running on automatic?" Clara asked as the couple stood back up again.

"There's not enough power to get them out. We did all we could to stop the system from choking."

Clara's eyes squinted after a small blink. "Who's "We"? How did you survive?"

Novice Hame beamed brightly at them at her questions. "He protected me. And he has waited for the two of you these long years."

 _**"** _ _**Doctor. Clara."** _

That voice did not sound from within the room, but in their own heads, but oh did they recognize it. They sprinted around a corner, through a pulled back curtain and there he was. Still a big old face, sitting in a steaming tank and wired up to a computer mainframe, shifting and moving about as he lay within. "The Face of Boe!" They exclaimed, and he nodded.

 _**"** _ _**I knew the two of you would come."** _

"Back in the old days, I was made his nurse, as penance for my sin." Novice Hame inputted with her head bowed low to the Face of Boe.

"Old friend, what happened to you?" The Doctor asked, his and Clara's hands on the glass.

_**"Failing."** _

"He protected me from the virus by shrouding me in his smoke. But with no one to maintain it, the city's power died. The Under-City would have fallen into the sea."

"So…he saved them?" Clara reiterated.

"The Face of Boe wired himself into the mainframe." Novice Hame explained. "He's giving his life force just to keep things running."

"But there are planets out there." The Doctor inputted. "You could have called for help."

Novice Hame shook her head. "The last act of the Senate was to declare New Earth unsafe. The automatic quarantine lasts for 100 years."

The Doctor and Clara glanced back and forth between Novice Hame, who hung her head low in shame, and the Face of Boe, who's breathing they realized had become laboured and raspy since they last saw him. They gave each other one sad look as they stood and moved to Novice Hame. "So, the two of you stayed here, on your own for all these years."

"We had no choice." Novice Hame retorted, but Clara put her hand on her shoulder, and she smiled.

"Yes, you did." She said simply, which made Novice Hame blink with a sharp sigh.

_**"Save them, my old friends. Save them."** _

* * *

"How much air's left?" Cheen asked in her now tired and heavy voice as Milo flicked a switch.

"Two minutes."

Martha sighed. "It's always the Doctor and Clara, those friends of mine. They'll think of something."

"Martha, no one's coming." Milo denied.

"They looked kind of nice." Cheen inputted, and Martha shrugged.

"They look all right. He's just too skinny and her eyes are too big."

Cheen nodded. "And are they-"

"Oh, most definitely." Martha said quickly. "No rings on their fingers yet, but they are…very hooked on each other."

Cheen sighed. "I never even asked. Where's home?"

Martha blinked. "A long way away." Then Martha frowned. "I didn't really think. I just followed the two of them and…they don't even know where I am." She realized in a whisper. "My mum and dad. If I died here, they'd never know."

Milo and Cheen shot each other solemn glances before he inputted, "So, um…who are they, then? This Doctor and Clara?"

"Um…it's…hard to explain." Martha admitted. "He's…an alien, who's lived…for a very long time. She's…kind of Human, but kind of not." Milo and Cheen blinked at her in puzzlement and she quickly shook her head. "Don't make me explain that." She muttered simply.

"But that would mean that…the only hope we have right now is in…two people you only just met?" Cheen reiterated, and Martha nodded. "Well, that's no use!" Cheen admonished.

"It is, though." Martha argued. "Because you haven't seen the things they can do. Honestly, just trust me, both of you. You've got your faith, you've got your songs and your hymns, and I've got the Doctor and Clara." She said proudly.

Milo blinked, thought for a moment, and gave a sigh. "Right." He reached up and flicked a couple of switches, immediately setting the ship back into life once again.

_"Systems back online."_

"Hold on tight." Milo said as he took the brakes off, and he briefly grasped Cheen's hand and placed a kiss upon it. "And good luck." Then, he set the car back into motion once again, and the growling and snapping from the creatures outside went straight back into action, causing the ship to rock and tumble every time they bumped into a pincer.

* * *

"Car 4-6-5-DIAMOND-6! It still registers!" Clara reported from the mainframe. "That's Martha!" She beamed over at the Doctor, who shared her bright grin. "Knew she was good!"

"Oh, that she is!" The Doctor added as he began to feed about the large cable strewn all over the floor. "Novice Hame, hold that in place!" He said after connecting it into the mainframe, which Novice Hame took hold of as he began to feed the cable through back to the other end. "Come on, think, think, think. Take residual energy, invert it, feed it through the electricity beds."

"But there isn't enough power!" Novice Hame protested.

"Oh, you've got power!" The Doctor retorted as he linked the other end into a computer console. "You've got us! I'm brilliant with computers, and Clara is just bloody brilliant! Hame, every switch on that bank, up to maximum!" He ordered, taking out his sonic to use on the console whilst Clara grasped and spun a small wheel, and Novice Hame did as she bade, and did it quickly. "We can't power up the city, but all the city needs is people."

"So, what are you going to do?" Novice Hame asked.

"This!" The Doctor proclaimed as he went to a standing lever and flung it down. But all it did was just set the power straight off again. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" He exclaimed, running his hands through his hair as Clara took out her sonic and started to use it on the console again. "The transformers are blocked! The signal can't get through!" He deducted as he moved to help Clara.

 _ **"Doctor…"**_ The Face of Boe said, but Clara interrupted him.

"Yeah, hold on. Not now."

 _ **"I give you my last…"**_  He cut himself off by giving out a very long and hoarse sigh, but suddenly the power in the room returned once again, causing the couple to look with worried concern at the Face of Boe.

"Hame! Look after him!" Clara exclaimed, and said woman went to work on caring for the Face of Boe.

"Don't you go dying on us, you big old face!" The Doctor added as Clara took up a microphone and moved in front of a camera, whilst he stood by the standing lever. "You've got to see this! The open road! Ha!" He grasped the lever and flicked it down, and it finally did the job.

* * *

Brannigan and Valerie's car gave a shuddering tumble that startled them from their serene peace, and Valerie immediately grasped hold of the basket where their kittens lay inside tight. "What in Jehovah was that?!" Brannigan exclaimed.

"It's coming from above." Valerie deducted from the distant rumbling, like huge pieces of metal slapping against each other.

"What is it? What's happening?" Brannigan moved out of the seat and opened up the roof hatch to peer outside. To his own astonishment, the roof had begun to peel away, and bright sunlight was beginning to pour inside the Motorway. "By all the cats in the kingdom."

"What is it?" Valerie asked, but all Brannigan could do was give out a very hearty laugh. "What is-" Valerie was cut off as the sunlight poured through the screen and beamed straight down onto her, and she lit up a bright and marvellous grin. "It's the sun!" She exclaimed as Brannigan took a seat again beside her. "Oh, Brannigan!" She beamed, bringing him over to kiss him on the cheek. "Children! It's the sunlight!" She carefully pulled back the blanket, and the kittens all gave a low mewling "Meow" before upon the sight and feel of the warm sun, they began to purr in wondrous joy. Then, the monitor flickered with static before Clara appeared with a microphone in her hands.

_"Sorry, no Sally Calypso. She was just one of those things you call a "Hologram". My name is "Clara Oswald"."_

Brannigan exchanged a shining look with Valerie. "They're magicians! They must be!"

_"Now, this is an order: Everyone drive up, right now."_

"Is she serious?" Valerie asked.

 _"Me and my man, we've opened the roof of the Motorway. Come on."_  Clara nodded in an ushering tone.  _"Get those engines throttling and drive up. All of you, the whole Under-City, drive up. You've got to clear that Fast Lane. Drive up. Drive up!"_

Brannigan took off the brakes and set the engine into motion. "Here we go."

* * *

 _"Oi! Car 4-6-5-DIAMOND-6!"_  Martha, Cheen and Milo looked at the monitor with wide eyes of astonishment at Clara's appearance. _"Martha, I know you're there. Now, drive up!"_

"That's Clara!" Martha exclaimed.

"We can't go up-"

 _"If you're whining about being unable to get up, just tell that part of you to go fuck itself!"_  Clara interrupted.  _"You have got access above! Now go!"_

Milo immediately did as she bade and drove straight up and away from the Fast Lane, driving up and up until the bright sunlight poured through the screen. Him and Cheen both blinked indistinctively for a moment before their jaw dropped, and the sun just continued to hang in the sky above them. "It's daylight." Cheen muttered with a few tears of wonder and relief in her eyes. "Oh my god, that's the sky, the real sky."

Martha gave out a laugh of gleeful relief at her words, and she nodded. "They did it! I told you! They did it!"

* * *

 _"Did I tell you, Clara?! You're not bad, ma'am! You're not bad at all!"_ Brannigan exclaimed gleefully out of the mainframe speakers, and a grinning Doctor moved over to stand by Clara, who was holding the microphone and looking out of the window over the city of New New York.

"You keep on driving, Brannigan, all the way up." Clara returned with a grin. "Cause it's here, just waiting for you. The city of New New York, and it's yours."

"Don't forget, I want that coat back." The Doctor inputted over her shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her waist and placed a kiss on her lips.

 _"Doctor!"_  Brannigan exclaimed in obvious surprise. _"I reckon that's a fair bargain, sir."_

The Doctor used his sonic to switch the channel over to another vehicle. "Car 4-6-5-DIAMOND-6, we've sent you a flight path. Come to the Senate."

 _"On my way."_ Martha responded gleefully.

"It's quite a while since we saw you, Martha Jones." Clara inputted.

"Doctor! Clara!" Novice Hame called in distress, and they turned their heads to see the glass tank beginning to crack.

Rushing inside the Senate, Martha immediately stopped upon the sudden and abhorring sight of skeletons lying about the expansive room. She felt her throat tighten for a second upon the sight of one skeleton lying flat on the floor, and she gave a shaking gulp as she called, "Doctor? Clara?"

"Over here."

Martha grinned brightly and rushed around the corner, past a pulled back curtain and asked, "Doctor, Clara, what happened out there…" Martha trailed off, and her expression grew puzzling and bewildered as she saw the Face of Boe lying on the floor with shattered glass surrounding him throughout the room. "What's that?" Martha asked in a mutter, but the couple heard her.

"It's the Face of Boe." Clara responded as she looked over at Martha. "It's all right. Come and say hello." She ushered, and Martha began to slowly walk over, still unable to take her bewildered eyes away from the Face of Boe. "And this is Novice Hame." She said, motioning a hand to Novice Hame, who kept her head hung low, still glancing down at the rasping head. "She's a cat. Obviously."

"He's the one that saved you, not us." The Doctor inputted grimly as Martha knelt down beside them.

"My lord gave his life to save the city. And now he's dying." Novice Hame inputted sorrowfully.

"No, don't say that." Clara refuted. "The old fella's got plenty of life left."

 _ **"It's good to breathe the air once more."**_ The Face of Boe rasped out in their heads.

"Who is he?" Martha asked the couple, and that question they found themselves unable to answer, except for...

"We don't even know." The Doctor said with a shrug. "Legend says that the Face of Boe has lived for billions of years. Isn't that right?" He asked the head. "And you're not about to give up now."

_**"Everything has its time. You know that, old friend, better than most."** _

"The legend says more." Novice Hame inputted, and she got a shallow glare from the couple.

"Don't. There's no need for that." Clara retorted, but Novice Hame carried on.

"It says that the Face of Boe shall speak his final secret to a traveller."

"Yeah, but who needs secrets, eh?" The Doctor retorted, and another rasping, shuddering sigh from the Face of Boe drew their attention again.

_**"I have seen so much. Perhaps too much. I am the last of my kind, as you are the last of yours, Doctor."** _

Clara immediately took the Doctor's hand in hers, as the man blinked down in sadness at the head. "That's why we have to survive, the both of us." The Face of Boe gave yet another sigh, this one quieter and shallower than before, and it made the Doctor take a shuddering breath. "Don't go."

 _ **"I must. But know this, Time Lord."**_  Then, the Face of Boe's lips parted and he began to physically speak.  **"You are not alone."**  Then, the Face of Boe took one last rasping breath, gave out a long sigh, and his eyes drooped shut, and he moved no longer. Novice Hame immediately burst into a rack of sobbing tears, and Martha did her best to comfort the woman despite her own sadness and a tiny hint of puzzlement at the words. She looked over and saw Clara bringing the Doctor into a hug, which the man readily agreed to, despite his wide eyes and furrowed eyebrows of scrutinizing disbelief over the parting words of the Face of Boe.

* * *

After exiting the Over-City, the TARDIS trio returned into the alley in the Under-City where they had parked the TARDIS. The first thing that struck them was that the shop vendors for moods had been closed down, bearing a message on each vendor that said, "Closed until further notice". "All closed down." The Doctor said as he held Clara's hand, looking back and forth between the vendors with a look of, "Huh. Okay".

"Happy?" Clara asked teasingly, and he grinned down at her.

"Happy Happy." He returned as they moved to a stop in the middle of the alley, Martha standing only a few feet from them to the side. "New New York can start again. And they have Novice Hame to help. Just what every city needs, cats in charge."

Martha gave a small smirk as she crossed her arms. "But what did he mean, the Face of Boe, "You are not alone"?"

"No clue." The Doctor responded simply.

"I'm sure you're not alone with Clara." Martha said, and they shook their heads with a smile.

"No, that's not what he meant." Clara said.

"Then what?"

The Doctor and Clara just exchanged a small look for a moment, and he asked mentally, _"Should we?"_

Clara smiled.  _"We should."_

The Doctor gave a small sad sigh as he placed his hand on Clara's cheek, and he kissed her forehead.  _"Thank you, my Clara."_

Clara glanced around the alleyway, spotting three white chairs lying alone on their sides by the brick wall. So, she walked over, picked up two of the chairs and brought them into the middle of the alley. She sat them sitting apart and facing each other, before she moved back, grabbed the final chair and placed it beside one of them, and sat down. She motioned for Martha to sit in the chair facing her, and she did, whilst the Doctor paced back and forth behind her for a few moments. "Doctor."

The Doctor stopped his pacing and gave Clara a long, sad stare, but he didn't say anything for a few moments. After Clara gave him yet another reassuring smile, he blinked and glanced over at Martha, but didn't know how to start. "I…"

Then, just out of the blue, the trio could hear a sudden sound of singing coming from above in the Over-City. Clara and the Doctor glanced upwards at the sound, while Martha leaned forward in her seat. "It's the city." She muttered with wide eyes. "They're singing."

_Abide with me; Fast falls the eventide_

_The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide_

_When other helpers fail, and comforts flee_

_Help of the helpless, O abide with me_

"I lied to you, because I wanted to pretend." The Doctor started solemnly. "Just for one moment, I wanted to imagine that they were still alive, underneath a burnt orange sky. But that never lasts long. I'm not just a Time Lord, I'm the last of the Time Lords."

"What happened?" Martha asked, and the Doctor gave a small gulp, yet Clara held his hand, and nodded reassuringly to him.

"There was a war. A Time war. The last great Time War. My people fought a race called the Daleks, for the sake of all creation, and they lost. We lost. Everyone lost. They're all gone now. My family, my friends, even that sky."

"Did you…end it?" Martha asked, and he nodded grimly.

"I had to." He glanced back at Clara, and he gave a sudden, shaking chuckle at the memory. "Oh, you should have seen it, Clara, that old planet. The second sun would rise in the south and the mountains would shine. The leaves on the trees were silver, and when they caught the light every morning, it looked like a forest on fire. When the autumn came, the breeze would blow through the branches, and it sounded like a song." Then his sad smile faded away in sorrow, and he closed his eyes with a sigh. Then, he opened them again, looked at Clara and brought her into a hug. _"Now?"_

_"Now."_

They parted their hug and looked back at Martha. "Martha, we've decided that we don't want to treat you as a passenger any longer." Martha's eyes widened at their words, but they kept going. "This whole "One trip" thing wore it's welcome out from the start. So, we would like to ask, do you…want to keep travelling with us? As a friend?"

Martha's expression slowly turned from shock and surprise, into a gleaming bright smile. "Oh, yes please." She grinned, and the couple let their grim and sorrowful expressions melt away into warm smiles.

"Then, Martha Jones, where do you want to go first?" Clara asked.

Martha blinked, and immediately said out loud what she had thought about since the Motorway. "Mum. I want…I want to see her."

The couple looked a bit taken aback for a small moment, but their warm smiles returned in force, and they nodded. "Come on." They stood up from the chairs and started back to the TARDIS. "Thing is though, Martha Jones, you were never really just a passenger, were you?" The Doctor asked rhetorically with a smirk as they stepped into the TARDIS, and it promptly vanished away from New Earth.

**AN: I'll be completely honest with you; This episode is actually the first episode of Season 3 that I love. Honestly, as a Doctor Who fan, Season 3 is not a season that I LOVE, since there isn't that many episodes from the season that I LOVE, but I really enjoy ALL of the episodes, if that makes any sense. It kind of doesn't to me, but then again, what do I know, eh? XD Anyway, thank you so much for reading and please leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	47. So...Hello, Ms. Jones

**So…Hello, Ms. Jones**

**Martha's Flat  
** 28th April 2008

"There we go." The Doctor said as the TARDIS landed with a thud inside of Martha's flat. "Perfect landing."

"Said by the man who can't land in tight spots properly." Clara teased, and the Doctor gave her a childish pout in remark.

"All right." Martha said as she put on her jacket and moved to the doors. "Wanna come?" She asked, and the couple shrugged.

"Why not?" They asked rhetorically in unison as they stepped out into the living room of Martha's flat.

"Now, if we got this right, we should have landed…" The Doctor moved to look at Martha's bedside alarm clock and he grinned. "We did! It's the morning after you left."

"Why are you so worried about that?" Martha asked, even though she was grateful for it, but she had to ask, and the sudden awkward looks from the couple made her bite back an amused smirk. "What?"

"Last time we tried to do that, we were a year late." Clara explained, and Martha couldn't help the snort that escaped. "What?!"

"Sorry." Martha said with a hand raised in defense. "Just I-"

"Couldn't help it." The couple finished in unison with her, and they rolled their eyes. "Yeah, we guessed."

Martha sighed, moving through her living room to grab her phone, which she picked up and began to dial a number. "Just wait there, okay?"

The couple exchanged another awkward glance as they looked up at the big blue box in the middle of the room. "It'll be a bit hard to explain this." The Doctor whispered to Clara, patting the side of the TARDIS, and she wordlessly nodded.

"Mum?" Martha asked into the phone, and a brief pause followed. "Yeah, hi. Listen, I was wondering if you could come around for a little bit." Another moment went by, and Martha shook her head. "No, it's just I need to talk to you about something." Martha suddenly let out a snort, which made the couple feel a bit nervous for a moment. "No, it's not about Annalise."

"Thank god." The couple whispered in unison to each other, earning a head tilt from Martha, before her eyes went wide, and her mouth dropped.

"No, you can't say that! That's rude, Mum!" Martha retorted through a chuckle. "Okay, you'll be here as soon as possible?" A moment passed, and Martha nodded. "All right. See you then." She took the phone away and hanged up the call, before placing it back down again and gave a sigh. "You can say that again." She muttered, and it made the couple blink.

"Say what again?" They asked.

""It'll be a bit hard to explain this"." Martha quoted, which made them purse their lips together.

"Martha." They warned, and she held her hands up defensively.

"I know, I know." She quickly said as she moved from the room and into her kitchen. "Coffee? Tea?"

"Tea. Two sugars, please." The Doctor called.

"Tea. One sugar and milk, please." Clara called, and the couple moved to sit down on Martha's sofa, leaning their heads against each other as they waited. They waited, and they waited, right until Martha brought their tea's out, and they took them gratefully as they sat around the living room table, Martha having brought up a seat to sit in. The Doctor and Clara, whilst a tad bit nervous, were sitting remarkably still as they continued to wait in a somewhat nervous silence. The nervous tension in the room was mainly coming from Martha, who found herself shifting about in her chair, continuously glancing towards the front door. "Martha, everything will be okay." Clara reassured.

"But this is starting to feel like I'm introducing my secret date to my parents."

"Which you're not." They warned.

"I know, but still." Martha argued, and they shrugged.

"Martha, you just have to be "Au naturel"." Clara said with a quirky flair, but it made the Doctor frown at her. "What?"

"Nobody says that anymore." The Doctor retorted, and Clara blinked.

"Uh, yeah they do."

"No, they don't."

"Yes, they do."

"Come on." The Doctor retorted, but Clara just raised her eyebrows, and his frown turned into puzzlement. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"You're joking?"

"Nope."

"You're actually not kidding?"

"Oh, for goodness sake, you two." Martha groaned despite her amused smile, but it quickly turned into blinking anxiousness as the doorbell rang, and she sprang up. "Right." She cleared her throat and moved off to the front door.

"See?" The Doctor asked rhetorically as Martha disappeared. "Laughter is the best medicine."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure no one says that anymore, Doctor." Clara retorted.

"I'm pretty sure they do."

"I'm pretty sure they don't-"

 _"Hi, Mum!"_ They heard Martha exclaim, and another female voice responded in kind.

 _"All right, what's the big occasion?"_ Her mother asked.

 _"I'll explain in a moment."_ Martha said as the front door closed. _"But first, I'm so happy to see you."_

 _"You saw me last night."_ Francine said, and her dry tone of voice made the couple have to hold back a snigger.

_"Again, in a moment."_

_"By the way, you disappeared last night."_ Francine pointed out.

 _"Mum!"_ Martha retorted, and they could tell that Francine held up her hands defensively.

_"Okay, okay."_

The two Jones' moved into the living room, and the couple smiled at them, which Francine did return, despite her inherent puzzlement. They also noticed that Francine was dressed similarly, but not exactly, like Martha, wearing leather jeans and a jacket over her shirt, only she had the addition of a jumper underneath her jacket as well. "Mum, these are my friends." Martha introduced, and the couple stood up and walked over, Clara the first to hold out her hand.

"Hello." She beamed, and Francine shook her hand. "Clara Oswald."

"Francine." She introduced, and then the Doctor stepped forward.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor."

Francine blinked. "Doctor what?"

"Just "The Doctor"." He answered simply. Once the greeting's had finished, they found themselves standing in an uncomfortable silence for a few moments, until the Doctor spoke up. "So, Mrs. Jones-"

"No." Clara interrupted, which made Francine blink.

"What?" The Doctor asked.

"You can't say that." Clara said simply, which made Martha lean over to Francine.

"Sorry, they're having a moment." Martha said with a roll of her eyes, and Francine turned back to look at the couple in, some amused intrigue, even though she would never have admitted that.

"What was I going to say?"

"First, it's "Ms. Jones, not Mrs. Jones". Secondly, you were going to say, "So, Mrs. Jones, we've heard a lot about you." Which is not only creepy but also very false." Clara admonished.

"I thought it would've been a polite thing to say!" The Doctor whined.

"No, it isn't!"

"Are you two finished?!" Martha interrupted with a snap, causing them to flush up in embarrassment.

"Sorry." They muttered in unison.

"You know, I'm all right with you two." Francine inputted amusingly, making the trio look at her in bewilderment.

"Really? Why?" They all asked, and Francine only explained simply with-

"Annalise. Her and my husband, no sorry, EX husband, are worse that you two. And not in a good way." She added with a twinkle, and the couple just stared at her in almost grateful surprise.

"Okay. You are the first person to say that you don't mind us." Clara muttered, and Francine blinked.

"I don't remember saying that last bit." She said, and the couple let out a chuckle at her words. "So, how did you two meet her?" She asked.

"You know about the hospital from yesterday?" Martha asked, and Francine nodded. "We met there."

"I swear, we weren't looking for trouble, we just found the hospital was doing something strange, is all." The Doctor added.

"But because of it, we ended up on the moon." Clara inputted, giving the Doctor a smile. "And that's a sight I won't be forgetting." She admitted, and he winked at her.

"So, what about the whole disappearing from last night, Martha?" Francine asked.

Martha looked at the couple for a brief moment for help, and they just nodded with a warm smile. "We traveled through time." She said simply. Francine didn't emote anything, and Martha took it as if she didn't believe her. "I mean it. After you guys disappeared off arguing, I saw them, went around a corner, and we went through time." Francine still didn't emote anything, and it made Martha worried. "Mum?"

"Uhh…" Francine stuttered, and she gave several blinks before she glanced properly at Martha. "Sorry. You said you traveled through time?" She asked with a disbelieving yet inquisitive frown.

Martha groaned. "Fucking hell."

"Language, young lady." Francine warned.

"Sorry." She stepped forward and took Francine's hands in hers and said calmly, "We traveled through time in a ship."

"Okay." Francine nodded. "What ship?"

Martha nodded to the blue box, which made Francine snort. "Don't be ridiculous. That's tiny!"

"She's serious." Clara inputted, and Francine blinked.

"How can that be a spaceship?" Francine asked.

 _*Beeps*_ ("She". Not "It" or "That")

Francine gave a sharp breath, and she stuttered out, "Tha-that just-she just-"

"Yes." The couple said in unison, and Francine blinked repeatedly in shock.

"Okay, ho-how do I know that this isn't a trick?" Francine asked Martha.

Martha just held up a hand, moved quickly from the room for a moment before returning with a stethoscope. Then, she gave the ear pieces to Francine and motioned the couple over. "Here. Listen." She first placed the drum on the left side of the Doctor's chest for a small moment before she replaced it on his right side, and Francine gave a sharp intake of breath. Then, Martha took the drum and placed it on Clara's chest, and the sudden sound of absolutely nothing made Francine drop the ear pieces straight into Martha's hands as she placed one of her own over her mouth. "Mum, do you want a drink?" Martha asked.

"Oh, yes please." Francine answered with a shaky laugh, and she moved to sit down on the sofa with her head in her hands as Martha went into the kitchen.

"You sure you want to hear all of this?" Clara asked, moving slowly to sit down beside her.

"Yeah. No. Yeah. Kind of." Francine started and she gave a sigh. "Sorry. It's not everyday your daughter tells you that they traveled through time in about half a day."

"Yeah." Clara nodded. "Sorry about that."

"Not your fault." Francine waved off, and Clara shook her head.

"No." She said simply. "We're the pilots, we could have not offered it to her."

Francine gave another sigh, removed her hands from her face and she looked at Clara. "Are you two…um…"

"Aliens?"

"Yeah."

"He is." Clara nodded to the Doctor. "Me…" She blinked before giving a dull glare off into the middle distance. "Ugh, it's complicated."

"Why are you staring off like that?" Francine asked.

"It's what he does when he's sad." Clara quipped dryly.

"Oi!" The Doctor whined, just as Martha came back into the living room with a cup of tea in one hand, and a small shot glass in the other.

"Martha," Francine started with a blink, "I wanted something stronger." Martha just gave her a dull glare, then she poured the tiny amount of alcohol into the tea and gave it to Francine. Francine then took a sip before promptly spitting it out with a disgusted yet regretful look. "Okay, I take it back, just water will do me." Francine said, and her words made them, even Francine, start to laugh.

"Bloody hell, Mum, you spat all over my washing!" Martha admonished, and Francine gave a smile despite her starting to cough out the horrible drink.

"Sorry, darling." She said, giving out another cough as Martha promptly returned with a glass of water, and she drank it down. Then, she set the empty glass down on the table with a gulp, and she looked back up at Martha. "So, what exactly did you do in your, uh…time traveling?"

Martha looked at the couple for a moment, then the three spoke in unison, "We went to New Earth."

"Sorry?" Francine blinked.

"Yeah. We went into the future."

"No, I meant…why was this planet you went to called "New Earth"?"

Martha's eyes widened in serious disbelief. "Out of all the questions you could ask, you ask that?"

"Yes!" Francine exclaimed, causing yet another snort from the couple. "Why would someone call a planet an old planet's name but with "New" in front of it?"

"Same person that named "New York"." Martha retorted, and Francine sighed.

"Oh, fine."

"But we did find out that traffic apparently gets even worse in the future." Martha inputted, and Francine gave a dry chuckle.

"As if we don't already know that." She retorted, and Martha shrugged.

"Oh, and-"

"We met Shakespeare." The Doctor interrupted, and Francine's eyes widened.

"You're not-"

"No." Martha interrupted.

"Okay, we may need to stop now." Francine said with a shaky chuckle. "I feel like I'm going a little bit crazy here."

Martha gave out a breath, but she nodded. "Okay." Then, she gave a half-attempted glare at the couple with her finger raised. "You two won't be going anywhere, won't you?"

"Wouldn't dream of it." The Doctor answered.

Martha sat down beside her mother and took her hand. "There is more, but I'll only say if you want to hear it."

"Oh, I do. I do." Francine nodded but her eyes began to grow dim with weariness.

"You'll get to hear all about how I made Shakespeare say "Expelliarmus"." Martha added, and Francine groaned.

"Martha, please."

"Yes, I'm stopping." Martha quickly said as she patted her mother's hand. "Anyway, how is everybody doing?"

Francine let her weariness slide away and she gave her a smile. "All right. Leo is Leo. Your father is still driving me mad with his menopause and his trophy girlfriend."

"Yep. Ew." Martha agreed, and Francine just nodded.

"Trish…I was actually going to talk to you about her earlier. She is going to be on TV soon."

"Really?" Martha asked, and she picked up her TV remote. "Let's have a look." She flicked the TV on and turned up the volume.

_"Commander Cody, the time has come. Execute order 6-"_

"Oh, sorry!" Martha said with a flush as she switched the channels over.

"Martha, I told you, you need to slow down on those movies." Francine admonished.

"I said I'm sorry!" Martha retorted with a squeak as she landed on the news. "Okay, there she is."

Trish was indeed on the screen, standing next to a very old and wrinkly, white haired man, dressed in a suit and leaning on a walking stick, being repeatedly hit by the blinding flashes of reporter cameras. _"The details are top secret, but tonight, I will demonstrate a device which will redefine our world."_

"How did Tish end up on the news?" Martha whispered to Francine, and she just shrugged.

"It's part of her job."

 _"With the push of a single button, I will change what it means to be Human."_ The man declared.

Martha switched off the volume at that and gave a "Okay" face. "Right. Not that I get what that means." Martha muttered sarcastically to herself, and Francine just snorted.

"Hold on a moment." The Doctor interrupted with a frown, which made the Jones' blink at him and Clara look at him inquisitively. "Sorry, but I have to ask, did he just say that he will "Change what it means to be Human"?"

**AN: Aaaaaaaand, to be continued. Now, there's a few reasons why I made this. One was that as I got to the end of "Gridlock", I thought, "Hey, this might be a cool idea" so I just hashed it out in a few days. It's turned out pretty okay, at least for me it did.**

**Now, the other real why I did this is because I really just wanted to say thank you. As of the publishing of this chapter, (which in New Zealand would be the 6** **th** **of April, and I don't know what it is everywhere or anywhere else), this is the day that I actually started this story a full year ago. I don't want to go on a full tangent, since I generally end up becoming a bit of an idiot at tangents, but the long and short of it is just, thank you so much to all of you who have stuck around, all of you who are new and for all of your support. I grin like a goddamn idiot when I read your comments, and I'm so glad that you guys/gals have been enjoying this story so far. I hope I very much can continue this story in the future, and that all of you will stick around to help me through it all. Cheers! :D**


	48. The Lazarus Experiment

**The Lazarus Experiment**

**Lazarus Laboratories  
** 8:00pm, 28th April 2008

"Are you sure it's safe?" Lady Sylvia Thaw repeated once again, and Professor Richard Lazarus found himself having to restrain an irritated and tired groan back in his throat.

"There were some issues, and they've been resolved. I'm confident I'm in no serious danger." Richard said to his assistant, who was elderly, like himself, and a woman, who wore a dark grey and blue coatdress, a white pearl necklace, matching earrings, red rimmed reading glasses and had her short grey hair brushed back behind her head.

"That's comforting, Richard, but it wasn't you I was worried about." She said haughtily with a shake of her head.

_Dear god, will she ever shut up?_ Richard whined mentally, whilst he just stared out of his office window upon the darkened city of London. "Your concern is touching." He commented dryly, and Lady Thaw gave a huff.

"The people in that room will represent billions of pounds worth of potential investment. Mr. Saxon wants to be sure they like what they see."

Richard gave a small, confident smirk at those words, just as the door to his office opened. "Don't worry. Our friend will get his money's worth."

"You wanted to see the guest list for tonight, Professor?"

Richard turned around to see Tish Jones standing there, holding a piece of paper in her hands, and he gave her a comforting smile. Yet he didn't notice the way that Tish gave a nasty shiver of disgust, since it didn't come across as comforting at all. "Yes. Thank you, Leticia." Tish gave a nod, and she walked up to his desk, placing the paper down. Before she could leave however, Richard reached out to place his hand upon hers, trapping her palm flat against the desk. His eyes roamed up and down her young form, and he breathed in deeply, the sound close to his ears blocking out Tish clenching her jaw in restrained anger. "That's an interesting perfume." He commented with a leering smile. "What's it called?"

"Soap." Tish answered, and her sudden, blunt yet incredibly simple answer put him off guard for just a moment long enough. When he loosened his grip on her hand, she slid it away and walked off to the office door without another word, getting a disappointed and bitter glare from Richard to her back, not that she cared in the slightest.

* * *

"Oh, black tie." The Doctor groaned as he finished placing on his black and white tuxedo, placing a black bowtie around his neck. "Whenever I wear this, something bad always happens."

"It's not the outfit. That's just you." Martha called as she stepped into the dining room, her hair brushed back and wearing a black dress that flowed down to her heeled feet. "You look…" Martha trailed off, only finishing her sentence with a shake of her hand, and it made him roll his eyes with a groan. "How long is Mum going to take?" She muttered.

"Better yet, how long is Clara going to take?" The Doctor retorted, and Martha gave a snort at his words. Then, the Doctor blinked, and he glanced around the room for a moment before he asked, "Where's-"

"Mum?" Martha interrupted, and he nodded, to which Martha gave him a dull glare. "You were too busy focused on Clara, weren't you?"

"Well…she makes it hard to focus on anything." He admitted with a shy smile, and Martha shook her head.

"Mum has gone to her house to get ready for the party…gathering…event…whatever." Martha finished with a sigh. "She was going to bring Leo along, but he declined."

"Well, it better not be too much." Clara suddenly said as she stepped out from the TARDIS. The Doctor turned around and just stopped dead upon sight of her. She was wearing an emerald-green velvet suit, along with a ruffled white blouse and a small black bow underneath the collar. She wasn't wearing any heels however, probably just in case they might have to run from something or someone tonight. Nevertheless, Clara straightened out her ensemble before looking up to the Doctor, and she smirked at his wide eyes. "See something you like?" She flirted, and he stuttered out a shaky breath.

"Well-its-its-she's…" He trailed off as he gave out another sharp breath. "Well, I mean…yes." He finally admitted, and Clara smiled as she wrung her arms around his neck and brought him down for a kiss.

"The feeling's mutual." She whispered, and he gave her a smug smile before pressing one more kiss upon her lips and then parting, only leaving their arms linked as they moved to the front door after Martha. "Besides, I quite like you in that suit." She commented as they exited the flat, starting to walk off in the direction of Lazarus Laboratories. "It makes me feel like I'm dating James Bond."

"James Bond?!" The Doctor squeaked haughtily before he drew himself up straight with a smug smile. "Really?"

"Oh yeah." Clara agreed as she ran a hand through his suit. "No problem's from me-" She stopped short with a blink, rummaging through his pocket before she pulled out a piece of paper. A very old piece of paper. "Eh?"

The Doctor beamed at Clara upon the sight of her withdrawing the paper. "Oh, brilliant! Thought I'd lost that!" He exclaimed as he took the paper from Clara and unfolded it. "The United States Declaration of Independence. First draft. Well…this was before I got them to stick in the bit about the "Pursuit of happiness"." The Doctor gave a chuckle as he folded it back up and placed it into his pocket. "Thomas Jefferson, he was funny." He muttered in nostalgia. "Spoke Gaelic, you know. Very keen on tomatoes for some reason." He said with a blinking frown, and it made Clara giggle.

"Well, I'm more worried about this dress." Martha jumped with a shock as Francine stepped up from behind them out of nowhere, wearing a bright golden dress with matching heels and a purse in her hand. "Martha, you know I live just around the corner." Francine admonished, and Martha just gave out a sigh to calm herself, before she blinked at the Doctor and Clara.

"We passed that much time just by talking?" She asked, and they just shrugged.

"Pretty much, yeah."

Martha turned to Francine and gave her a kind smile. "Well, Mum, you look great." She commented, and Francine just gave a mocking curtsy.

"If I can't make my ex-husband jealous, maybe it will work on Annalise." Francine quipped, and Martha blinked.

"I don't think they'll be turning up tonight." Martha reminded, and Francine's shoulders drooped.

"Martha, let an old lady dream." She admonished, and Martha laughed as they joined up and resumed their walking.

"Oh look!" The Doctor proclaimed as he pointed to the end of the street. "That must be the place."

"Well, it does say so on the entr-"

"Shhh!" The Doctor hushed with a finger on her lips.

Clara just blinked at him with a half smile of amusement. "Doctor, why?" She simply asked, and he just shrugged.

"Cause I love you, gorgeous." He commented, kissing her cheek as she rolled her eyes playfully. The four of them walked up the street until they reached the stone steps of the Lazarus Laboratories building, which bore a name appropriate banner across the front, and the entrance pillars were lit with bright orange lights. Walking through the main doors, they entered into the expansive reception room, and in the middle was a large chamber with frosted glass on the door, along with four posts that had slight curves at the top, pointing in towards the chamber. As the four came to a stop in the middle of the crowded and talkative room, filled with all manner of guests in suits and dresses, sipping on champagne and eating very small bite sized handfuls of food, the Doctor had a brief moment where he looked at the chamber in a form of inquisitive awe, which quickly vanished as a waitress walked up to them with a tray of nibble food. "Oh look, they've got nibbles!" The Doctor almost squealed as he took some in his free hand and raised it up to his mouth. "I love nibbles." He placed them in his mouth, starting to chew around with the food with a somewhat recognizable smile of delight before he took another handful and offered it to Clara. "Wanna try?" He asked, and she shrugged.

"Why not?" He scooped it into her mouth, and she chewed around for a moment before shrugging with an "Okay" face. "Not bad." She commented after she gulped it down.

"Hello." They heard, turning around to see Tish standing there, wearing a black dress, a black necklace with matching earrings and a matching hair pin holding her hair behind her head, along with a clipboard in her right arm.

"Tish!" Martha beamed and she moved forward to hug her sister. Then as she parted, Francine came forward and hugged her daughter. They parted, standing around each other with the couple watching with a smile as they started to converse.

"You two look great!" Tish complimented, and her sister and mother gave smiles in grateful acceptance. "So, what do you think? Impressive, isn't it?"

"Very." Martha said simply, and Francine just shrugged wordlessly.

"Come on, Mum." Tish whined, and Francine relented.

"Okay, it's not bad." Francine said, and Tish gave a chuckle.

"And that's two nights out in a row for you." Tish commented to Martha. "That's dangerously close to a social life."

Martha cocked one eyebrow for a short moment. "If I keep this up, I'll end up in all the gossip columns."

"You might actually." Tish retorted. "It'll do you some good." Martha gave a sharp yet very mocking intake breath of shock at her words.

"Girls." Francine warned simply, and the two relented with a flush.

"Sorry, Mum." They almost squeaked in unison.

"You might just end up sounding like us in no time." Clara inputted, and Tish looked at them with her bright smile, but her eyes conveyed obvious puzzlement.

"Ah, this is the Doctor and Clara Oswald." Martha introduced.

"Hello." They introduced in unison, shaking Tish's hand in turn.

"Wondered who you two were." Tish commented. "Must be special, someone got you both an invitation."

The couple blinked. "Really?" Tish nodded. "Who?"

"Mr. Saxon." She admitted, and they just stared blankly at her. "The Prime Minister." She reiterated, and they just slowly shook their heads.

"Never heard of him."

"Bloody hell." Tish muttered. "Don't even know who the Prime Minister is." Then, she suddenly gave out a light squeak as she began ruffling through the papers on the clipboard. "Oh! I almost forgot!" She withdrew an envelope and handed it to the Doctor. "This is a message he sent you." The Doctor and Clara just shot each other a look, right before he carefully opened up the unnamed envelope, and pulled out a single card that bore one message.

_I'm watching. ;)_

"What?" The couple muttered in bewilderment, before they just shrugged, and the Doctor pocketed it away.

"What did it say?" Martha asked, and they just shrugged in confusion.

"No clue." They answered as they relinked their arms again. "So, this "Lazarus", he's your boss?" They asked.

"Professor Lazarus, yes." Tish clarified. "I'm part of his executive staff."

"She's in the PR department." Martha inputted, and Tish tilted her head with a mocking glare.

"I'm "Head" of the PR department, actually." Tish said, and Martha's jaw dropped.

"You're joking?" Martha reiterated, and Tish nodded.

"I put this whole thing together."

"So, do you know what the Professor's going to be doing tonight?" The Doctor asked as he looked up at the chamber. "That looks like it might be a sonic micro field manipulator."

"They're science geeks." Tish muttered with a blank look. "I should've known."

"He's the geek, actually." Clara corrected. "I'm just a teacher."

"Oh." Tish nodded simply. "Okay, I've got to get back to work now. I'll catch up with you later." Tish kissed her sister and her mother on the cheek before she walked away, whilst the Doctor bumped Clara with his shoulder.

""Science geek"? What does that mean?"

"It means you're enthusiastically obsessive about it." Clara responded simply with leering eyes. "Brainy is the new sexy."

The Doctor gave a chuckle, before he blinked. "Don't get it."

Clara's shoulders drooped in disappointment. ""Sherlock"." She reiterated, and he just shook his head, causing her jaw to drop. "Jesus Christ, I've got another show for you to watch."

"It's a show?" He asked, and she just nodded.

A sudden interruption came from a spoon clanking against a glass, causing everyone in the room to look towards the chamber, where Richard Lazarus was standing, leaning on his walking stick. "Ladies and gentlemen. I am Professor Richard Lazarus and tonight I am going to perform a miracle." The Doctor and Clara just shot each other a blink of puzzlement, but he continued, nonetheless. "It is, I believe, the most important advance since Rutherford split the atom, the biggest leap since Armstrong stood on the moon. Tonight, you will watch and wonder. Tomorrow, you will wake to a world which will be changed forever." With that, the man gave his walking stick to one of his staff before he opened the door of the chamber and stepped inside, closing it after him. The staff scurried off to work, moving into powering up the machine before one of them pressed a big red button, causing the chamber to flare up with a sudden and very bright blue light. Everyone watching had to either squint their eyes or hold up a hand to shield them as the four posts gave a "Hiss" and a "Click", starting to oscillate and spin around repeatedly whilst the platform they were attached to started to rotate. Very quickly, there became a bright blue blur through which the chamber could just barely be made out as it all began to speed up faster and faster until it almost felt like a low wind was starting to blow through the expansive room. Then, upon a sudden, the computer alarm started to blare loudly, leaving everyone staring at the chamber in puzzlement and worry as the top of the chamber started to give off small sparks.

"Something's wrong." The Doctor muttered, his eyes widening as the blue light began to flash despite it's best efforts to carry on. "It's overloading."

The console began to spark and flare up, causing the staff to back away in frightful terror, and the Doctor and Clara just raced over through the audience and behind the console, where they took out their sonics and started to mess around with the controls, flicking some off, some on, some to minimum and some to maximum. "Somebody stop them!" Lady Sylvia called. "Get them away from those controls!"

"And then it will implode, taking the whole building with it, including you! Is that what you want?!" Clara retorted, as the Doctor pocketed his sonic and yanked out a large silver cable, causing the chamber to stop its progress and slow down to a halt. The blue light then powered down and the chamber shut off. "Get it open!" She ordered, and Martha rushed forward to wrench open the door, causing a whiff of white steam to come pouring out of the chamber, the silhouette of Richard Lazarus barely visible through the fog. The Doctor and Clara came racing around, stopping as a hand reached out to grasp onto the outside of the chamber. Then, Richard Lazarus stepped out of the fog, slow and careful, and the audience gasped in astonishment at the sight. Even the TARDIS couple did not know what to say.

Richard Lazarus, true to his name, had rejuvenated himself completely, and he was young again. Gone were the old wrinkled lines, the dull eyes and the gray hair. Now it was smooth and toned skin, fresh blonde hair and bright, gleaming eyes. The man almost seemed out of breath for a moment, and he found himself taking in deep breaths, only stopping when he went to put his hand to his face. He stared in bewilderment at the hand before placing it upon his own face, and the bewildered stare turned into relieved amazement. "Mirror." He muttered shakily before he cleared his throat, his eyes growing slightly wider at the sound of a youthful voice, free from croaking, wretched gasps. "Mirror." He ordered, and Lady Sylvia came up immediately with a mirror that she placed into his hand. He held it up, and he grew a bright, gleaming and awe filled smile at the sight that beheld him. He suddenly began to chuckle, like a man who had survived through an arduous journey to find himself home, full of relief and wonder, before he gave the mirror back, straightened out his suit, and he held his hands out as he proclaimed, "Ladies and gentlemen…I am Richard Lazarus. I am 76 years old, and I am reborn!"

The audience cheered in marvel and clapped in astonishment, to which he just gave a courteous nod, and Lady Sylvia squealed in delight. "He did it! He actually did it!" She continued to clap with a beaming smile as Richard Lazarus stepped slowly down from the chamber, and people all started to either shake his hand or hug him in preparation for a photograph, and he bathed it all in. No one noticed however that the Doctor, Clara, Martha and Francine were regarding him with grim puzzlement.

"It can't be the same guy." Martha muttered to them with squinting eyes. "That's impossible. It must be a trick."

"Oh, it's not a trick, and I wish it were." The Doctor replied.

"What just happened, then?" Martha asked.

"He just changed what it means to be Human." Clara responded grimly, and Martha gave a low, but somewhat hollow chuckle.

"Isn't he a bit late to the party-" Clara interrupted her by placing her finger to her lips, and Martha muttered a "Sorry" before they returned their attention to Richard, right as Lady Sylvia was walking up to him.

"Excuse me." She repeatedly said to the people standing in the way, taking photographs of Richard, who looked down upon Sylvia with a smug smile. "That was the most astonishing thing I've ever seen." She said, placing her hands mere inches from his cheeks. "Look at you." She squealed, and his smug smile grew wider and brighter.

"This is only the beginning. We're not just making history, we're shaping the future, too."

"And think of the money we'll make." Lady Sylvia added, missing a slightly irritated blink in the man's eyes. "People will sell their souls to be transformed like that." Then, she drew herself up proudly and proclaimed, "And I will be first in line."

Richard nodded, before he felt the bones in his back suddenly clicking, causing a small spasm throughout his body and he let out a gasp, which made Lady Sylvia looked at him in worried puzzlement. Then, once the feeling had passed, Richard suddenly found himself with a craving. When a waitress was about to pass by with a tray of food, he held up a hand to stop her. "So sorry. May I?" He asked, and the waitress simply gave him the tray.

"By all means, sir." She said with a small blush before walking off. Richard then started to gobble up all of the food with a ravishing delight, not wasting any time to enjoy it, and it made Lady Sylvia look at him in disgust.

"Richard!" She admonished.

"Ahm fahmished." He defended through a mouthful of food.

"Energy deficit." The Doctor inputted suddenly over his shoulder, making Richard turn to look at him and Clara. "Always happens with this kind of process."

Richard swallowed, and he gave the Doctor a smile that blended smugness with intrigue. "You speak as if you see this every day, mister…"

"Doctor." The Doctor responded before he shrugged. "Well…no, not every day, but I have some experience of this kind of transformation."

Richard shook his head with a smile. "That's not possible."

"You used hypersonic sound waves to create a state of resonance." Clara spoke up, which made Richard unable to restrain his frown of intrigued bewilderment.

"Which, admittedly, is very inspired." The Doctor added.

"So, you both understand the theory, then?" Richard asked.

"Enough to know that you couldn't possibly have allowed for all the variables." The Doctor answered.

Richard just gave a self-satisfied smirk, one that made Clara glare at him for just half a second before he could notice. "No experiment is entirely without risk." He responded simply before popping another handful of food into his mouth.

"That thing nearly exploded." Clara retorted with a clenched jaw. "You might as well have stepped into a blender."

"You're not qualified to comment!" Lady Sylvia interrupted, and Clara glared at her.

"If we hadn't stopped it, it would have exploded." Clara spelled out, and Lady Sylvia attempted to return her glare, and failed.

"Then I thank you, miss…"

"Clara."

Richard nodded. "Then I thank the both of you." He said, before he brought back his egotistical smile. "But that is a simple engineering issue. What happened inside the capsule was exactly what was supposed to happen. No more, no less." He explained as he placed the tray down on a nearby table, swallowing the food in his mouth before thrusting his hands into his pockets.

"You have no way of knowing that." Martha retorted as she stepped up to stand beside the couple. "Not until you've run proper tests."

Richard laughed at her reasoning. "Look at me." He said, brushing back his hair in a narcissistic manner. "You can see what happened. I'm all the proof you need."

"And this device will be properly certified before we start to operate commercially." Lady Sylvia added, her comment making the couple glower and Martha's eyes widened in shock.

""Commercially"?" She reiterated, and Lady Sylvia shrugged in obviousness. "You're joking. That'll cause chaos."

"Not chaos." Richard denied. "Change. A chance for humanity to evolve, to improve."

"This isn't about improving." Clara growled. "This is about you and your customers living a little longer."

"Not a little longer, Clara. A lot longer. Perhaps indefinitely." Richard said with a shrug, which the trio found only added to his narcissistic ego, rather than create an air of mystery.

"Richard, we have things to discuss." Lady Sylvia interrupted. "Upstairs."

Richard nodded, and he started to follow after her, only pausing to give the trio a wave. "Goodbye, Doctor, Clara. In a few years, the both of you will look back and laugh at how wrong you were." Then, he looked at Martha. "It may improve the cunning you already have." He said with a flirtatious smile as he took Martha's hand and placed a kiss upon her knuckles before he let go and strolled away. Martha felt a shiver of disgust run through her from his kiss, which went into a small spasm of shock as a hand came upon her shoulder. She glanced behind her to see Francine standing there, a glowering fire upon her face.

"Next time he does that, he will regret it." Francine promised to her, and Martha gave her a thankful smile.

"I would hope for nothing less." Martha quipped dryly, earning a smirk from her mother.

"And he's out of his depth." The Doctor muttered as he took Clara's hand to calm her as well. "No idea of the damage he might've done."

"So, what do we do now?" Martha asked.

"Now?" They repeated in unison before they shrugged.

"This building would be full of laboratories." Clara deducted. "And it should be, due to its name, so we should do our own tests."

Martha gave them a sudden smile of mischievousness, and it them made ever so slightly nervous. "Lucky I've just collected a DNA sample, eh?" She asked, holding up her hand that Lazarus kissed, and their faces slowly grew into wide, beaming grins.

"Martha Jones, you are a star." They said in unison, before they turned to Francine. "Miss Jones, would you like to come along or remain here?"

"I'm not staying around that man if that's good enough." Francine answered, and they just shrugged before the four of them moved from the room.

* * *

"Here you go." Lady Sylvia said as she handed Richard a small glass of scotch whilst she held a glass of champagne, and they stood by the window of his office, looking out upon the lit city beyond.

"I grew up over there." Richard said in an almost mournful tone, pointing out to a small batch of buildings nearby. "A tiny flat above a butcher's shop."

"It'll have a blue plaque soon." Lady Sylvia reassured. ""Richard Lazarus lived here"." She quoted but he shook his head.

"It's gone." He said simply. "Destroyed in the war. The bombing."

"Of course." Lady Sylvia nodded.

"1940. Do you remember?" He asked after taking a sip of his drink. "Night after night. Explosions, guns, firestorm. The sound of the planes roaring overhead and the sirens blaring on through the night."

Lady Sylvia shook her head. "My parents had sent me to the country by then." She said simply and he nodded to her words.

"When the sirens blared out in the city, we'd go to the cathedral there." He pointed now to a darkened church that stood nearby the Laboratories. "We used to shelter in the crypt. The living cowering among the dead." He muttered grimly before he took another sip.

"But look at what you've built here, now." Lady Sylvia said in an attempt to take his mind off of the past. "You have laid the foundations for an empire." Then, she gave him a loving grin and placed her free hand upon his cheek. "An empire we can rule together." She used her hand to pull him down for a kiss, but before she could go any further with it, he quickly pulled away with a horrified and disgusted expression on his face. "What?" She asked as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "What's wrong?"

He glanced down at her and gave her a cold smile as he grasped her chin and turned her head so she could look into her reflection in the glass. "Look at yourself, woman." He mocked in an ice-cold tone, and it combined with his simple words made her glower with a restrained rage, and she wrenched his hand away from her face.

"How dare you." She spat, and as she was about to storm from the room, Richard gave a cold chuckle that stopped her track.

"How dare I? It's just the truth." Richard retorted coldly.

"If there was anyone who had the right to use that machine, it would be me." She snarled. "Me, you hear me?!"

"I have every right to that machine, it even has my name attached to it, not yours." Richard retorted. "You are just an assistant."

"All of this was me!" She spat. "It was me that made all of this possible! The funding, the support, the self patience I had to put up with, this is MY triumph, and I will not be denied! Not by you, not after everything I have done for this project!"

Richard snorted. "You backed me because you saw a profit. Your concern was financial." He said simply, taking another sip as if her mere presence meant nothing to him.

"You wanted the money as much as I do!" Lady Sylvia retorted as she strolled back to stand beside him, but he didn't turn to look at her once. What she didn't notice was that he found himself closing his eyes as his neck gave a sudden squelching click, which made him blink repeatedly in shock for a moment before he returned back to her drivel. "We had a plan! When the device was ready, I would be next in line to rejuvenate and then we could have been rich and young and together!"

"You'd think I'd waste another lifetime on you?" Richard growled; his condescending tone made her seethe with unbridled anger.

"That process made you even more cruel, didn't it?!" She accused, and he, for once, looked genuinely confused.

"No." He said with a shake of his head, downing the last of his drink in one gulp. "That I learnt from you. You had a gift for it."

Lady Sylvia clenched her jaw at his words. "Then you know that I will protect my involvement in the project." Richard moved to roll his eyes, but he found his jaw suddenly twitching to the side, and he fought to swallow the painful gasp in his throat as the back of his neck started to scrunch up into a shrivel. "I'm sure Mr. Saxon will be interested-"

"Aaah!" Richard suddenly gasped as his head was flung back, finding himself staring at the ceiling before he returned his gaze to the room, taking deep and repeated breaths as he tried to massage the burning back of his neck.

"Richard?" Lady Sylvia asked, her anger starting to slowly fade as she saw his cheeks beginning to twitch unnaturally. "What's going on?"

"It must just be a-gah!" He gasped, his arm clenching up and starting to increase in length for just a tiny second before it shrunk back to its normal size.

"What is it?" Lady Sylvia asked, her voice now absent of anger but bearing only confusion and bewilderment.

Richard had to take several breaths to calm himself, his voice coming out in rasping gasps. "I'll be fine…in just a moment. It's probably just a cramp." Then, his back began to crack and squeeze up, and his breaths were halted by his throat constricting so tight he couldn't breathe, and he suddenly found himself writhing about on the floor, trying to tug at his bow tie in an effort to breathe.

"Oh, Richard!" Lady Sylvia gasped as he rolled about in wailing agony, his body beginning to contort and his features started to change from young and toned to wrinkled and grey, but not old. "Is it some kind of seizure?! What should I do?!"

Richard's body started to stretch and grow even more thin, his own skin starting to part as the bones of his spine protruded through like spiked barbed wire, his arms grew longer and larger by the second, and his face began to crack. His vision began to turn into a grey haze, and he felt his legs moving to prop himself up off the floor as the pain suddenly vanished. His breathing had turned into low, rumbling growls, and his dulled eyes glanced and squinted at a now horrified Lady Sylvia, and he gave her as best as he could, an ice-cold grin. **"Apologies, my love."** He mocked, and his arm shot out to grasp a bony hand around her mouth, halting the scream from ever being released. **"I'm famished."** He explained in a whisper, his voice much more monstrous than before, and he felt himself raising up a disgusting spiked tail, rather akin to a scorpion's sting, tipped with a spiked blade like a large needle, and shot it straight for the old lady's heart.

* * *

"Laboratories." The Doctor muttered as they continued to move up the stairs, and as they reached the top and were about to round a corner, they ran straight into a man with slick black hair holding a glass of champagne, and the collision caused the liquid to spill all over his suit. "Oh, so sorry." They apologized as they took the champagne from him and used a few spare napkins they had borrowed for the food to help clean his suit.

"Oh, that's very kind of you." The man returned with an air of charm. "But there's no need, thank you." He said as he straightened his suit out again. "The room you seek is through that door." He pointed to a door at the end of the hallway, causing their eyes to flicker towards it. "It's already set up for you."

The couple blinked, giving each other a look of puzzlement before they asked, "How did you-", and they stopped. They had glanced back to see that the man had already disappeared, his footsteps echoing down at the bottom of the stairs and out of sight. "Ooooookay." They drawled out with an air of uncertainty before carrying on, moving down the hallway and through the open door into an empty laboratory.

"Right, computer." The Doctor said, almost rushing over to one with Clara beside him as they hacked into it with their sonics.

"What are those?" Francine asked as she and Martha joined up with them. "Laser spanners?"

The Doctor and Clara internally groaned, thinking at once, _"Like mother, like daughter."_ "Sonic screwdrivers." They said simply to Francine, who just rolled her eyes.

"Okay, like that's an answer."

"No, really, Mum." Martha defended. "They're screwdrivers and they're sonic."

"How is a sonic screwdriver going to assemble a cabinet any faster?" Francine retorted, and the Doctor and Clara had to bite back a sudden laugh.

"Here we go." The Doctor announced as the couple pocketed their sonics. "See?" He pointed to the screen, and Clara understood, but Martha and Francine didn't get it. "Amazing." He muttered.

"What?" The Jones's asked.

"Lazarus's DNA." Clara responded.

"We can't see anything different." Martha muttered in a retort, but Clara held up a finger.

"Just look." She said simply. The Jones's stared closer, and they blinked in shock as the DNA chain gave a quick flash, before it returned to normal.

"Oh my god." Martha muttered. "Did that just change?" The couple nodded, and they shook their heads. "But it can't have."

"But it did." Clara retorted simply.

"It's impossible." Martha muttered, and the couple gave a small smirk.

"And that's two impossible things we've seen so far tonight. Don't you love it when that happens?" He asked Clara specifically, and she just cocked her eyebrows at him playfully.

"That means Lazarus has changed his own molecular patterns." Martha deducted, and the couple nodded, none of them noticing Francine rolling her eyes at them.

"Hypersonic sound waves to destabilize the cell structure, then a metagenic program to manipulate the coding in the protein strands."

"English, please." Francine growled, making the three of them shiver a bit in fear.

"Sorry." They muttered, and Clara moved over to speak to her.

"Basically, he hacked into his own genes and instructed them to rejuvenate." Clara explained, and Francine finally understood. "But…something went wrong." Clara said, pointing back to the DNA. "Because he missed something. Something in his DNA has been activated and won't let him stabilize. Something that's trying to change him."

"Change him into what?" Martha asked, and the couple looked genuinely puzzled.

"We don't know." They shrugged in unison.

"But we need to find out." The Doctor added.

"That woman said they were going upstairs." Martha realized, and they closed down the computer.

"Let's go." The Doctor said, moving from the room.

* * *

Richard Lazarus, now completely fine and back to Human form, stepped out from the elevator into the reception room, still busy with all of its attendees, drinking champagne and eating the offered samples of food. He took a moment to straighten out his new suit of black and dark purple, since the one he had worn just before was destroyed in his change. _Shame. I liked that suit._ For a small moment, he also had to click his neck, which created a disgusting squelching sound once again, but thankfully for him nobody heard it, so he started to move through the people until he caught sight of the woman he was looking for, but her back was turned to him. He reached out a hand and placed it onto her shoulder, causing her to shoot up in shock, glancing behind her, but her face calmed down into an almost blushing smile as she caught sight of him. "Leticia Jones." Richard said with a seductive purr, savoring in her eyes flickering up and down his improved form. "I recognize the smell of that soap anywhere."

"Professor." She greeted with shy eyes casted down, but he did catch them flickering up approvingly to his face.

Richard gave her a smile as he slyly wrapped an arm around her waist, making her blush in surprise at the action, but she didn't protest. "I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen." He said to the audience, who had for a brief moment turned their attention back to him. "You'll have to excuse me while I take care of Leticia here. I've been neglecting her." He explained simply, hiding the sly gleam in his eyes as he led her out of the reception.

* * *

The Doctor, Clara, and the Jones's stepped out from the elevator, finding themselves at the entrance to Lazarus's office, yet it was dark due to the lights being turned off. Martha reached out, fumbling around the walls in the dark until she felt the light switch in her hand, and she flicked it on, light returning to the room once again. "This is his office, all right." Martha commented, the TARDIS couple having their hands in their pockets as they glanced around the room, but there was no one to be seen.

"So, where is he?" They asked in unison, and Martha shrugged.

"Don't know. Let's try back at the r…" Martha stopped, as her gaze fell upon his desk and she could see a gnarled foot in a heel just poking out into view from behind it, and it made her eyes slowly widen in shock. "Reception." She finished, and the couple and her mother followed her gaze, and their eyes widened, moving quickly get around the desk, and the Jones's held their hands to their mouths in sudden horror. The body was now in full view, and it was the deceased Lady Sylvia, but she was a complete carcass, dry and absent of skin, eyes, anything except for her clothes, which were decently untouched except for a sharp hole in her dead chest. "It's that Lady Thaw." Martha muttered, immediately taking her mother's hand at the sight, whilst the couple knelt down with grim expressions beside the corpse.

"It used to be." The Doctor deducted. "Now it's just a shell. She had all of her life force drained out. Like squeezing an orange dry of all its juices."

"Was this him?" Francine asked with a clenched jaw and horrified eyes. "Was this Lazarus?"

"Most likely."

"Did he change already?" Martha asked, and they shrugged.

"Maybe not all the way." Clara explained. "You saw the DNA. It was like having a seizure, and whatever process he's going to have would require energy. I'm afraid Lady Thaw might not have been enough."

She and the Doctor exchanged a look before they glanced up at the Jones's and said, "Reception." The four of them dashed from the room and back into one of the elevators, and the door closed just as it's neighbor opened up, where Richard and Tish came strolling out it into the room.

"You seem very young to have such a responsible position." Richard commented, and Tish gave a blush at his words as she placed her clipboard down upon his desk. "Have you much experience?"

Tish shook her head. "Not really. But the interview panel thought I had all the necessary attributes."

Richard gave her a smile as he said, "How perceptive of them."

Tish blushed once again, and she stuttered, "Whe-where are you taking me?"

"Up to the roof." He explained. "It's a lovely evening, so I thought I'd show you the view. It's extraordinary."

Tish gave him as best of a flirtatious smile as she could considering her blush. "Like a lot of things around here, then." She purred as they walked off down the hallway.

* * *

The TARDIS couple and the Jones's walked back into the reception, staring around quickly but finding no sign of Professor Lazarus. "Where is he?" The Doctor asked. "Where is he, Clara? He's just vanished."

"You can trace him."

The couple wheeled around, and their eyes widened in surprise. The voice belonged to the same mysterious man from earlier, and he was carrying a fresh glass of champagne in his hand. "Who are you?" They asked, and he gave a small smile for just a moment.

"I am of little importance, but if you want, my name is Augustus." Then, he took one sip of his champagne, and looked around. "Now, think on this. Richard Lazarus's entire staff consist of young and beautiful women despite his age of 76. All of the girls thought he was creepy at best and repulsive at worst, but now…" He pointed to a couple of female waitresses who were talking and giggling to themselves. "Now, is there anyone else you recognize who is missing in this room?" The man asked, and the four looked around, but it was Martha and Francine's turn to have their eyes widen in shock.

"Tish." They muttered, and the man shrugged.

"He'll be upstairs." He added, before taking another sip of champagne. "Very far upstairs."

"How do you know all-" The couple stopped as they looked back, but the man was gone, his shadow briefly seen around a corner, but it was only for the briefest second. "Oookay." They drawled out, right until Francine stepped up to them in a state of worry.

"We need to find Tish. And quick." She said, and the Doctor discreetly took out his sonic as they led the Jones's from the room and back to the elevator.

"Fluctuating DNA might give off an energy signature." He said as he flicked through the settings, and the elevator took them quickly up towards the top floor of the building. "I might be able to pick him up." The elevator swiftly reached the top floor, and they stepped out just as the Doctor's sonic gave a small beeping noise in confirmation. "Got him."

"Where is he?" Francine asked, and the Doctor pointed up to the ceiling.

"But we're on the top floor…" Martha trailed off, and she quickly nodded. "The roof."

"Come on!" Clara ordered, and they raced towards the stairwell.

* * *

"That clock tower's beautiful all lit up like that." Tish commented with awe in her voice as she and Lazarus stared at a nearby church, standing on the rooftop in the cold night outside.

"It's "Southwark Cathedral"." Richard explained. "One of the oldest churches in London. Been around for even longer than I have." He said, placing his hands together behind his back.

Tish took her eyes away from the church and towards him, her gaze flittering in approval up and down his form, whilst he just gave a smug smirk in her direction. "You're looking pretty good for your age."

"Thank you." He returned slyly, and she grinned.

"Can I?" She asked, holding a hand up to his face.

"Of course." He responded.

Tish slowly, despite her shaking hand, placed the back of her fingers against his cheek, carefully brushing against his now smoother skin. Richard, like a pet, nudged his cheek closer against her hand with his eyes closed, whilst she still stared at him in amazed disbelief. "Still can't take it in."

He, for just the briefest second, gave a knowing smile that was bereft of any sly flirtation, shrugging ever so slightly to himself. "I'm still adjusting myself." He admitted. "I've been working towards it for so many years, it's hard to believe that the moment's finally arrived."

"And is it like you expected?" Tish asked.

He gave her a smile, taking a breath as he stared off towards the cathedral. "I find that nothing's ever exactly like you expect. There's always something to surprise you." Tish gave him a slightly puzzled look, and he reiterated with, ""Between the idea and the reality, between the motion and the act"-"

""Falls the shadow"." The pair turned around, suddenly spotting the TARDIS couple and Tish's sister and mother. Martha and Francine were looking at Tish with worried eyes whilst the Doctor and Clara just stared grimly at Richard.

"So, the mysterious Clara knows her Elliot. I'm impressed." Richard said with a smile.

"I'm a teacher." Clara said simply.

"Mum, Martha." Tish muttered. "What are you doing here?"

"Tish, get away from him." Martha said simply.

"What?" Tish blinked before she shook her head. "Don't tell me what to-"

"Leticia." Francine growled, and it made Tish blink repeatedly at her tone. "Get away from him." She repeated.

Tish found herself shuffling over in timid nervousness, just as Richard chuckled. "It's a pity. I was actually starting to have f-"

His words were cut off with a loud smack, and the four looked over with wide eyes at Francine's thunderous face. "Keep away from my daughter." She snarled as Richard massaged his stinging cheek.

Richard let his jaw snap back into place, but he held back a spasm in his eyes as it twitched to the other direction, before it faded away. "It wasn't going to be fun in THAT way." He defended, but Clara interrupted with a scoff.

"76-year-old man with an entire staff of young women?" Clara asked rhetorically before she shook her head. "I don't think so." She muttered with a glare as Francine returned to stand beside her daughters. "Must've been the only reason you got into poetry, since you were otherwise too busy trying to defy the laws of nature."

"I didn't try, I succeeded." Richard retorted. "Besides, one lifetime is too short for me to do everything I'd like. Imagine how much more I'll get done in two or three or four."

"And it doesn't work like that." The Doctor inputted grimly. "Some people live more in twenty years than others do in eighty. It's not the time that matters, it's the person."

"But if it's the right person, what a gift that would be." Richard retorted.

"Or what a curse." Clara growled, and Richard's jaw slowly clenched as he began to return her glare in force. "Look at what you've done to yourself."

"Who are you to judge me?" Richard asked in a matching tone, and she gave him a cold smile.

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you."

Richard returned the cold smile, even as his neck started to spasm out of control. "I would argue…" He trailed off as the cracking migrated from his neck and down his back, spreading quickly throughout his body as he let out a sudden gasp of pain, collapsing on his knees to the ground. Then, he began to change right before their widening, horrified eyes, his skin getting paler and his size growing and growing until he had returned to his newfound form of a monstrous, skeleton scorpion creature, complete with stinger and all.

"My god." Tish muttered as the group began to step slowly back to the door. "I was going to snog that?" She asked, and the answer came from Lazarus, who's mutated voice started to laugh coldly at them.

"Run!" The couple ordered, and the four of them raced back inside as the Doctor closed and locked the door behind him.

"Blast these heels." Francine said as she, Tish and Martha whipped theirs off, holding them in one hand as they heard the monster Lazarus had become starting to bang against the door, and all at once, the lights switched off to a low dim and an alarm started to blare around them.

_"Security One. Security One. Security One."_ An automated female voice spoke, making Martha and Francine look at Tish.

"What's happening?" They asked.

"An intrusion." Tish explained. "It triggers a security lockdown, which kills most of the power, stops the lifts and seals the exits." Then, she and Martha looked worridley at Francine, who had her hand to her head and was breathing shakily. "Mum? You okay?"

Francine blinked. "Yeah. No. Maybe." She said before pursing her lips together with a sigh.

Another crashing sound made them jump with a shock, and they heard an inhuman, animalistic growl coming through the room, just as the TARDIS couple came running back to them. "We haven't got much time, now get to the stairs!" The Doctor ordered, the four of them racing down the stairs until the crashing became a distant noise, right before it stopped suddenly with a loud smash, just as they had reached the reception floor.

"Tish, is there another way out of here?" Clara asked as they got off the stairwell.

"There's an exit in the corner, but it'll be locked now."

"Martha, setting 54, and hurry." Clara said, tossing Martha her sonic as the Doctor went to stand in front of the chamber in the center of the room.

"Listen to me!" He called, earning the puzzled attention of the audience, who in the meantime had been staring around in bewildered nervousness due to the dimmed lights and the lockdown. "You people are in serious danger! You need to get out of here right now!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" One of the guests, a woman, scoffed in response. "The biggest danger here is choking on an olive!"

The retort to that came from the monster, who crashed through glass as he came down upon their level, standing at the top of the stairwell and looking down upon them all. Lazarus reared up upon his boney, crimson skeleton legs and gave out a dreadful, guttural roar, causing the people in the room to shriek in terror as they started to scramble to the door, and the monster jumped down from the stairwell, landing with a crash onto the floor. The Jones's managed to open the door just in time, and everyone began pouring out from the building, spilling food and drink everywhere as they dropped their glasses and trays, all smashing and clanging to the floor as they went. Lazarus however started to charge through the room, using one of his massive legs to swat aside a cloth covered round table, and it smacked straight into the woman who had last spoken, and she crashed down to the floor with a ringing head. "No, get away from her!" The couple roared, but Lazarus ignored them. He reared his stinger tail right up above, aiming straight at the woman before it shot forward and pierced her in the heart. The woman screamed in agony, which quickly into a choking gurgle as the blood drained from her face and her skin shriveled and shrunk until all that was left was a smoking corpse, which Lazarus dropped carelessly to the floor as he removed his stinger from her. The monster, after giving a low purr of satisfaction, glanced up towards the Jones family, who were doing their best to help the last of the guests out, and he started to advance upon them, halting only when a small woman stepped in front to bar his way.

"Lazarus! Leave them alone!" Clara called, whilst the Doctor ran over to the Jones family.

"Martha, you need to open the main doors. And be sure that everyone gets out and doesn't come back in." The Doctor ordered.

"What about you two?" Martha asked worriedly, and he just shrugged.

"We'll be fine." He said simply as Clara continued to taunt Lazarus.

"What's the point?!" She asked rhetorically. "The mutation's too strong! Killing those people won't help you!" Lazarus gave a snarl in retort, and Clara just gave him a cold smirk. "You're a fool. A vain old man who thought he could defy nature, only nature got her own back, didn't she?" She asked as the Doctor rejoined her by her side.

"You're a joke, Lazarus!" He taunted, and Lazarus reared up on his legs as he snarled at them with glowering dull eyes. "A footnote in the history of failure!" The couple then sprinted straight out of the room and into a long hallway lined with glass windows, up at the end being the entrance to the basement of the building. The Doctor used his sonic upon the door to wrench it open, and they entered just in time to see Lazarus scrambling along the ceiling of the hallway before they closed it. The basement was full of pipes and control panels, steam hissing from the pipes every once in a while and the only light in the room was the lights that lay hanging off the ceiling, not providing very much illumination into the room. The couple quickly and quietly moved through the pipes to remain hidden within the darkness, whilst the door to the basement was slammed open by the monster, and he squeezed through inside, but nothing happened. There was just a low growling from Lazarus, followed by the slow stomping of steps as he started to pace through what space he had in the room.

**"It's no good, my dears."** Lazarus called, his voice echoing throughout the room, almost as if it was ringing all around them. **"You cannot stop me."**

"Is that the same arrogance you had when you swore nothing had gone wrong with your device?!" The Doctor retorted, and his echoing voice would've made it hard for Lazarus to determine where exactly he was in the room.

**"The arrogance is yours. You can't stand in the way of progress."**

"You call feeding on innocent people "Progress"?!" Clara bit back with a scoff. "You are delusional!" She roared, and Lazarus gave a low chuckle in his deformed throat.

**"It is a necessary sacrifice."**

"That is not your decision to make." Clara growled in almost a whisper, taking the Doctor's hand in hers as they started to slink their way through the pipes and towards the door. Just as they came out of the deep darkness and grasped the door handle, the lights suddenly flared on, and they found themselves glancing down to the end of the room, where the monstrous Lazarus was glaring with a cold grin straight into their eyes.

**"Peek-a-boo."** He taunted, just as they wrenched the door open and sprinted back out into the hallway once again.

* * *

The guests all started to clamber towards the front entrance but as they started to slam into it, they found that it was locked, and they couldn't get out. "Where's the security desk?!" Martha asked Tish over the clamoring noise.

"There!" She pointed to a small booth entrance by the door. Martha leapt over the counter and the chairs behind it, before she started to use the sonic on the control panels that lay darkened on the wall. Then, the lights on the panel flickered green and red and the room lit up brightly, before an alarm sounded and the guests all pushed the door straight open as they poured out of the building, still shrieking and gasping as they went. Martha gave a laugh as she dove back over the counter and towards her mother and sister. "I'm sorry, but I've got to go back." Martha said as the noise from the guests died down at the entrance.

"You can't!" Francine retorted worridley. "You saw that thing; it will kill you!"

"I have to go back, Mum." Martha said, but Francine shook her head sternly.

"I will not let my daughter go back in there against that thing, even if I already like that couple, goddammit!" Francine growled, and she placed her heels into Martha's hands before taking Clara's sonic from her.

"Mum, I can't let you go!" Martha retorted, but Francine held up a finger to make her quiet.

"Stay here with Tish, Martha." Francine ordered. "Besides, you're going to be a doctor, and I can't do that. I never understood all that gobbledygook in ER and that had George Clooney, for crying out loud!" She exclaimed haughtily before catching herself short with a sigh. "Stay here." She finally concluded before moving back into the room.

* * *

"Labs." The Doctor muttered as Clara and him raced into a lab, the thundering, heavy footsteps of the monster getting closer and closer by the second.

"Doctor, gas." Clara said, motioning towards the Bunsen burners, and he nodded in understanding. The couple started to dart around the room, turning on Bunsen burners but making sure no flame was coming out, then the Doctor tore a light fitting apart whilst Clara tore off a gas fitting tube and they hid behind a desk, and it was just in time, for the door came crashing apart and Lazarus crawled inside the room.

**"More hide and seek?"** The monster growled, and the couple did their best to crawl noiselessly towards the exit. **"This is becoming tiresome, my dears. Why don't you come out and face me?"**

The couple looked at each other with a playful grin, and the Doctor called out, "Have you looked in the mirror lately?" They stood up, seeing the monster at the other side of the room, glowering at them with his dull eyes. "Why would we want to face that, hmm?" Then, just as the monster was about to scramble over the desks towards them, the couple started to sprint out the already open door, flicking on the lights and the resulting domino effect sent the lab into a chaotic explosion, knocking the couple square off their feet and into a wall, but they remained unharmed, with the exception of ringing ears and throbbing nerves.

"Ow." They muttered, getting themselves up off the floor with a groan and they started to sprint down the hallway, running around a corner straight into Francine. "What are you doing here?!" They asked.

"I was returning this." She said, placing Clara's sonic back into her hand.

"Oh. Thank you." Clara said, pocketing the device.

"Martha thought you might have needed it." Francine said, and she quickly grew a little bit nervous at their mischevious looks. "What?"

"How she got anywhere in life is beyond me." The Doctor quipped, and Clara laughed, whilst Francine let her jaw drop incredulously.

"I'm not that protective!" She retorted, and they just raised their eyebrows at her in challenge. "I'm not!" She said, her voice starting to get a light squeak in her words. "What about that…thing?" She asked. "Did the explosion do anything?"

"Lazarus?" They reiterated, and the answer came from the monster giving off another growl as he started to smash his way out of the ruined lab. "Yeah, um…it annoyed him." They said, wheeling Francine around and starting to lead her away. They raced back down the stairs towards the reception, entering the room just as they heard the monster giving out a loud roar and his thunderous footsteps started to come closer down the stairwell.

"What now?" Francine asked, and the couple shrugged, making her clench her jaw. "Oh, for goodness sake!" She snapped, taking them by their arms and shoving them towards the chamber. "Get in!"

"What?!" They retorted.

"Well, we can't lead him outside, and have you got a better idea?!"

"No!" They said as they slammed the door behind them. A deadly, tense silence fell as the creature outside came rushing into the room, before he stopped short. Then, Lazarus started to pace around the room, looking towards every hidden corner and dark shadow, but he could find no sign of them, not until his gaze fell upon his machine.

"He knows we're here, right?" Francine asked in a low whisper, and they nodded.

"This is his masterpiece." The Doctor said. "Let's hope that he won't destroy it to get at us. Problem now is that we're trapped in here. Was there a plan b?" He asked, but Francine didn't respond, and it was enough for them. "You're joking?" He asked, and Francine rolled her eyes.

"I didn't have time to think!" Francine retorted. "Besides, did you see him?! He was all…bones and blood and just…" Francine shivered, her breath starting to become shaky and ragged until Clara took her hand to comfort her.

"Hey, hey, calm down. Breathe." Clara said, and Francine had to take a moment. "Just breathe. Breathe. It's not everyday you get to meet the Scorpion King." The Doctor and Francine just blinked, staring in confusion at Clara, who's humorous gaze quickly turned into bewildered frustration. ""The Scorpion King"." Clara reiterated, but neither responded. "Dwayne Johnson?" She tried again, but no response was the answer, and it made her clench her jaw. "Seriously, does nobody remember "The Mummy Returns"?"

"Which one was that?" They asked, and Clara let out a growl of irritation.

"You know what?" Clara asked rhetorically with a dry laugh. "I give up. I'm done." Her dry comment made the Doctor and Francine chuckle, whilst they shared confused glances at Clara's attempt of referencing humor. In the meanwhile, Clara took out her sonic again and started to slide down to squat inside the chamber.

"Hey, watch it!" Francine said, her and the Doctor trying to squeeze up against the glass to provide Clara with room, which was barely a couple of inches, and the top quarter of Clara's vision was blocked by either Francine's dress or her hair drooping over her face.

"This chamber is obviously not meant to have three people in it." The Doctor said as he reached down to help keep Clara's hair out of her vision.

"What are you going to do with that?" Francine asked as Clara shot the Doctor a thankful look at his action.

"Improvise." Clara said simply as she tore out a small panel in the floor, coming across a whole heap of wires, but she shrugged. "I may not be a science geek, but I know a little something." Clara said, starting to pluck the wires up, then she paused, and glanced up with an embarrassed flush to the Doctor. _"Uh…how do you do this?"_ She asked in his mind as he kept his hand on her head.

_"Take a wire coupling and connect the wires through the appropriate sockets."_ The Doctor said.

" _Well, I don't know if you know, but I don't have a-"_ Her internal rant was cut short as the Doctor withdrew out a small connector and held it before her eyes. _"Okay, I take that back."_ She said, taking the connecter and starting to work on the wires. The three of them then gave a sudden jump as Lazarus bumped into the chamber, giving out a loud growl as he started to pace around, peering inside upon every angle he could use, but not once did he try to break in or tear the door apart.

"Where did that…thing come from? "Francine asked, staring with wide, fearful eyes at the creature's hazy figure through the glass.

"From Lazarus." The Doctor explained simply as he also stared at the creature, his eyes conveying nervous anxiousness rather than fear.

"Is he an alien or is he now an alien?" Francine asked, and the Doctor shook his head.

"No, and no. For once, he is strictly Human, and he still is strictly Human."

"How can that be Human?" Francine retorted with a snap.

"Because it's part of his DNA." The Doctor explained. "It was probably a dormant gene, and the energy field in this chamber must have reactivated them, and now they're becoming dominant."

"Is this…what we become or…" Francine trailed off, and the Doctor shook his head.

"No, this is what could have been. It's just an option that evolution rejected for you millions of years ago, but the potential is still there, locked away in your genes. All completely forgotten until Lazarus unlocked it by mistake."

"Nearly there." Clara said, just as the blue lights of the chamber suddenly flickered on, leaving the couple and Francine to look about them in wide eyed nervousness.

"Shit." Francine cursed, and Clara went to work double time on the wiring. "Will that happen to the three of us?"

"Three of us, in a potentially faulty chamber that wants to redo our aging, whilst one of us can't age and another ages incredibly slowly?" Clara reiterated, and she shook her head. "I don't think we want to find out."

"If only he would have taken longer to turn it on." Francine wished.

"Our thoughts exactly." They said in unison as the machine started to speed up faster and faster, to the point that they could barely hear Lazarus' animalistic growling, and the lights in the chamber started to flare up, causing Francine to shield her eyes.

"I don't want to hurry you, but can you please hurry up?!" Francine exclaimed.

"I know, I know! I'm nearly done!"

"Well, what are you doing?!"

"I'm trying to set the chamber to reflect energy rather than receive it!"

"Will that kill him?!"

"I don't know!" Clara snapped, just as she finished her work. "Here we go!" She took the connector and twisted it, whilst the chamber continued to build and build the energy until it reached it's breaking point. Then, the energy gave out a loud blast outside the chamber and they heard Lazarus roar in agony, followed by a loud crash and a shatter of table and chairs. Then, a silence started to fall onto them, as the chamber powered down, and the lights dimmed once again. The trio, giving each other a small look of puzzled anxiousness, stepped cautiously out of the chamber, looking around to the sight of the room still somewhat clean, despite the trashed tables and chairs, mixed in with the spilt drinks, food and smashed glass strewn about the floor.

"I thought we were going to be blended through hell and back, just then." Francine muttered dryly as she held her head in one hand, whilst the Doctor helped a groaning Clara to stand up straight again.

"I didn't think it would take so long to reverse the polarity." Clara grumbled as the Doctor massaged her aching spine. "I guess I'm still just a novice at it." The trio then moved away from the chamber, instantly spotting in the corner of their vision, the bare-naked body of Richard Lazarus, still young and fair of form, lying face down on the floor.

"Mum!" They heard two voices calling, the figures that they belonged to rushing outside the doors towards them.

"Doctor! Clara! What happened?!" Martha and Tish ran into the room towards them, mainly towards Francine, yet they stopped their anxious questioning as they saw the sad faces of the trio, and they looked with slowly widening eyes towards Richard's unmoving form.

"He still seems so…Human." Francine muttered, taking a slow step forward with her hand at her collarbone. "It's…it's just…"

"Pitiful?" Clara finished for her, and she gave a wordless nod. "Elliot saw that, too. "This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang, but a whimper"."

"Mum?" Martha asked as she placed her hand on Francine's shoulder, but Francine did not move. "Are you all right?" Francine did not respond, still staring with dull, sad eyes at Richard, so Martha and Tish brought her into a hug, and she slowly softened, giving out a shaking sigh as she wrapped her own arms around her two daughters.

* * *

The ambulances arrived shortly thereafter, taking away the smoking corpses from the building and the body of one Richard Lazarus, all the while the remaining guests either left or still stood by the building, trying to catch their breaths and calm themselves, a couple even needing some attention from the medics due to hyperventilating shock from the night's event. "It's a shame." Clara muttered as she leaned her head against the Doctor's chest. "I was hoping the night would go better than this."

"It's my suit." The Doctor quipped with one arm around Clara. "Everything goes wrong with this suit."

Clara turned her head to give him a heated glare and a smile. "That's a shame." She flirted, as he placed two fingers under her chin.

"Yours is not." He returned, placing a kiss just under her lips. "But you intended that, didn't you?" He asked, receiving a giggle in response.

"Yep." And the Doctor couldn't help it. Her single word answer, her mischevious gaze and her beaming smile made him lean forward, and he pressed a hungry kiss to her soft lips. Unfortunately, the sweet moment didn't last long, for the ambulance had suddenly crashed nearby, causing the couple to part in wide eyed worry, looking up the street where it had gone. By their reckoning, it would've crashed quite close to Southwark Cathedral.

"Fuck." The Doctor cursed under his breath. "I was enjoying that."

"We'll resume it later, okay?" Clara promised, giving him a kiss on the cheek before they sprinted off in the direction of the ambulance, which had crashed into a street lamp and it's back doors were flung right open. Peering inside, they found the doctors within had been drained of all their life energy, and had been left as hollow, dried out corpses.

"Lazarus?" They turned to see the Jones's had followed them, and it was Martha that asked the question.

"Back from the dead." Clara answered with a nod. "Should've known, really."

"Where's he gone?" Martha asked.

The Doctor took out his sonic and began to scan as he turned around on the spot, before the sonic beeped and pulsed as it pointed in the direction of- "The church." He deducted, the group turning to look up at the building looming overhead.

"Cathedral." Tish corrected, making them all blink at her, so she reiterated. "It's "Southwark Cathedral". He told me."

The Doctor glanced over at Clara, who just shrugged at him, and they moved towards the church, the Doctor keeping his sonic pointed out in front of him, even as they entered through an already open door in the church, albeit it was partially open. "Do you think he's in here?" Martha whispered to the couple as they inched cautiously through into the church.

"Where would you go if you were looking for sanctuary?" Clara asked rhetorically as they passed slowly by the chairs and up towards the altar, covered with a red and gold embroidered cloth. Clara then stopped and put her hand on the Doctor's, so he switched the sonic off and pocketed it away. They could hear, just behind the altar, a man shivering and shaking, gasping as if a sudden pain was continuously robbing him of breath. Giving each other a reassuring nod, they started to move around the altar, and they saw the man, sitting down on the floor with only a red blanket from the ambulance covering his obviously naked form. However what they found was that his hair was completely wrecked and unkempt, his body covered in sweat as if he'd just run a marathon, and his breathing was loud and raspy. The man glanced up towards the group, and for the first time, they could see pure fear and anxiousness in his wide eyes. He then used his hands to draw the blanket over him more, covering more of his body up to his chest, just after he had drawn his legs closer into him like a scared child.

"I came here before, a lifetime ago." Richard said in a hoarse voice as his hand continued to massage his aching neck. "I thought I was going to die then. In fact, I was sure of it. All those planes outside, and the bombs dropping, it was…" He trailed off, shaking his head with a shiver.

"The Blitz." Clara inputted, and he gave her a genuinely impressed look.

"You taught that to kids?" He asked, and she shook her head.

"No. We were there." Clara said simply, and his eyes conveyed disbelief at her words.

"You're too young, the both of you."

"So are you." The Doctor retorted lightly, and Richard gave a chuckle that was interrupted by his spine convulsing for a moment, and he gave out another gasp, almost kneeling over if not for his hand bracing himself against the floor. After a moment of painful breathing, he resumed his huddled position, his gaze darting around the room.

"In the morning, the fires had died, and I was still alive." Richard continued. "I swore I'd never face death like that again. So defenseless…I would arm myself, fight back, defeat it." He said as if he was swearing a vow.

"That was what you were trying to do today?" Clara retorted, and like a flash, the genuine emotion in his eyes vanished and back came the same old egotistical Richard.

"That's what I DID today." He retorted with a glare.

"And what about the other people that died?!" She spat, and he clenched his jaw.

"They were nothing." He growled. "I changed the course of history."

"Any of them might have done as well!" Clara growled back. "Do you think history's only made with equations?! Facing death is part of being Human, and you can't change that!"

"No, Clara, avoiding death, THAT'S being Human." He retorted back, his own posture quickly melting away from the scared child into that of a snarling animal. "It's our strongest impulse, to cling to life with every fiber of being. I'm only doing what everyone before me has tried to do. I've simply been more…successfu-" His final word was cut off yet again, as his spine tried to convulse and contort before it stopped, and the only noises he could make were more, rasping gasps.

"Look at yourself." The Doctor inputted as Richard struggled to regain his breath. "You are mutating, and you can't control it. You call that a success?"

"I call it progress." Richard retorted, his words coming out just in time before his jaw twitched violently, causing him to grip his jaw with one hand until it settled. "I'm more now than I was before." He muttered through shaking breaths. "More than just an ordinary Human."

"There's no such thing as an "Ordinary Human"." The Doctor retorted calmly, whilst Clara's hand clenched itself in her irritated anger. Richard started to chuckle at the Doctor's words, until his body started to convulse again, whilst the Doctor took Clara's hand to calm her, and for a plan. _"If we can get him up into the top of the bell tower somehow, I have an idea that might work."_ The Doctor said mentally, and Clara gave him a sideways look in agreement.

_"Let me lead him up there."_ Clara said back, and he squeezed her hand in silent reassurance before they parted, just as Richard stopped convulsing and his breath turned from rasping into wheezing.

"You're so sentimental, the both of you." Richard gasped. "I'm not sure about you, Clara, but I bet that you, Doctor, are older than you look."

"I'm old enough to know that a longer life isn't always a better one." He said grimly. "In the end, you just get tired. Tired of the struggle, tired of losing everyone that matters to you. Tired of watching everything turn to dust." The Doctor took two steps forward and squatted down to look Richard in the eyes. "If you live long enough, Lazarus, the only certainty left is that you'll end up alone."

Richard didn't exactly believe his last few words, shooting a glance towards Clara, but he did not speak his thought. "That's a price worth paying." Richard retorted, and the Doctor just raised his eyebrows in challenge.

"Is it?"

Richard convulsed once again, but when he raised his head to regain his breath, his eyes had already turned dull grey and the corner of his lips began to crack. "I will feed soon." He swore, his voice starting to become modulated.

"We're not going to let that happen." The Doctor swore back, and Richard gave a cold chuckle under his raspy breath.

"The both of you have not been able to stop me so far." He retorted.

"Leave him, Lazarus." Clara interrupted as she started to walk around the pair on the floor, not noticing that Francine had already moved to join her. "He's old and bitter. I thought you had a taste for younger…fresher meat." She ushered, and the Doctor managed to make it seem like he was genuinely shocked and hurt by her words.

"Clara, no!" But Richard ignored his protest and with a snarl, he started after her, Clara already having rushed off down towards the stairwell door so she could ascent the tower.

"What are you doing?!" She called, as she realized that Francine had joined alongside her as well.

"I'm keeping you out of trouble!" Francine retorted as Clara flung open the door and started to bound up the stairwell. As they already reached the midway point of the stairwell, they heard Richard give out a loud, agonizing cry, which quickly turned into a loud, animalistic roar. "He's changed again." Francine deducted with a sharp breath.

"Keep moving." Clara said as they regained their speed. "We have to lead him up."

* * *

"Where are they?" The Doctor muttered, as he, Martha and Tish continued to glance around at the massive room in the transept. "Clara?!"

"Mum?!" Martha and Tish called.

"Up here!" Clara called down to them, she and Francine having reached the passageway in the clerestory. "We're all right!" Clara rolled her eyes to herself at that thought. "So far!" They saw Francine patting Clara's arm, and she turned around to look behind them. The sudden snarl from Lazarus made Clara and Francine start to rush off yet again.

"Come on, think, think, think." The Doctor muttered, smacking his head in time with his words. "Hypersonic sound, what in a church could create loud sound?" Then, he stopped, his hands paused in the air before he let them drop with a groan. "Organ. Of course." He muttered sarcastically to himself. "What else could it be?" He then started to run, only pausing for a just a moment to call over his shoulder, "Organ loft!", and his words made Martha and Tish rush to catch up with him, as they bounded through doorway after doorway and up a flight of steps until they managed to reach the organ, the Doctor immediately taking a seat in front of it, whilst the Jones sisters stood on either side of him. "Hypersonic sound waves." The Doctor said out loud, sending a grin to the pair beside him. "Inspired." He took out his sonic, switched the settings around before inserting it into the organ. "Tish, those stop knobs, pull out all the ones under pedal and opera. Martha, turn the main volume setting up to 11."

"Why?" They asked, and he shrugged.

"I don't know!" He retorted. "I don't have an organ that I play in my spare time!" Then, he blinked at that with a small flush. "Okay, I do, but it's just-" The Jones's just raised their eyebrows at him, and he gulped nervously. "Jus-jus-jus-just pull out those knobs!" He ordered as he cracked his fingers, and the Jones's did as they were bade. Then, he quickly reached into his pockets and pulled out three sets of ear plugs. "You'll need these." The Jones's said nothing in retort to his words, and they quickly plucked a pair each.

* * *

Clara and Francine managed to reach the top of the bell tower, the monstrous Lazarus close behind and approaching swiftly, and they rounded around the walkway underneath the bell, so that they could face the door they had just entered. "Well, now we're trapped." Francine said dryly, whilst Clara pulled out two pairs of ear buds, and gave Francine a look. "What?" Clara just nodded, and Francine blinked. "What?"

Clara rolled her eyes with a groan, and she explained, "It's going to get loud." Francine blinked, before she sighed and took a pair for herself. "Besides, we're not really trapped." Clara said optimistically, but Francine glared at her.

"We're bait?" She growled, and Clara shrank back nervously for a second.

"Well, it's for the-"

**"Ladies."** Lazarus suddenly drawled out as he crashed his way through the door and entered into their sights properly. He braced his forward arms upon the wooden hand railing and gave them a cold smile, at least what he could give due to his mutated facial features, and he growled at them with his tail spike raised offensively.

"Stay behind me." Clara said, standing in front of Francine with her arms behind her back to guard her. "If he takes me, make a run for it."

"Fat chance." Francine snapped, taking Clara and spinning them around so Clara was behind Francine.

"What are you-"

"I'm not letting you die here." Francine growled, and it was just in time, for Lazarus gave out an aggressive roar before he swiped at them with his tail. They ducked, and then he lunged with the next swipe. They ducked, but the tail smashed the wooden hand railing in front of them. Lazarus swiped again, this time Francine had to toss Clara to the side as she ducked so it wouldn't hit either of them, the pair of them landing on their sides on the walkway. As Francine moved to stand up, Lazarus used it to plunge his tail down, and Francine dodged it to the wrong side, for the tail missed but she lost her footing and slid off the walkway, and she used her hands to grasp on the walkway itself to stop her fall.

"Francine! Hold on!" Clara said, trying to crawl over but Lazarus leapt over the walkway to their side, forcing her to back away before she could stand up. Lazarus reared up on his two hind legs and gave out a purring growl as he armed his tail once again. But as he was about to deliver the final blow upon a helpless Francine, the cathedral organ suddenly began to blare out, and it was so loud that even with the ear plugs, Clara and Francine scrunched their faces against the noise. Lazarus however was unprotected from the assault. The noise rang in his ears until it quickly became a loud ringing, which kept on getting louder and louder, and it caused his now fragile hearing to burn. He gave out a cry of agony that could barely be discerned from the noise of the organ, stepping to and fro on his hind legs as he cried and screamed, but with the sudden loss of his senses, he stepped too far. The overwhelming size of his monstrous form stepped to the wooden hand railing, and it shattered upon his weight, and with a sudden loss of balance and nothing to stand on, he fell through the hole, tumbling and rolling with a cry until his enlarged form slammed and shattered upon the cathedral floor. After a small moment, the organ stopped playing, allowing Francine and Clara to take a moment to relax in relief, before Clara crawled over and took a tight grasp of Francine's wrists and started to pull. "Come on." She ushered, heaving and pulling until Francine was back onto the walkway, and they laid upon their backs on it, taking out the ear plugs and breathing deeply to calm themselves.

"Clara?!" They heard the Doctor call.

"Mum?!" Martha and Tish called.

"We're okay!" Clara called back. "We're both okay!"

"A little warning about the noise would have been appreciated!" Francine called sarcastically, and Clara let out a snigger at her words. Then, after Francine took a breath, they sat up and brought each other into a hug. "Thank you." She said.

Clara blinked. "I don't know if I should thank you or admonish you. You could have died there." Clara said, and Francine tilted her head to the side.

"Same with you." She pointed out.

Clara sighed. "I'll have to thank the Doctor for saving us on time."

"Don't tell me what you intend." Francine groaned, and Clara snorted.

"You should be thanking him too. But not in that way." Clara quickly added, and Francine shrugged.

"I'll thank him later." She said, before bringing up a hand to massage her ears. "After my ears stop ringing." She muttered. Francine then let her eyes and mouth widen as she clicked her jaw, bringing some needed relief to the ringing in her ears.

* * *

The Doctor, Martha and Tish, having left the organ loft, returned back to the floor to find Richard's broken and lifeless body lying flat on the floor, bare of clothes once again, but unmoving. The only difference to the last time this happened was that his body looked incredibly pale and was so skinny that it seemed sickeningly eerie to them. The Doctor moved wordlessly to kneel down beside his body and placed his hands on his face to close his bloodshot eyes. Then, he stood up to look at Martha and Tish. "Why does he look like that, Doctor?" Martha asked with pitiful eyes that Tish echoed, whilst the Doctor's just looked grim.

"His death managed to stabilize him. Problem is…what was there to be stabilized?" The Doctor asked rhetorically, and neither of the Jones sisters knew how to answer. Their attention, after a few moments of silence, was drawn over to the tower stairwell door, which opened, Clara and Francine stepping out and moving towards them.

"Mum." Martha muttered, she and Tish running over to embrace Francine, whilst the Doctor strode over towards a smirking Clara.

"Did you have to be so lou-" Clara's remark was cut off as the Doctor brought her into a tight hug, one hand on her back and the other drowned within her hair. "Hey, I'm okay." She whispered as he kissed her head.

"I know." He whispered back, pulling back for a moment to kiss her lips before he brought her back into the nape of his neck with a relieved and contended sigh.

"Mum, you seriously need to stop doing that." Martha whispered, and Francine chuckled.

"I could say the same about you." Francine retorted, and Martha rolled her eyes at her comment, but she smiled, nonetheless.

* * *

The Doctor, Clara, and the Jones's returned back to Martha's flat, where the TARDIS trio asked Francine and Tish one simple question. "Do you want to see what's inside the box?"

Francine and Tish just looked at each other cautiously before shrugging nonchalantly. "Why not?" Francine said, Tish silently agreeing as the Doctor and Clara opened the doors and let them step into the TARDIS.

"Whoa." Tish muttered with wide eyes of amazed wonder as she stared around the console room. "It's big-"

"Nope." Francine interrupted with a shake of her head. "I'm done. This is nuts. You two are nuts!" She said to the Doctor and Clara, who were giggling childishly out loud as Francine stepped outside the TARDIS.

"Come on, the old girl isn't that weird." The Doctor defended, and Francine gave a snort at that.

"I object to that." She said simply as Tish slowly stepped out of the TARDIS with her finger raised.

"You did not put something in my drink, right?" Tish asked, and the couple slowly frowned at her.

"What? No." They denied.

"Oh." Tish said as if she was a little disappointed by that notion. "Well, she's great and all, but it would have been cooler if you drugged me with acid or something."

The Doctor and Clara shot each other terrified and bewildered expressions at her words before they glanced at Martha. "Martha, what the hell is wrong with your family?" They asked, and Martha threw her hands up in defense.

"How should I know?!" She retorted, and the group of them found themselves giggling uncontrollably for a few moments before they descended into a comfortable silence.

"I guess something just kind of escalated tonight, eh?" Clara asked with a quip, and they nodded.

"A little bit." Tish agreed with a hint of dryness that made Francine smirk.

"You two should take care more in the future." Francine inputted. "Or…the past or…another planet or…whatever you do in that bloody thing." Francine then quickly held out a hand to the box and said, "No offence."

_*Beeps*_ (None taken)

"But it's good fun, isn't it?" The Doctor asked, and Francine shrugged.

"Yeah…it is a bit." She admitted, and the Doctor and Clara exchanged a look, but before they could ask, Francine rolled her eyes with a groan. "No. I like you two, but I would rather keep my sanity than lose it in a rabbit hole."

The couple glanced over at Tish, who gave out a snort with her hands raised. "Yeah, no thank you." She said with a chuckle.

The couple looked down with disappointment, but it didn't last long as Martha interjected, "I am still happy to come along."

"And you have to be careful out there." Francine interjected, and Martha blinked with her jaw dropped.

"Mum, I AM careful." She pointed out, and Francine relented with a sigh.

"I know. It's just…" Martha stopped her by moving over to embrace her.

"I WILL be careful out there, Mum." Martha reassured. "And I WILL come back. Okay?"

Francine had a small moment where she might have protested, but Martha pulled back with her eyebrows raised and she nodded. "Okay."

Martha then turned to give a half glare to the Doctor and Clara. "You heard that?"

They frowned as if they were genuinely confused by her words. "Of course we did. Why do you ask?" They said in unison.

Martha blinked, and she shook her head. "Nothing." Then, she moved over to pull Tish into a hug. "Be sure you look after everyone, okay?"

Tish smiled. "Well, I kind of have to. I'm out of a job right now." She quipped, and Martha grinned. They then parted as Martha moved over to stand by the TARDIS. "See you two later." She said with a grin and a wave as she entered the box, her sister and mother giving a farewell in unison as she did.

The Doctor and Clara cocked one eyebrow at each other before they moved to stand in the TARDIS doorway. "Bye!" They called with a wave before they closed the door and dematerialized from the flat, leaving both Francine and Tish staring with wide eyed disbelief and amazement at the spot it had been as it vanished.

"What do we do now?" Tish asked, not taking her eyes off the wall.

"Uhh…" Francine trailed off with a blink before she shrugged. "I have no idea."

**AN: Well, that was fun. And uh…yeah, that's about all I have to say, really. Thank you all so much for reading and please, leave a comment if you wish. :)**


	49. Daleks in Manhattan

**Daleks in Manhattan**

**The Laurenzi Theatre, Manhattan  
** 17th October 1930

"Two minutes to curtain up!" The Stage Manager called, ringing a bell to alert all the showgirls into quick action. One of the showgirls, a raven-haired woman by the name of Myrna, came trotting up along the hallway, dressed in a glittering red costume dress with silver undertones that finished just below her crotch, leaving her legs bare aside from her heeled feet. She also wore tight red gloves that extended straight up to her elbows and had a red feather hair dress that bounced and shifted at her every movement.

"Two minutes to curtain up!" Myrna echoed the Stage Manager, and the rest of the showgirls, which amounted up to seven excluding her, all came rushing out of the dressing rooms, all wearing duplicate costumes just like Myrna's, and all of them were raven haired and fair of face. Myrna walked past a man in a jester's outfit, who was busy talking on a phone by the wall, and then another man in a full clown get up, who was staring sadly at his three juggling balls on the ground. "Come on, Ryan. You'll get your chance soon." Myrna called soothingly, and the clown gave her a smile that did not reach his eyes before he tore his attention away from the girls. Myrna and the rest of the showgirls picked up their only accessories for the event, being two large red feather wing props to be used as…well…wings. "Come on!" She called, and the rest of the ladies quickly fell into line behind her as they were to walk to the backstage. The woman that came up beside her was Lois, and Myrna gave her a bright smile. "Lois!" She greeted.

"You still nervous, Myrna?" Lois returned with a mischevious glance, and Myrna chuckled.

"No." They looked behind them to check that all the ladies had fallen into line, and they did. All except for one. "Where's Tallulah?"

"Where do you think?" Lois retorted sarcastically, and they chuckled as Lois quickly moved away from the line towards a dressing room, one reserved for the star of the show. She knocked thrice on the door and called teasingly, "Hey, Tallulah, leave him alone!" She ended the tease with a giggle as she left to rejoin the others.

Inside the dressing room was Tallulah, a very beautiful young woman with blonde hair and was wearing a different outfit compared to her co-stars. Her outfit was that of an angel, literally so, for it was pure white and silver, with its own attached feather wings and a silver halo tiara upon her head. She also didn't wear complimenting elbow length gloves, but her dress still ended just below her crotch and she only had silver complimentary heels to adorn her bare legs. But none of that was her concern. Instead, it was focused on the handsome young man that was snogging her to his hearts content, both of his hands lying upon her waist, and she had to break away with a giggle, despite her desire to continue with their sweet moment. "It's nearly show time, Laszlo." She said, looking deep into his blue eyes with a sad smile. "I got to go."

"Just promise me you'll come on Sunday, okay?" He asked earnestly, bringing one hand up from her waist to her bare arm. "My mother will kill me if she doesn't get to meet you."

"What if she doesn't like me?" She asked with a blink, and he frowned at her in slight confusion before it turned into a reassuring smile.

"Tallulah, that's foolish thinking." He quipped lightly, and it made her smile. "She'll love you just as much as I do."

Tallulah melted with an "Aww" which made him involuntarily kiss her once more. "You say the sweetest things." She cooed.

"It's true." He said earnestly. "Now, promise me. This Sunday, you'll come."

"I promise." She said, brushing his shoulders before she placed one finger upon her chest just below her collarbone and mimed a "X". "Cross my heart."

Laszlo smiled as he retracted a hand, to which he reached into his pocket and pulled out a white rose. "Here. Take this, sweetheart." Tallulah melted with a smile as she took it tenderly in both hands. "Wear it onstage and think of me."

Tallulah placed it within her dress before she gave Laszlo a puzzled squint. "How am I supposed to remember my song, then?" She asked, and he gave a playful groan.

"You know what I mean." He retorted as she gave him a kiss.

_"Tallulah!"_ Lois called as she knocked on the door again, and Tallulah rolled her eyes. _"Hurry up!"_

"I'm coming!" Tallulah exclaimed. "Quit yelling!" Then, she turned to Laszlo with her smile returned, and with her arms folded up, she asked, "How do I look?" With that, she began to slowly spin around, and Laszlo took a step back, quickly giving her form an appreciative look.

"Like an angel." He commented.

Tallulah beamed, then she leaned forward to give him one final kiss before she moved through the dressing room door and in the direction of the stage stair. Before she did, she glanced back with a blown kiss and called, "Wish me luck, Laszlo!"

"Break a leg, sweetheart!" Laszlo called as she stepped away, leaving him alone. He wasn't in total silence however, as the calling and cheering from the audience in the theatre quickly came through the backstage, even as Laszlo walked over to Tallulah's dressing desk and mirror with a dreamy smile. However, his moment of gleeful peacefulness was broken as he heard a sudden scuffling noise from the doorway, and if he thought he was thinking straight, a squeal, almost like a pig. "Tallulah?" He called with a puzzled blink, but there was no answer. He moved to the doorway to glance down the hallway, but it was empty. The jester and the clown had long since left, either to go home or into their dressing rooms. Now it was just Laszlo. Except for a shadow, which dashed through into the props room at the end of the hallway amongst the shadows, closing the door shut behind it, as it gave a low grunting growl, once again, just like a pig. _Someone is down here when they shouldn't be._ Laszlo mentally muttered to himself before he called, "Who's there?" But there was still no answer. He, in what would be called by anyone else as bold foolishness, ran down the hallway and opened the props door, and was greeted by the room, dim of light but not pitch black, yet there was some light shining in through the doorway. "Hello?" He called again, as he walked further into the room, almost coming face to face with a wooden pirate statue when the door suddenly slammed shut behind him. With the absence of the hallway lights, the room fell into a near pitch black darkness, and he could barely see five feet in front of him. Turning sharply towards the door, he saw a figure standing there, but due to the darkness of the room, he could not see their features. "Who are you?" He asked with a clenched jaw despite his suddenly shaking nerves as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a box of matches. He drew out a single match, struck it against the box and lit the flame. He lifted the burning match up, and the light shined onto the face of the mysterious person. Only, it did not look like a person at all. It looked remarkably like a pig, teeth, ears, skin color, nose and all, but the rest of its body looked quite Human. Then, without warning, the pig man gave a sudden screech and charged straight at Laszlo, who could not defend himself as he was struck in shock from the features of the creature. The pig man grasped its hands around his shoulders and shoved him against the wall, and the impact rattled his brain into a hazy, ringing state of drowsiness instantly. For a few moments after, Laszlo could only remember the bare feeling of being hauled up by the pig man before his mind fell into deep, dreamless sleep.

**Liberty Island  
** 1st November 1930

Even over the calling of birds, the sound of the sea, or the ringing of bells upon the ships within the New York harbor, someone would still have been able to identify the strange groaning of an engine, accompanied by a sudden rush of wind, as a large, blue police box materialized out of nowhere right at the base of the Statue of Liberty. Then, a trio came strolling out. One was a tall, skinny man dressed in a blue suit and a brown overcoat, the second was a short woman with brown hair in black skinny jeans and a blue-gray sweater, and the third was a dark-skinned woman in a red leather jacket, a pink shirt and blue jeans. "Where are we?" Martha asked as she stared around at the bright day and the sea with a dreamy smile yet a puzzled look in her eyes.

"Ah! Smell that Atlantic breeze!" The Doctor beamed as he linked hands with Clara. "Nice and cold. Lovely." He commented, and he glanced down at a giggling Clara and asked, "Clara, have you met my friend?"

Clara blinked as he looked up, her and Martha glancing up and right there, looming above their heads, was the Statue of Liberty herself. Martha's jaw dropped while Clara's wide eyes gleamed at the sight. "Hello." She muttered meekly like a shy kid, and the Doctor laughed at her. "Shut up!" She flushed as he kissed her hair.

"Oh my god." Martha breathed out in amazement, not taking her eyes off the statue. "That's the Statue of Liberty."

"The gateway to the "New World"." The Doctor said as his and Clara's attention returned to the statue. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

"That's so brilliant." Martha sighed. "I've always wanted to go to New York." Then, she blinked and held up a hand at the couple. "I meant the real "New York", not the "New, new, new, new" one."

The couple shrugged, turning around with Martha to glance towards the city beyond. "Well, there's the genuine article." The Doctor said, introducing Martha to the sight of the city. "So good, they named it twice. Mind you, it was "New Amsterdam" originally." The Doctor added with a sniff. "Harder to say twice. No wonder it didn't catch on. "New Amsterdam, New Amsterdam"." His words made Clara giggle, whilst Martha looked out at the sight of the Empire State Building, which was admittedly still a work in progress.

"I wonder what year it is." Martha mused before she pointed out to the building. "Cause look." The couple paused, looking along the direction of her finger towards the spiraling skyscraper. "The Empire State Building's not even finished yet."

"Work in progress." Clara deducted from its obvious incompletion. "Still got a couple floors to go, and if I remember my history right, we would be…somewhere in the 30's." She muttered with a shake of her head, and the Doctor squinted down at her. "What?" She asked, and he just raised his eyebrows at her. "What?" She asked again and he just rolled his eyes as he stared away back at the city. "What?!" Clara asked, her voice border lying on a childish squeak.

"Oh, Clara." He muttered with a sigh, and her jaw dropped incredulously at him.

"It's not my fault I don't know all of history!" Clara retorted with an embarrassed flush. "Do you know where we are?!"

""When"." The Doctor retorted, and she smacked his arm lightly.

"You know what I mean!"

"It would be the early 30's." The Doctor answered, and Clara gave a low growl.

"The actual year, not a rough guess!" Clara retorted, and the Doctor gave a low chuckle in his throat.

"Well, it would be-"

"November 1st, 1930." Martha interrupted suddenly, and they turned with incredulous glares towards Martha, who was looking down at a newspaper she held in her grasp.

"You can't do that!" They whined in unison. "That's against the rules!"

"Well, I don't know what rules you're talking about, but I did it anyway. Now, hush." Martha retorted with a half glare as she shoved the paper into their hands, leaving the couple to look down in a silent pouting mood like spoilt children into the paper, whilst she stared back out upon the city again. "That's nearly eighty years ago." Martha muttered to herself before she cleared her throat. "It's funny, because you see all those old newsreels all in black and white like it's so far away, but here we are. It's real. And it's now." She said with an amazed laugh. Martha then glanced at the couple, who were still gazing down at the paper in their hands, but their expressions were unreadable. "Come on then, you two." Martha interrupted, and they broke their gaze away from the paper to look up at her. "Where are we going first?"

"Hooverville." They answered, and Clara placed the paper back into Martha's grasp, before tapping her finger upon the front-page headline.

""Hooverville Mystery Deepens"." Martha read, before she blinked, tilting her head back with a puzzled expression. "What's "Hooverville"?" She asked, but they didn't answer. She turned to look, but she saw them already entering the TARDIS, and she gave a groan. ""Sorry, Martha, we're just big fans of an elongated dramatic pause"." Martha mocked under her breath as she paced back to the TARDIS.

"We heard that." They replied, and Martha rolled her eyes wordlessly as she closed the doors behind her.

**Central Park, Manhattan**

"Oh, beautiful." Clara commented with a smile as they stepped out of the TARDIS into the park, instantly spotting the leaves falling from the trees upon the path and grass around them. "I love autumn." She said to the Doctor, and he just winked at her as he took her hand. The pair of them, with Martha in tow, began to walk along the path through the park.

"So, Hooverville." Martha said, and the Doctor drew in a short breath as he gazed around them.

"Clara." He said simply, and Clara looked to Martha beside her.

"It's named after Herbert Hoover, the 31st President of America, who came to power about a year ago. Up till then, New York was all a boom town, known as "The Roaring Twenties", and then…" She held out a hand to Martha, indicating that she could finish the sentence by herself.

"The Wall Street crash?" Martha concluded, and Clara nodded. "When was that? 1920…"

"9. 1929." Clara finished. "So, the whole economy got wiped out overnight, leaving thousands of people without jobs. Soon, due to the opportunities of getting paid growing less and less by the day, they couldn't afford to keep their homes. Couldn't pay the rent and they lost everything. All of a sudden, the huddled masses doubled in number and had nowhere to go, nowhere to stay. And they ended up here, in Central Park."

"What, they actually live in the park?" Martha asked, and they nodded. "In the middle of the city?" Martha reiterated, and they nodded again.

"Hooverville." Clara introduced, pointing towards the entrance of a shanty town just up ahead of them as they walked up to its entrance, which fittingly enough, had an entrance archway with an engraved sign saying one word, "Hooverville". The first thing to greet them were men and women huddled together like they were freezing, either in the entrances to their improvised huts of wood or iron or worse, or huddling around fires within large barrels, and some were wondering about, either on their own, in a group, or even with a bike. "It's a shanty town, Martha, and there are places like this all over America right now. Hell, even back home there still is. Places with bad economy, not enough homes, you name it. But right now, it's the money, and no one either will help them or can help them." She said as they walked past two men huddled within their hut, coughing up an obvious illness or cold and refusing to glance in their direction. "You only come to Hooverville when you have nowhere to go." She said grimly.

"You thieving lowlife!" They heard someone snarl to their right. Turning around to look, they saw two men wearing flat caps by a fireplace right in the open, and one of them was throwing hooks and punches at the other man, who kept stumbling to the ground. "I have been waiting all day for a single loaf!" He cried, grasping onto the man's back with both hands even as two men tried to break up the fight, a fight that was already attracting a silent and tense audience, which the TARDIS trio stood within, watching without a word.

"I didn't touch it!" The other man defended as the man kicked him straight in the ribs.

"Cut that out!" A sudden and new voice ordered as a dark-skinned man in a brown suit, a trench coat, and a dark brown hat came up out of a tent and shoved himself in between the men, pushing with both hands to stop the fight. "Cut that out right now!" He ordered, and his voice right in the faces of the two men made them stop, but they still glared threatening daggers at each other as they shifted from foot to foot.

"He stole my bread, Solomon!" The first man accused with a finger pointed right at his opponent, and Solomon gave a sigh and a growl as he looked at the accused.

"Did you take it?" He asked simply.

"I don't know what happened. He just went crazy." The other man tried to defend, earning a snarl from the accuser, who tried to rush at him with his teeth clenched and his fist raised, until Solomon shoved him back again.

"That's enough!" Solomon snarled, before he looked at the accused and growled in a warning, "Now, think real careful before you lie to me."

The man blinked, and for a brief second, his fiery defensive glare turned into a soft pleading whimper. "I'm starving, Solomon."

Solomon just tore his gaze away to stare off into the distance, whilst he held out his hand to the accused and waited. The accused, with his gaze down to the ground in a sudden feeling of shame, reached into his ragged coat pocket and pulled out a single loaf of bread. He then handed it to Solomon, who snatched it out of his hands before he placed both hands upon it's two ends. "All of us are starving." He said simply as he carefully began to create a tear in the middle of the loaf. "We all got families somewhere." Then, he ripped the loaf completely in half, giving one half to the accused and one to the accuser but he held them still in place with a warning finger pointed to their faces. "No stealing and no fighting. You know the rules." He growled, turning away from the pair for a brief moment to look upon the faces of his sudden audience and he took a breath and straightened his back. "Thirteen years ago, I fought in the Great War. A lot of us did." He said, and his sudden address made everyone, including the pair beside him, straighten themselves up as they gave him their attention. "And the only reason we got through was because we stuck together." He reminded, flittering his gaze around the audience, and for a brief second, they landed upon the TARDIS trio. If Solomon's gaze resembled anything like suspicion or puzzled curiosity, they couldn't see it and he returned to his monologue. "No matter how bad things get, we still act like Human beings. It's all we got." Then, he shot a glance towards the pair beside him, and they nodded in understanding. So, swiftly but silently, he waved them away with his hand and the pair, along with their audience, began to disperse.

"Come on." The couple whispered to Martha, and they walked up towards Solomon. "Suppose that makes you the boss around here."

Solomon stopped walking, and he regarded the trio with an ever so slight squint of his eye. "And who might you be?" He asked.

"He's the Doctor." Clara introduced. "I'm Clara, and this is Martha."

"A doctor?" Solomon reiterated, and he gave a slight chuckle when the Doctor didn't deny it. "Huh. Well, we got stockbrokers, we got a lawyer, but you're the first doctor. Neighborhood gets classier by the day." He remarked as he moved to stand by a camp fire and held out his hands into the warmth of the flames.

"Got any teachers?" Clara asked. "Cause if you don't, then…" She trailed off, and Solomon briefly cocked an eyebrow in amusement.

"A doctor and a teacher?" Solomon chuckled as he looked to Martha. "What about you?"

"I'm training to be a doctor." Martha said, and Solomon shrugged.

"I'm a little surprised you can, considering the current state of America, and…" He paused, motioning a finger to their surroundings, "where you are currently at."

"You could say that again." Martha agreed in a mutter as she crossed her arms against the chilly air, and the trio moved to stand beside the fire as well. "How many people live here?"

"Any one time…" He trailed off with a shrug. "Hundreds. No place else to go." He finished with a sniff before he suddenly smiled. "But I will say this about Hooverville. We are a truly equal society. Black, white, man, woman, all the same. All starving. So, you're welcome, all three of you." He said, and the trio gave him a nod in thanks. Then he gave them a curious look as he added, "Though, I got to say, you don't exactly look hungry."

"No, we're more…sort of visiting." The Doctor said, and Solomon gave a small snarl under his breath as he clenched his jaw.

"Come to see the freak show, huh?" He asked with a bite.

"Don't." Clara snarled as she glared back at him. "We can't offer no money, or food, clothes, firewood, nothing. We can only offer to help as ourselves."

Solomon moved his hands away from the fire and into his coat pockets. "You're not trying to deceive me just to make me feel better?" He asked, and Clara shook her head.

"I would rather do you harm than that, and I'm not here to do anybody any harm." She said, and Solomon just gave a wordless sigh and he relented, allowing Clara to relax her suddenly stiff posture.

"So, tell me, Clara…"

"Oswald."

"Clara Oswald, you any good at teaching?" Solomon asked curiously.

"Yep." She said with a shrug.

"I can vouch for that." The Doctor interjected.

"Same." Martha echoed, and Solomon nodded.

"So, explain this to me." He said, moving away from the fire slightly to point to the Empire State Building. "That there is going to be the tallest building in the world. How come they can do that when we got people starving in the heart of Manhattan?" Clara said nothing in response, only giving out a grim sigh, and Solomon didn't retort, so he wordlessly moved back towards the fireplace, leaving the trio in silence.

* * *

"Mr. Diagoras!" The Foreman, Mason Fifield, called to Mr. Diagoras, knocking four times upon the entrance to the works office. Said man, Mr. Diagoras, an American in his mid 30's, 6ft tall with blue eyes and dressed in a slick dark blue suit, and even his own raven hair was slicked back, groaned to himself in irritation as he tried to look over the blueprints to the Empire State Building. "Mr. Diagoras! The men won't stand for it!" Mason said, entering into the room, and it made Diagoras clench his jaw before he returned his gaze to the blueprints again.

"You said that yesterday." Diagoras said without turning his head, and Mason huffed at his dismissive words.

"Well, I'm telling you again, the men won't stand for it! I mean, are you out of your mind?!" He demanded, and Diagoras rolled his eyes. "I've got 500 men working seven days a week. They're flat out, and you want us to go faster?!"

"The new masters demand it." Diagoras said, trying his best to hold back the urge to just lose it.

"But we're on schedule!" He said, and Diagoras, slowly and as calmly as he could, stood up from his chair and stared at the man with his hands down by his sides. "What's the problem? Another month and we'll be done."

Diagoras gave a smirk at the man. Not a crooked, hollow smile, just a well-practiced smirk. "Perhaps I should reiterate." He said, moving over to the blueprint map stand of the building. "The building can't be completed by tonight, no, it's just the mast. Maybe, should I say, just a little bit more work." He said in a sly tone that Mason did not register.

"We can't complete anything by tonight." Mason said, but Diagoras could tell his new tone was starting to calm the man.

"It's just a little bit of work. Just a few panels." Diagoras soothed.

Mason gulped, thought about it, but, to Diagoras' inner irritation, shook his head in denial. "No way. It's impossible. We-we-we can't complete it, not tonight."

Diagoras let his smirk slide and gave out a sigh. "Then I suppose…it shall have to be an order to get it done." He said, trying to sound like he was only contemplating it, not already willing to do it.

"You sure?" Mason retorted, and Diagoras just cocked an eyebrow in challenge. "Well, one word from me, just one, and every man on this site stops working. So, go on. Tell your "Masters" that."

Diagoras shifted his gaze in a veiled mask of confusion. "Why would I do that?" He asked rhetorically, and it made the Foreman blink. "I suppose I could, but…wouldn't it be better if you just told them yourself?" He offered.

Mason, for a brief second, looked genuinely surprised, and he nodded. "Yeah. Yeah! I'm not afraid of any man in a suit!" He proclaimed, and Diagoras let out a well practiced chuckle of amusement, but he said no word in response to his proclamation. Instead, he walked over to the elevator at the end of the room and pressed the button to call the lift. "These err…these new bosses. What's their names?"

Diagoras gave a genuine shrug of puzzlement. "Didn't tell me."

Mason blinked at that, and he asked, "What are they like?"

"Um…" Diagoras thrust his hands into his pants pockets and thought for a small moment before he said, "They're from out of town."

"Italians?"

Diagoras gave him a dull glare at his question. "Bit further than that."

Mason moved his gaze back to the elevator doors and shifted on his feet for a moment in a sudden nervous puzzlement. "How much further?"

Diagoras gave out another of his chuckles as he shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Oh, what's that supposed to mean?" Mason retorted, but Diagoras did not respond. "Mr. Diagoras, who are they? Who are we working for?" Mason demanded again, and Diagoras moved away from the elevator, and stood behind Mason.

"Behold your masters." Diagoras introduced as the lift rang out a "Ding" sound and the doors slid straight open.

What came out of the elevator both puzzled and shocked Mason. One single Dalek, Dalek Caan, and two humanoid pigs, and all three were staring straight at the Foreman. "What the hell?" Mason muttered, but Dalek Caan paid him no heed.

**"I have been summoned. Explain. Explain."** It demanded, and its threatening voice shook Mason to his very core.

"It can talk." He muttered as he began to pace away backwards from the advancing trio. "How does it talk? And what the hell are they?!" He demanded in a higher, more terrified tone as he switched his gaze to the pig men. "You have got to be kidding me."

"My apologies, sir." Diagoras interrupted, and his voice made Dalek Caan move its eyestalk to stare at the man. "I only called because this man," He nodded to Mason, "is refusing to complete the work."

**"Then we must replace him."** Dalek Caan ordered, and Diagoras gave a silent nod.

"Is anybody going to tell me what the hell is happening here?!" Mason demanded, but they all ignored him.

**"Use him. Take him for the Final Experiment."** Dalek Caan ordered, and with a few grunts and snorts, the pig men advanced and took a sudden and strong hold of Mason, and led him to the lift, even as he tried to struggle against them.

"No! Let go of me!" Mason protested, but the pig men only snarled in response as they shoved him into the lift. "Let me go, you freaks! Mr. Diagoras!" He called, but Diagoras did not emote anything as the lift doors slid shut and the man's screams were instantly gone.

**"The Empire State Building must be completed on time."** Dalek Caan reminded.

"It will be, sir." Diagoras reassured. "Labor is very cheap, and that man can be replaced."

**"We calculated that the gamma strike has accelerated."** Dalek Caan said. **"We need more bodies immediately, or else the plan will fail."**

"I will get right on it, sir." Diagoras said with a polite nod as he moved from the room.

* * *

"Solomon!" Clara called as the man exited his tent, now no longer wearing his trench coat, and he emptied out a jug of tea over the ground, just as the TARDIS trio walked over. "The whole story about men going missing. Is it true?"

Solomon frowned. "Where did you…" He trailed off as the Doctor pulled out the newspaper from his pocket and showed him the headline, which made him sigh in defeat. "It's true all right." He said, motioning for them to enter his tent after him.

"What kind of "Missing"?" Clara asked as Solomon took a seat inside, and the man held out a hand to the seat beside him. Clara sat in the seat, whilst the Doctor stood by Clara and Martha sat in the seat at the opposite end of the tent. "There's a few different ways of interpreting that one word, and it's not like anyone's keeping a register."

"It's a different kind of "Missing"." Solomon explained. "Someone takes them, at night. We hear something, someone calls out for help, but by the time we get there, they're gone like they vanished into thin air."

"Desa got snapped." The Doctor whispered to Clara in a high voice, and she flicked his nose hard. "Ow."

"Shhh!" Clara reprimanded before she looked back at Solomon. "And you're sure someone's abducting them?"

"Clara, when you've got next to nothing, you hold on to the little you got. Your knife, blanket, you take it with you. You don't leave bread uneaten, fire still burning." Solomon said, and Clara just shrugged wordlessly.

"Have you been to the police?" Martha interjected, and Solomon nodded.

"Yeah, we tried that. Another deadbeat goes missing, big deal."

"So, the question is, who's taking them and what for?" The Doctor mused.

"Not "What". "Why"." Clara corrected, and he nodded.

"Sorry, ma'am." He retorted, and Clara flicked his nose again. "Ow!"

_"Solomon!"_ They heard a young man with a Southern accent call from outside the tent, just as his footsteps came up and pulled back the entrance. He wore similar clothes to the rest of the inhabitants of Hooverville, but he wasn't even in his 30's, and had black hair and a youthful face despite the grim and muck of the shanty town. "Solomon, Mr. Diagoras is here."

Solomon immediately stood up and moved to exit the tent, the TARDIS trio quick in tow, and they saw Diagoras, wearing a black coat, matching gloves and hat, and he was already addressing a gathered audience. "I just need men." He called. "Volunteers. I've got a little work for you, and you sure look like you can use the money."

"Yeah?" The young man called out to Diagoras, earning his attention. "What is the money?"

"A dollar a day."

"What's the work?" Solomon asked.

"A walk down the sewers." Diagoras responded, earning a response of groaning and grunting from the audience. "We got a tunnel that collapsed, and it needs clearing and fixing. Any takers?" He asked.

""A dollar a day"?" Solomon quoted back with a scoff. "That's slave wage. And men don't always come back up, do they?"

"You're right." Diagoras agreed, and it made the trio frown. "And it is just because they get into accidents. And accidents happen." Diagoras said dismissively.

"What do you mean?" The Doctor interjected. "What sort of accidents?"

"Just accidents." Diagoras retorted. "And I suppose that if you don't won't the work, it'll mean more for somebody else." He then straightened himself back up again and asked, "Anybody else?"

_"Ugh."_ Clara said mentally to the Doctor as she took his hand. _"He's like a poor man's Baelish."_

_"You are being completely rude today, missy."_ The Doctor reprimanded, and Clara shrugged with a devious smirk.

_"I could say the same about you."_ She retorted.

_"Oi!"_ But Clara just giggled in his head as she wordlessly raised an arm into the air, and it immediately gained a suppressed look of irritation from Diagoras.

"Enough with the questions!" He demanded, and Clara looked positively confused.

"No, no, no, we're volunteering. Me and him." She said, pointing to an enthused Doctor.

"I am so going to kill you two morons for this." Martha growled into their ears, making them jump a bit in shock as she raised her hand above her head as a volunteer.

"Anybody else?" Diagoras repeated. There was no word in response, but the young man, and a somewhat reluctant Solomon raised their hands in answer.

**The Sewers**

"Turn left." Diagoras ordered as they jumped off the ladder and landed straight down in the dark, disgusting tunnels underneath the city. "Go about a half a mile. Follow tunnel "273". Fall's right ahead of you, you can't miss it." He said, finishing his order as the group before him turned on a flashlight each in their hands, shining them down the tunnel.

"And when do we get our dollar?" The young man asked, and Diagoras cocked his eyebrows up for a brief moment.

"When you come back up." He said obviously.

"And if we don't come back up?" The Doctor asked, but Diagoras remained silent to that.

"Don't worry, we'll be back." Solomon said to Diagoras before he started to walk down the tunnel with the young man behind him.

"Let's hope so." Martha muttered under her breath as she walked alongside the young man.

"Go on." Diagoras said simply to the TARDIS couple, who stared blankly at him for a few silent moments before they walked off to join the group without a word.

"We just got to stick together." The young man reassured. "It's easy to get lost. It's like a huge rabbit warren. You could hide an army down here." He said as they passed through an open steel gate.

"You know, we never got introduced." Clara said with a smile to the Doctor.

"What's your name?" They asked in unison, and the young man just stared back at them in wide eyed puzzlement for a few seconds.

"They do that. Just ignore it." Martha said simply, and he just gave a slow nod in response.

"My name's Frank." He answered.

"Hello!" They beamed with a wave, and it made Martha roll her eyes in false irritation.

"Clara. Doctor." Clara introduced with a nod to herself and to the Doctor.

"Martha. Martha Jones." Martha interjected.

"Are they from…" Frank trailed off, not knowing how to finish the sentence.

"From the loony bin?" Martha finished, and he just nodded with a grin. "Nope. Much worse." She said.

"Oi! We're right here!" They retorted.

"Hello!" Martha retorted with a wave as she returned her attention back to Frank, just as the couple audibly rolled their eyes at Martha. "But what about you, Frank? You're not from around these parts, are you?"

"Oh, you can talk." Frank retorted, and Martha just laughed at that. "No, I'm from Tennessee, born and bred."

"So, how come you're here?"

"My daddy died." Frank answered solemnly, and it wiped the smile from Martha's face. "Mama couldn't afford to feed us all, and since I'm the oldest, it's up to me to feed myself. So, I put on my coat, hitched up here on the railroads. There's a whole lot of runaways in the camp, younger than me, from all over. Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas. Solomon keeps a lookout for us." He said, motioning to Solomon.

He got a brief look of shock when they saw Clara and the Doctor walking alongside him as well, but Martha just answered, "They do that when no one's paying attention. They're like hobbits…in a sense."

"What's a "Hobbit"?" Frank asked.

"Uh…" Martha blinked, and a brief shake of the head from the TARDIS couple confirmed what she had to say. "It's a spoiler. Sorry."

"Okay." Frank said under his breath with a sigh. "What about you? You're a long way from home."

"Yeah, but I'm…not exactly a hitcher. More of a…walking troupe."

"They the entertainment, you're the boss?" Frank asked, and Martha laughed at that.

"Well, I don't want it to be the other way around." Martha said, and Frank chuckled at her words.

"You know we can hear you, right?" The Doctor called back.

"Yeah." Martha answered as she and Frank entered into a comfortable silence.

"So, this Diagoras bloke. Who is he then?" The Doctor asked Solomon as they took another turn in the tunnel.

"A couple of months ago, he was just another foreman. Now, it seems like he's running most of Manhattan."

"How'd he manage than, then?" Clara asked.

"These are strange times. A man can go from being King of the Hill to the lowest of the low overnight. It's just for some folks it works the other way round." Solomon responded.

"Whoa!" The Doctor suddenly exclaimed, holding an arm out in front of Clara and it caused the group to halt.

"What?" Clara asked, and he looked down at the muddy water covered ground. "Eugh!" She grimaced, for what lay on the floor looked like a soft, sickly green brain. It still looked like it was covered in mock flesh and dripping with wet slime.

"Is it radioactive or something?" Martha asked as the Doctor and Clara slowly knelt down beside it.

"Ugh!" Clara grimaced again, holding a hand over her mouth and nose as she motioned for Martha, Frank and Solomon to step back a bit. "Whatever it is, it smells gross." She said, and her grimace turned into a snarling glare as the Doctor placed his flashlight down, equipped his "Brainy Specs" and carefully picked up the mysterious and disgusting flesh. "And you just had to pick it up." She grumbled.

"Quite obviously not Human." The Doctor deducted in a low mutter. "And also organic."

"Can't you just use your sonics to scan it's DNA?" Martha asked, but they shook their heads.

"Whatever this is, its far less than a shadow of a shell of what it should be." The Doctor responded. "The sonic needs more." Then, he suddenly stood straight up, staring down the tunnel with squinting eyes. "And I'll tell you something else. We are at least half a mile in on the right tunnel and I don't see any sort of "Collapse". Do you?" He asked, and it tore the group's attention away from the rotting flesh. Martha, Solomon and Frank stared down the tunnel whilst Clara slowly stood up, her expression mirroring the Doctor's.

"Why would Mr. Diagoras send us down here?" Frank asked.

"Also, where are we exactly?" Martha inputted.

"The first one: No idea yet." The Doctor answered. "Second: We would be right underneath Manhattan." He placed the flesh inside his coat pocket, earning another "Eugh" from Clara, and he gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry." He said as she shuddered in disgust.

"You better." She said as the group continued to move forward, but now with more caution than before.

* * *

"And here, the crowning glory of the Empire State Building, the mast itself." Diagoras concluded his dull monologue about the Empire State Building to five men. The man in front, who was bald with very thin hair around his temples and had his arms crossed was the new Foreman, Ford Marks. "One thousand four hundred and seventy-two feet above New York."

"It's a beautiful thing, sir." Ford responded. "Every single one of us is proud of it. My wife says it's like a-like a spire reaching into Heaven."

"Except the gates of Heaven need a little decoration." Diagoras said, and his words made them frown a little in puzzlement. To lift that burden from their minds, he walked over to a small box, opened the lid and pulled out eight plates of Dalekanium and placed them carefully onto the table. "These plates have got to be fixed to the mast, right to the base itself."

Ford shrugged, as if the act didn't mean anything, yet the why did give him some puzzlement. "That's okay. It's not too bad. Shouldn't take too long."

"But it has to be finished by tonight." Diagoras added, and at once, the five men began to protest vehemently against him.

"What?!"

"Are you trying to kill us?!"

"Come on! We're flat out up here-"

"Don't argue with me!" Diagoras snarled, and his wrathful voice silenced the men immediately as he glared at them. "You have a new job to do. Get it done." He said through gritted teeth.

"But sir, men can't work up there at night, it's freezing." Ford protested, but his voice was weaker and more timid than the protest he made mere seconds ago. "Your hands go numb. You lose your grip, you fall."

"You don't get it." Diagoras growled back. "I don't care how cold it is or how tired you are. If you won't work, I can replace you like that." He said, snapping his fingers as he finished his sentence. "I will say this once and once only. Don't ask questions. Just take those panels and get to work." He ordered, and the men, timid and stiff in nervous fear, shuffled forward, took the panels and left the room.

Then, not much to his surprise, the elevator gave a "Ding" and the doors slid open, followed by the hovering and shifting whirring of Dalek Caan. **"The conductor must be completed for our plan to succeed."** Dalek Caan said as Diagoras took a breath to calm himself.

"Don't worry, sir. Unemployment is such an incentive." Diagoras responded as he walked with Dalek Caan towards the open view of the city below.

**"Daleks have no concept of "Worry"."**

"Yeah?" Diagoras muttered with raised eyebrows. "Well, you are lucky in that regard."

**"This day is ending."** Dalek Caan said, and it was true, regarding the soon to be setting sun, and its light over the world beginning to dim. **"Humankind is weak. You shelter from the dark. And yet, you have built all this."**

"It is progress." Diagoras responded, leaning against a steel pillar. "You have got to move with the times or get left behind."

**"My planet is gone."** Dalek Caan said. **"Destroyed in a great war, yet versions of this city stand throughout history. The Human race always continues."**

"We've had wars." Diagoras responded, and he heard the Dalek's eyestalk move to stare at him, but he kept his gaze out upon the city. "I've been a soldier myself, and I swore then that I would survive, no matter what."

**"You have rare ambition."**

Diagoras got a gleam in his eyes at the Dalek's compliment. "I want to run this city, whatever it takes, by any means necessary."

**"You think like a Dalek."**

Diagoras tore his gaze away from the city to the Dalek, and he stared at it in some puzzlement. "I will take that as a compliment." He said, though he wasn't entirely sure that it was a compliment.

There was a small moment of silence that fell between them before Dalek Caan suddenly proclaimed **, "Your loyalty will be rewarded. Come with me."** Then, it turned around on the spot and began to hover back towards the lift doors.

"Where are we going?" Diagoras asked, moving quickly yet timidly in puzzlement as he followed.

**"You have been summoned by our leader."** Dalek Caan responded simply, and Diagoras gave a nod.

"Oh, and about time, too." He said, suddenly feeling a surge of self admiration at his new achievement as he watched as the doors slid open by themselves. Then, they moved inside, and it slid shut behind them. They waited, and they waited as the elevator left Floor 100 and went all the way down, past the Ground Floor, past the basement to the Lower Basement, a Floor that had no physical access from the elevator itself. The lift stopped, the doors slid open and the sight that greeted Diagoras both amazed and confused him. It was a large laboratory, filled to the trim with science equipment and technology that he did not comprehend a thing about, yet the lighting in the room was mildly dim. It did not make the room dark at all, but it seemed to give it a sudden tense atmosphere that he began to feel within his bones. He shivered as he stepped out of the elevator, pausing only for a moment to pull his favored gloves out of his pocket and slip them on before he walked forward, Dalek Caan following swiftly behind. As he moved past the large stone pillars, he saw some of the pig men slinking about in the shadows, grunting and snorting to themselves as they watched him eagerly.

**"I bring you the Human."** Dalek Caan proclaimed from behind, and Diagoras watched with a small moment of shock as a black Dalek slid out of the shadows of the room and stood right in front of him.

"I take it you're in charge?" Diagoras asked with a slight timid nervousness.

**"Correct."** Dalek Sec said. **"I am Dalek Sec, leader of the Cult of Skaro."**

Right as it finished speaking, two more Daleks, Dalek Thay and Dalek Caan, emerged from around the stone pillars and move to a stop behind Dalek Sec. Their sudden appearance however continued to make Diagoras feel scared. "Then, Dalek Sec, sir, I am honored to meet you." He said earnestly despite his breath becoming a touch shaky. "Ever since you first contacted me, transmitting your thoughts into the corners of my mind, tempting me with such images, such ideas, I have always dreamt that the-"

**"Cease talking!"** Dalek Sec demanded, and it took Diagoras off guard for a moment.

"I just want to let you know how grateful I am-"

**"I said "Cease"!"** Dalek Sec repeated, and Diagoras promptly shut his mouth. **"Slaves, secure the Human. Dalek Jast, prepare the chromatin solution!"**

Two pig men strode forward and took a tight grasp of Diagoras' arms, to which he immediately began to struggle. "But you don't need to do that. I'm on your side. I'm working with you! I'm your partner! I'm your friend!" He rambled in nervousness as he wracked from side to side, unable to escape.

* * *

"We're way beyond half a mile now." Solomon said as they continued to walk through the tunnels. "There's no collapse, nothing."

"That "Diagoras" bloke, was he lying?" Martha asked as they moved straight into an intersection in the tunnel.

"Looks like it." The Doctor answered simply.

"So, why'd he want people to come down here?" Frank asked.

The Doctor and Clara exchanged a small look before Clara said, "Solomon, would you please take Martha and Frank out of here?" She asked, but the answer or a protest never came. Suddenly they heard the sound of squealing like angry and terrified pigs echoing all around them, and it made the group dart their eyes around the tunnels for any sign of a source, but there was nothing.

"What the hell was that?" Solomon asked, but no one had an answer for that.

"Hello?!" Frank called out, and the group quickly shushed him. "But what if it's one of the folk gone missing?" Frank asked, his voice now a whisper. "You'd be scared and half mad down here on your own."

"Do you think they are still alive?" Clara asked.

"Heck, we haven't seen no bodies down here or anything." Frank answered. "Maybe they just got lost."

The squealing returned, if only for a few seconds, and the couple decided to creep slowly down the left tunnel of the intersection. "I know I never heard nobody make a sound like that." Solomon muttered.

"Where's it coming from?" Frank asked. "Sounds like there's more than one of them."

"Wait." The Doctor said, holding a protective arm in front of Clara as they stared down the tunnel, his single word re-attracting the attention of the trio behind them.

"What?" Clara asked, and he just nodded wordlessly, pointing his flashlight down the tunnel. There, sitting amongst the darkness, was a figure, someone would be about as tall as the Doctor was, but they could not see his face, even with the flashlights.

"Who are you?" Solomon called, but the figure didn't answer.

"Are you lost?" Frank asked, but the figure did not answer him either. "Can you understand me?"

"It's all right, Frank. Just stay back." Clara said, and Frank nodded, agreeing to keep his mouth shut. "Let's have a look." She whispered to the Doctor, who nodded in agreement, and they started forward, yet their pace was slow and cautious.

"He's got a point, though, our mate Frank." The Doctor said to the figure. "I would hate to be stuck down here all on my own."

"But we know the way out." Clara said as they got closer. "Daylight, if you come with us…" She trailed off as she pointed her flashlight at the figure's face. The figure was a humanoid pig, and it was staring up at them with sad, downtrodden eyes.

"Oh, but what are you?" The Doctor asked softly, him and Clara slowly squatting down in front of the figure, but the figure just gave a small pig squeal, like a mumbled groan.

"Is that a…a carnival mask?" Solomon asked, but they shook their heads.

"No, it's real." The Doctor answered, and the gaze of the pig man flittered down to stare at the ground. "I'm sorry." The Doctor said, and he earned another weak squeal from it. "But I promise, we can help. Who did this to you?"

"Doctor. Clara." Martha suddenly called.

"What?" They asked, looking back towards Martha, who's gaze, and flashlight were pointed down the tunnel and straight past them. They turned to look, and they saw three more pig men standing there, looking straight at them.

"I think you both should get back here." Martha said as more pig men came up behind them, starting to form a large group before them. "Get back here!" Martha demanded as they started to advance, and the couple immediately got up to their feet and began to back away.

"Good idea." They said in unison, quickly rejoining the group as the numbers of the advancing pig men began to increase before them.

"Right then, Martha, Frank, Solomon." Clara said with a small gulp.

"What?" Martha asked through gritted teeth as they all began to back off.

"Err…basically…"

"Run!" They ordered, and they immediately sprinted off back in the direction they had come. The pig men all began to squeal out in loud rage as they raced after them, darting down tunnel after tunnel until it quickly became apparent to the woman in front that they had lost their way.

"Shit! Where are we going?!" She called as they raced past a side passage.

The Doctor and Clara however slid to stop beside it, and they spotted a ladder down at a dead end of the passage. "This way!" They called, and the trio quickly stopped and spun around towards them. "There's a ladder! Come on!" The couple then raced up towards the ladder and the Doctor heaved Clara straight up to the top, and she latched onto it before pulling out her sonic to work on the hatch.

"Come on, come on, come on, come on." She muttered before she heard a "Click" and a "Clang", allowing her to push the hatch straight out the way and she darted up into the room above. "Come here." She said, helping to pull the Doctor up with her as he quickly scaled the ladder and the squeals of the pig men got even closer.

"Frank!" They heard Solomon call as the couple helped Martha through the hole. "Frank!" He called again as he stayed at the bottom of the ladder, staring back down the tunnel.

"Solomon, come on!" The Doctor ordered, and Solomon quickly raced up the ladder, and the TARDIS trio pulled him up and into the room before returning to the hatch. "Frank!" He yelled, and Frank came racing into view as he took a grasp of the ladder, but he spent too long down in the tunnel. Before he could start to scale, the horde of pig men rushed behind him and took a grasp of his body and try as he might to hold on to the ladder, his grasp slipped, and he was pulled away. "No, Frank!" The Doctor exclaimed, right as Solomon pushed him and Clara away from the hole so he could slam and lock the hatch shut, preventing any of the advancing pig men from pursuing them into the room.

"We've got to go back!" Clara exclaimed, but Solomon blocked her from the hatch.

"No, we can't!" He denied as the couple stood up before him.

"We can't just leave him down there!" The Doctor snarled as he tried to advance, but Solomon shoved him back.

"No! I am not losing anybody else!" Solomon snarled back. "Those creatures were from Hell! From Hell itself! If we go after them, they will take us all, and I am not letting that happen!"

"All right then." A new voice entered, and they all spun around to the entrance to see a blonde woman wearing a black dress with a frilly pink collar and she was holding a revolver up in the air, pointed straight at them all. Her face set itself into an ice-cold look of accusation as she cocked the hammer of the revolver. "Put them up. Hands in the air and no funny business." Tallulah ordered, and the group quickly raised their hands up above their heads. "Now tell me, you schmucks, what have you done with Laszlo?"

"Who the hell is Laszlo?" Clara retorted, and Tallulah glared right back at her.

"Laszlo is my boyfriend." Then, Tallulah blinked as she suddenly reworded her phrase. "Or he was my boyfriend until he disappeared two weeks ago. No letter, no goodbye, no nothing." She said, and her revolver arm started to wave about as she rambled, and it made the group even more frightened of her. At one point, she pointed the gun straight at herself without even realizing it. "And I'm not stupid. I know some guys are just pigs but not my Laszlo. I mean, what kind of guy asks you to meet his mother before he vamooses?"

"Yeah, cool." Clara nodded as she held out one of her hands in front of her. "But it really would help if you could put that down."

"Huh?" Tallulah blinked, and remained still for a few moments before her eyes followed Clara's gaze to the gun and she shrugged. "Oh, sure." She said, and she nonchalantly tossed the gun away into a corner, and the group flinched away instinctively, but it did not fire.

"Jesus fucking Christ." Clara cursed as she glared with wide eyes at the woman. "What the f-"

"Calm down!" Tallulah retorted with a surprised snort. "It's a prop!"

A small beat of silence passed before the group said in sheepish unison, "Oh."

Tallulah, once again, just shrugged nonchalantly. "It was either that or a spear." She said as she leaned against the wall.

"Props." Clara muttered, and the group finally took in where they were. A props room. "Okay. Makes sense."

"Okay." Martha said as the group started to calm themselves down again. "What do you think happened to Laszlo?"

"I wish I knew." Tallulah said truthfully. "One minute he's there, the next, _*Snaps*_ , vanished."

The couple started forward towards Tallulah with their hands in their pockets. "Listen, um…what's your name?" The Doctor asked.

"Tallulah."

They nodded. "Tallulah-"

"Three "L"s and an "H"." Tallulah quickly added, and they stared blankly at her for a moment before they nodded again.

"Right." The Doctor muttered, and he looked to Clara for help.

"We can try to find Laszlo, but he's not the only one." Clara said, and Tallulah furrowed her eyebrows at that. "There are people disappearing every night."

"And there are creatures." Solomon added with a shudder. "Such creatures."

"What do you mean, "Creatures"?" Tallulah asked as if she didn't believe him, but they didn't answer that question.

"Listen, Tallulah, please, just trust us." Clara said, and Tallulah let her disbelieving expression melt away.

"Everyone is in danger, and we need to find out exactly what this is." The Doctor said as he pulled out the rotting green flesh, and Tallulah instantly scrunched her face against it.

"Yuck." She breathed.

"Doctor, put that away." Clara admonished, and he quickly did so with a sheepish flush.

"Sorry." He muttered as he and Clara moved from the room.

"What are you doing now?" Martha asked with an incredulous scoff.

"We just said." The couple retorted in unison as they moved into a nearby room. "Whose room is this?" They called, and Tallulah immediately went to the door to peer inside.

"My dressing room." She said, and they immediately bounded past her and raced out. "What the hell?" She asked with a frown.

"Sorry!" They called as they moved into another room and began to rummage around inside. "Solomon!" They called, and Solomon moved into the room.

"Yes?"

"Can you find us some kind of working device, please?" The Doctor asked, and Solomon wordlessly left the room. "He's a bit grumpy, isn't he?" The Doctor remarked, and Clara just giggled at him before he returned to the work.

* * *

**"The chromatin solution is ready!"** Dalek Jast reported.

**"Then our preparations are complete."** Dalek Sec concluded.

"What do you mean?" Diagoras blurted out, and the Daleks focused their attention upon him. "Preparations for what?"

**"This is the Final Experiment."** Dalek Sec said, and it made Diagoras furrow his eyebrows.

"What do you mean? Like these pig men things?" He asked, nodding to the creatures that were restraining him, and it suddenly made him even more terrified than before. "You're not going to turn me into one of those. Oh god, please don't!" He pleaded.

**"The pig slaves are primitive."** Dalek Sec denied. **"The Final Experiment is greater by far."**

"But how does that involve me?" Diagoras asked.

**"We need your flesh."** Dalek Sec said simply before it back away from him just enough to grant some space. **"Bring him to me!"** It ordered.

**"Halt!"** Dalek Thay suddenly interjected, and whilst it did not quell the terror inside Diagoras, it did add a substantial amount to his bewilderment. **"This action contradicts the Dalek imperative."**

**"Daleks are supreme!"** Dalek Jast protested. **"Humans are weak!"**

**"But there are millions of Humans and only four of us."** Dalek Sec reminded, and it made the two fall silent. **"If we are supreme, why are we not victorious?!"** Dalek Sec demanded, and the two Daleks did not have an answer. **"The Cult of Skaro was created by the Emperor for this very purpose. To imagine new ways of survival."**

**"But we must remain pure."** Dalek Thay tried to protest, but it did not dissuade Dalek Sec.

**"No, Dalek Thay. Our purity has brought us to extinction! We must adapt to survive!"** Dalek Sec shifted its eyestalk down Dalek Thay's side, where some of its panels were completely missing. **"You have all made sacrifices. And now, I will sacrifice myself for the greater cause, the future of Dalek kind! Now bring me the Human!"** Dalek Sec ordered.

At once, the two Daleks backed off and the two pig slaves started to shove Diagoras towards Dalek Sec, but try as he might, he could not struggle himself free from their grasp. "I don't understand! What do you mean?! Get off of me!" He demanded to the pig slaves, but they did not listen.

**"Behold the true Dalek form!"** Dalek Sec proclaimed. There was some clicking and hissing from Dalek Sec, and then the casing opened up before Diagoras' widening eyes. Inside was Dalek Sec, a sickly green squid like creature, and it writhed and contorted its tentacles, glancing up at Diagoras with a single beady eye. **"Now, join with me!"** Dalek Sec said, and it started to open its body out, and it reminded Diagoras of a hideous reverse birth and it made him horrified.

"No! Get off me!" He protested as the pig slaves shoved him right in front of the casing. "I did everything you asked of me!" He said, and the pig slaves kicked him in the back of his knees, forcing him down to the ground. Dalek Sec's tentacles immediately wrapped themselves around him, and it made him completely still. "No!" He yelled, but Dalek Sec paid him no heed. The Dalek yanked him forward and into the casing before it shot its mouth out and around the top of his head. The last thoughts that ever came into Diagoras' head was that the Dalek's sickly green insides was all he could see before his vision was taken from him. His hearing quickly followed, and he could only feel slimy, wet, and icy cold. All until something had begun to enter his own ears, his nose, his mouth and even his own eyes. He tried to scream, but the strange and cold creature that filled his throat made the action burn, but it only grew worse with every second. He never felt his body change. He never knew when he died. Only something had gotten down his throat, to his heart, wrapped itself around the organ and then began to enter within.

* * *

"Doctor? Clara?" Solomon called as he entered the props room, and he moved through to the back, following the source of the clamoring noises, finding the Doctor and Clara hard at work as they tried to assemble…something. "How about this?" He asked, holding up a small radio. "I found it backstage."

The Doctor, who had taken off his overcoat and left it in the props room earlier, took one small glance at it before he quickly took it with a gleam in his eyes. "Perfect. It's the capacitors we need." He said as he opened the back up and began to gently take a couple of wires apart.

"What are you doing?" Solomon asked.

"You know that disgusting piece of a thing we found?" Clara reminded, and Solomon nodded. "We're trying to build a device that could tell us where it's from." At that, she blinked and quickly added, "It's going to be rather crude and may take a while. It may not even co-operate, but-"

"Clara, he gets the point." The Doctor admonished and with a shy flush, she returned to her work.

"But how about you?" Solomon asked. "Where are you two from? I've been all over, and I have never heard anybody talk like you. Just exactly who are you?"

Clara's eyes shifted a bit to the side in a moment of puzzlement. "I'm Human." She said obviously.

Solomon did not have a response to that, so she returned to her work as he looked to the Doctor. "Doctor?"

"Me?" He reiterated as he blew some air upon a piece of the radio he had just taken out, removing some of the dust from within. "Oh, I'm just sort of passing by."

"I am not a fool, Doctor." Solomon retorted with a glare, and that made the Doctor give out a sigh as he straightened himself up.

"No, you're not." The Doctor said. "Sorry."

Solomon's gaze fell to the floor for a second as he clutched a hand at his suit. "I was scared." He admitted after a moment, and their gazes softened at his words. "I let them take Frank because I was just so scared." Then, he took a breath and straightened himself back up. "I got to get back to Hooverville. With these creatures on the loose, we got to protect ourselves." He said.

"Good luck." They quickly said just as he was about to move away, and for a moment, he stopped and gave them a courteous nod.

"I hope you find what you're looking for. For all our sakes." He said earnestly before he left without another word.

* * *

"Tallulah?" Martha asked as she turned back to the woman, who was now completing her angel outfit for her performance.

"Yeah?"

"Why haven't you reported Laszlo as missing?" She asked, and Tallulah gave a scoff.

"Sure. He's just a stagehand, who cares? The management certainly don't."

"Can't you kick up a fuss or something?"

"Okay, so then they fire me." Tallulah retorted with a chuckle.

"But they'd listen to you. You're one of the stars." Martha reassured, but Tallulah shook her head.

"Oh, honey, I got one song in a back-street revue and that's only because Heidi Chicane broke her ankle." She said, and she quickly held up a hand with a glare. "Which had nothing to do with me, whatever anybody says."

"I said nothing." Martha said with a shake of her head.

"Besides, I can't afford to make a fuss." Tallulah said with her glare melted away. "If I don't make this month's rent, then before you know it, I'm in Hooverville." She gave a sniff before she glanced back up at Martha, and said with a shrug, "It's the Depression, sweetie. Your heart might break, but the show goes on. Because if it stops, you starve." She slowly stood up from her chair, her outfit now complete, and she gave Martha a sad look. "Every night I have to go out there, sing, dance, keep going. But…I have to hope that he's going to come back." She said, and for a small moment, there were a couple of tears in her eyes, but she held them back and wiped the two stray drops away. "Hey, you're lucky, though. You got yourself a forward-thinking guy with that hot potato in the sharp suit." She said, and just before Martha could protest, she added, "Plus the gorgeous little minx in the sweater with the big eyes." Then, she swooned. "Oh, those eyes! I just wanna poke them out with hot pincers, they're so cute!" She said, and her sudden sharp tone made Martha back her head a bit with wide eyes. "Oh, sorry." Tallulah squeaked, and Martha let out a gasp of a chuckle.

"For the record, they're together, not me and them…you know." Martha said, and Tallulah's eyes widened.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." She said with a sudden laugh, and Martha involuntarily echoed it. "How did those two meet, might I ask?" Tallulah asked as she walked away from the mirror to her props stall and picked up her white feather wings and placed them on.

"Santa Claus."

Tallulah stopped and looked at Martha with a frown. "Don't be ridiculous." She retorted, and Martha just shook her head without a word, making Tallulah's eyes widen again. "You're joking?"

Martha shook her head. "Nope."

Tallulah blinked once, and then she shook her head with her lips pursed. "Nope. Not getting into that rabbit hole." She said, and Martha gave a laugh as she walked back to her dressing table and picked up a single white rosebud. "Still, you got to live in hope. Whether you're waiting for the right moment to come, or for the right one to come back." She said as she held it up to Martha. "Look, on my dressing table, every day still." She said, and Martha glanced between her and the rose.

"You think it's Laszlo?" Martha asked, and Tallulah nodded. "Why? How would you know?"

Tallulah sighed. "Because before he went "Vamoose", every day he'd wait for me after the show, then he'd walk me home like I was a lady. But he also would leave a single flower for me right here." She said, tapping her dressing table. "Every day, and just one rose." She said as she put the rosebud into her dress. "But that begs the question. If he's still around, why is he being all secret like he doesn't want me to see him?" Martha did not have an answer for that, and Tallulah gave a sigh as she moved to the door of the room. Standing in the hallway, she stared down as her co-star girls came up to greet her, and she let a wide smile spread across her face. "Girls, it's show time!" She announced.

"Lois, you spoil my chasse tonight, I'm going to punch you." Myrna warned as she did a single last check of her hair, only smiling when she was sure.

"Aw, quit complaining, Myrna. Go buy yourself some glasses." Lois retorted as they walked past Tallulah, greeting her with a nod and a smile as Tallulah turned to the door of her dressing room.

"Come on, honey. Take a look. Ever been on stage before?" She asked as Martha leaned against the doorway with her arms crossed.

"Oh, a little bit." She said with a small shrug. "Shakespeare."

"How dull is that?" Tallulah retorted, and Martha gave out a snort at her words. "Come and see a real show." She said as she took Martha's hand and led her to the backstage, stopping her only when they reached the side curtain. "You get a great look from here." She said as she moved onto the stage, just before the curtain would roll back.

* * *

"Clara, turn on that light, please." The Doctor said as they sat and worked alone in a silent lighting gallery, it's next door neighbor both occupied and full of noise and life as they knew a show was about to start.

Clara got up from the small table that they had placed the flesh upon and moved up to a "Borrowed" stage light, and she flicked it on, shining the light down onto the flesh. "There we go." She said, popping right back down again.

"We need to insert these in." He said, giving her a few wires with small needles at the end.

"Yuck." She muttered as she slid them into the flesh.

"I know." The Doctor said simply as he pulled up a small console, switched it on, and began to turn some of the dials. His work created a whirring sound from the console, and he glanced over at the flesh with a frown. "Let's see…" He muttered under his breath as he took out his "Brainy Specs". "Clara, any deductions?" He asked as Clara knelt beside him.

"Well…" Clara, even though she didn't like getting close to the pungent and foul flesh, she did so anyway to get a closer look. "Obviously it was going to be some kind of life form, if…" She took a small needle and poked a gentle hole in the flesh, which caused it to spasm for a short moment before it settled, "a nervous system means anything." She finished, placing the needle down as the Doctor placed a hand under his chin with an inquisitive gaze. "I'd say from the color of the flesh being rather…shall we say, light, it would be rather young, but not too young to be THAT recent." She said, and the Doctor nodded. "And the obvious being that it isn't Human." She said, and the Doctor smirked.

"You're getting good." He complimented, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek, and she just giggled.

"Anything from the…" She pointed to the console with a frown, "thing-scanner-thing?" She asked, and he rolled his eyes at her poor naming.

"Well…" He turned a dial, and plugged in a pair of cut stethoscope earbuds and he listened, yet the result made him a bit puzzled. "This is genetically engineered. Whoever made this…" He let out a breath as he suddenly grinned at her, "oh, they were clever. But they must have been working with limited technology, or…they managed to improve." He said with a small shrug. He waited a small moment as he listened to more and he took of his "Brainy Specs" to rub his eyes. "Fundamental DNA type "467-989"." The Doctor said, and he took out his earbuds to place them down. ""989", where do I remember that?" He muttered as he rubbed his cheek. "Planet of origin, planet of origin, planet of origin. That would mean…" Then suddenly, he stopped, and he slowly looked down at the flesh with an expression of utter dread.

"Doctor?" Clara asked, for she did not like that expression on his face.

"Skaro." He said finally, and that answer made Clara's eyes widen to match his.

_"Ladies and gentlemen!"_ They heard a man call from the nearby theatre, and the applause and cheering ceased for a small moment. _"The Laurenzi Theatre presents "The Dancing Devils" with Heaven and Hell!"_

"Martha." They muttered at once as the theatre blew up in applause and cheering, followed quickly by the sound of music and they rushed out of the room and towards the theatre, where they could already hear Tallulah beginning to sing.

_You lured me in with your cold gray eyes_

_Your simple smile, your bewitching lies_

_One and one and one is three_

_My bad, bad Angel, the Devil in me!_

_You put the Devil in me!_

_My bad, bad Angel, you put the Devil in me!_

By the time they had already gotten to the backstage and raced up the steps to see the performance, the song had turned instrumental, to which Tallulah and her co-stars were dancing around in the center of the stage, but there was no sign of Martha. "Where is she?" The Doctor muttered to Clara, but she had a different answer.

"Who's that?" She pointed to the other side of the stage. Standing in the shadows and watching the performance was a figure, who looked somewhat like one of the pig men. Yet, he wasn't. His mouth and nose were, sure, but his hair and especially his eyes were Human, and his gaze was both admiring and sad. Then, his gaze shifted to the back curtain, where the couple noticed that someone was moving behind it. His eyes flittered wide in a sudden shock and he sprinted away and out of sight.

"Wait!" They heard Martha's voice call, and she emerged from the other side of the curtain and raced after him.

"Shit." Clara swore, and she and the Doctor looked at the performance to see the ladies splitting up to dance around the stage. "Got any other ideas?" She asked.

"Nope." The Doctor responded, and quickly they sprinted onto the stage, trying their best to hide behind the ladies as they moved towards the other side. When they reached the half way point, a lady they did not recognize, whose name was Myrna, suddenly noticed them, and in her moment of confusion and loss of focus, she tripped on her own costume tail and fell into Tallulah.

"What are you doing?!" Tallulah hissed under her breath, and the audience began to laugh at the sudden silliness of the action.

"What are they doing?!" Myrna hissed back, and Tallulah looked to see the Doctor and Clara emerging from behind the ladies and onto the other side of the stage. Then, just faintly over the noise of the room, but not too faint so that the couple or even Tallulah could not hear, they heard Martha let out a horrified scream, and it was quickly silenced.

"Martha!" They called, and they raced down the hallway, unknowingly followed by Tallulah, and the sound of a disappointed audience lay behind them. They saw a shadow just behind the door of the props room and they raced after, hearing a clang of the sewer hatch before silence fell. The Doctor and Clara moved to the back of the room and found that the sewer hatch had not closed properly behind whoever had entered with Martha, for there was no sign of their friend anywhere.

"Where are you two going?!" Tallulah shrieked after them as she raced into the room, tearing off her white feather wings as she did.

"They've taken her." Clara responded.

"Who's taken her? What're you doing?" Tallulah asked as the Doctor put his overcoat back on whilst Clara opened the hatch all the way. "I said, what the hell are you doing?" Tallulah repeated, but the couple ignored her completely, and she groaned in irritation. "Crazy weirdos." She growled as she took a large black fur coat and slipped it over her shoulders. Just as she started for the hole, she nearly tripped due to her heels, and she tore them off to replace them with a pair of brown boots before she went down the ladder.

"No, no, no, no, no way!" Clara retorted, stopping Tallulah mid descent. "You're not coming."

"Tell me what's going on." Tallulah demanded, and the Doctor just raised his eyebrows.

"There's nothing you can do, Tallulah. Go back." The Doctor said simply.

"Look, whoever's taken Martha, they could've taken Laszlo, couldn't they?" She asked as she descended down the ladder and stepped onto the ground to face them.

"Tallulah, you're not safe down here." The Doctor said calmly.

"Then that's my problem." Tallulah retorted. "Come on. Which way?" She asked as she started off down the tunnel in front of her.

"Wrong one." They said in unison, and Tallulah turned around with a groan, and she followed them down a different tunnel as they held two flashlights out in front of them.

"Hold on, when you say "They've taken her", who's "They" exactly?" Tallulah asked. "And who are you two anyway? I never asked."

"I'm Clara Oswald." She introduced before nodding to the Doctor. "This is the Doctor."

"A doctor?" Tallulah reiterated with raised eyebrows. "Really?" She muttered before she shrugged. "Mum's always said, "Marry a doctor or a lawyer and you're made for life"." She gave a small scoff however at those words. "It's just my luck. I find a doctor but not only is he already into someone else, he's also into show tunes."

"Shhh!" They quickly hushed, as they both were sure that they saw a moving shadow past a turn just up ahead, but Tallulah just rolled her eyes.

"Okay, okay-"

"Shush!" Clara admonished, and Tallulah briefly blinked at the glint in her eyes. The Doctor and Clara continued to stare down the tunnel until the shadow started to turn into a universally recognizable silhouette.

"I mean, you're both really good looking and all-" Tallulah was cut off as the Doctor covered her mouth with his hand, and with Clara's help, they pulled a frightened Tallulah into a dark service alcove, Clara in front as she braced her arms against the wall. Tallulah struggled for just a moment before an unrecognizable whirring sound came into her ears and she stopped with a frown. She then saw a shadow passing by right in front of her before a Dalek past right in front of their eyes and then was gone. Tallulah's eyes were wide at the sight that had greeted her, before Clara and the Doctor relaxed their guard on her, and they stepped slowly out from the alcove.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no." The Doctor muttered as he stared down the tunnel at the Dalek that was leaving them behind. "They survived." He muttered with a grim and bitter tone that made Clara instinctively take his hand in her own. "They always survive while I lose everything." A small tug from Clara made him give a sigh and his tone softened just a bit.

"That metal thing." Tallulah muttered as she stared down the tunnel with them. "What was it?"

"It's called a "Dalek"." The Doctor responded. "And it's not just metal, it's alive."

"You're kidding me." Tallulah scoffed.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" The Doctor spat out, and Tallulah silenced herself. "Inside that shell is a creature born to hate, whose only thought is to destroy everything and everyone that isn't a Dalek too. It won't stop until it's killed every Human being alive."

"But if it's not a Human being, that kind of implies it's from outer space." Tallulah said, and a dull glare from the couple confirmed it for her. "Yet again, that's a no with the kidding. Boy." She breathed out, suddenly feeling a little tense. "Well, what's it doing here in New York?" Neither of the couple, to her slight disappointment, had an answer. However, what she did not expect was that they took her by the arms and started to haul her back in the direction they had come. "What are you doing?!" She demanded, trying to struggle against them, but their grips were tight.

"Every second you're down here, you're in danger." The Doctor answered with a slight spat. "We're taking you back right now." They rounded a corner, and they saw the pig man from the stage earlier coming in their direction. Tallulah immediately gave out a screech, and the pig man darted into a dark corner to hide. "Where's Martha? What have you done with her?!" The Doctor demanded, him and Clara letting go of Tallulah and striding over towards the pig man. "What have you done with Martha?"

"I didn't take her." The creature replied in…a surprisingly Human voice. They lifted their flashlights up to his face, but he kept it hidden away by his shoulder.

"Doctor." Clara said, putting a hand on his own shoulder. "Calm down." She said, and the Doctor gave a sigh and a nod, before Clara asked the stranger, "Can you remember your name?"

"Don't look at me." Was all he said, and it made the couple frown.

"Do you know where she is?" Tallulah blurted out, and she took a few steps forward.

"Stay back!" The pig man demanded, and Tallulah stopped. "Don't look at me."

"What happened to you?" The Doctor asked, and the pig man turned his head just enough for them to see his features at a better angle.

"They made me a monster." The stranger admitted.

"Who did?"

"The masters."

"The Daleks." The Doctor immediately deducted, and the pig man did not rebuff it in the slightest. "Why?"

"They needed slaves." He answered. "They needed slaves to steal more people, so they created us. Part animal, part Human. I escaped before they got my mind, but it was still too late."

"Do you know what happened to Martha?" Clara interjected, and his gaze drifted down in a sudden self guilt.

"They took her." He answered, and he closed his blue eyes with a sigh. "It's my fault. She was following me."

"Were you in the theatre?" Tallulah asked.

"I never…" The pig man started before he closed his eyes, gave a gulp, and admitted, "Yes."

"Why?" Tallulah asked with a frown. "Why were you there?"

"I never wanted you to see me like this." Was all he said, and it just made Tallulah both frightened and a bit confused.

"Why me? What have I got to do with this?" Tallulah demanded, but before the stranger could answer, she followed it up with another question. "Were you following me? Is that why you were there?"

There was a small moment were nothing happened, until the pig man turned around so that Tallulah could see him, and her eyes widened at the sight of his features. "Yes." He finally answered.

"Who are you?" Tallulah asked, and the pig man shifted, as if he didn't want to answer.

"I was lonely…" He tried, but Tallulah cut him off.

"Who are you?" She asked again, starting forward towards him.

"I needed to see you…" He tried, but Tallulah cut him off again.

"Who are you?" She asked, coming to a stop right in front of him, and he turned away from her.

"I'm sorry." He blurted, but Tallulah quickly grasped his arm.

"No, wait." She pleaded, and he turned back around to look at her. "Let me look at you." She said, and he allowed her to push him just slightly back so he could be in the light, coming through the roof of the tunnel. The light illuminated his features and for a brief second, Tallulah could only gaze in confused shock. Then, as she scanned the features that were still Human, the black hair, the blue eyes, it started to click, and her voice was already choking up as she asked in a whimper, "Laszlo?" The man blinked, and his tried his best to smile, but it was crooked and sorrowful. "My Laszlo?" She reiterated, and the man, after a gulp, gave a small nod, and it made her choke out a small sob. "Oh, what have they done to you?" She asked, but he did not answer that question.

"I'm sorry." Was all he said. "So sorry."

The Doctor and Clara just exchanged a somber look before Clara stepped forward. "Laszlo, can you show us where they are?" She asked.

"But they'll kill you." Laszlo protested.

"If we don't stop them," The Doctor interjected, "they will kill everyone."

Laszlo's gaze flittered between the two of them, then back to Tallulah, and he nodded. "Then follow me." He said, and they followed him down a tunnel. As they carried on for just a short minute, they could hear the squealing of more, proper pig men, and the shuffling of feet and panicked, bewildered voices. Laszlo turned to them, and held up a finger to his lips, and they inched up towards a wall to see a group of people being huddled up together, and among them was Martha and Frank, both, despite being scared out of their minds, were perfectly fine.

"Thank you, Santa." Clara muttered in a light quip, feeling the Doctor stroking her hand with his thumb in agreement.

"What are they doing?" Frank tried to ask. "What's wrong-"

**"Silence! Silence!"** Dalek Caan's voice called out in order. On instinct, Laszlo hid further into the shadows whilst the Doctor clenched his jaw and glared a gaze of fire as the Dalek came out into view and in front of the group. **"You will form a line. Move. Move!"** Dalek Caan ordered, and some of the men immediately began to protest and struggle against the pig slaves.

"Just do what it says, everyone, okay?!" Martha called. "Just obey!"

**"The female is wise."** Dalek Caan commented as it moved to a stop right in front of her, and Martha gulped at its compliment. **"Obey."**

**"Report."** Another Dalek voice, that of Dalek Thay, ordered as it came into view, and Dalek Caan turned around to face it.

**"These are strong specimens. They will help the Dalek cause. What is the status of the Final Experiment?"**

"The what?" The Doctor muttered with a blink.

**"The Dalekanium is in place. The energy conductor is now complete."** Dalek Thay answered.

**"Then I will extract prisoners for selection."** Dalek Caan then turned around as a pig man dragged an older, dark skinned man forward in front of him. **"Intelligence scan. Initiate."** Dalek Caan raised its manipulator arm up towards his face, and began to spin it around. **"Reading brain waves."** It said, and a tense silence fell for a few quick seconds before it proclaimed, **"Low intelligence."**

The manipulator was lowered back again, whilst the man just stared at the Dalek with incredulous offense. "Are you calling me "Stupid"?!"

**"Silence!"** Dalek Caan ordered, and the man kept quiet. **"This one will become a pig slave. Next!"**

Two of the pig slaves grasped onto his arm and started to drag him away, struggling as he went. "No, let go of me! I'm not becoming one of them! No!" He exclaimed, and his struggling words became incoherent as he disappeared out of sight.

**"Intelligence scan. Initiate."** Dalek Caan said to the next man.

"What are they doing?" Tallulah asked, just before the Doctor or Clara could ask Laszlo, but he answered anyway.

"They're divided into two groups. High intelligence and low intelligence. The low intelligence are taken to become pig slaves like me."

"Well, that's not fair." Tallulah retorted, and the three of them quickly shushed her, as her voice got a little too high, but none of the party up ahead had heard her, thankfully. "You're the smartest guy I ever dated." She whispered, and Laszlo sent her a very grateful look.

"And the others?" The Doctor asked.

"They're taken to the laboratory." He answered, and the couple blinked in puzzlement.

"Why? What for?" Clara asked, and he just shrugged.

"I don't know. The masters only call it the "Final Experiment"."

**"Superior intelligence."** Dalek Caan declared, and they looked back to see that it had been scanning Frank, to the couple's relief. Then, it turned to Martha, and the Doctor and Clara felt themselves getting tense once again. **"Intelligence scan. Initiate."** It raised its manipulator arm up to her head, and began its scan. **"Reading brain waves."** A few small moments passed, fill only by Martha's fearful gaze staring at the Dalek before it proclaimed, **"Superior intelligence."** The Doctor and Clara gave out a small sigh of relief as Dalek Caan said, **"This one will become part of the Final Experiment."**

"You can't just experiment on people!" Martha screeched in retort, and the couple found they were both surprised and genuinely impressed with her attitude against a Dalek. "It's insane! It's inhuman!"

**"We are not Human."** Was all Dalek Caan said in retort, and Martha just glared right back at it as it turned away. **"Prisoners of high intelligence will be taken to the transgenic laboratory."**

"Look out, they're moving!" Clara said, pulling Laszlo away and she shoved him back to Tallulah before she linked hands again with the Doctor. They watched as the two Daleks came up through the tunnel, followed by a thinned line of the prisoners and some of the pig slaves.

"Doctor! Clara!" Laszlo hissed in a hushed voice. "Quickly!"

"We're not coming." Clara hissed back. "We've got an idea. You go."

"Laszlo, come on." Tallulah said, tugging on his arm, but Laszlo did not move.

"Can you remember the way?" He asked, and Tallulah nodded.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Then go, please." He said, and Tallulah's eyes widened as she shook her head.

"But Laszlo, you've got to come with me."

"Where would I go?" He asked in a defeated retort. "Tallulah, I'm begging you. Save yourself. Just run." He said. Tallulah tried to protest, but he slowly yet not forcefully, pushed her away. "Just go. Please." Finally, Tallulah took the message, even if she did not like it, and she disappeared, and Laszlo moved to rejoin the Doctor and Clara. They leant right back as the Daleks came past in front of them, before they moved into the group of prisoners as quick as a flash, with Laszlo right behind Frank and the Doctor and Clara right behind Martha.

"Keep walking." Clara said, and her voice made Martha gasp, before she beamed at the sight of the couple close to her.

"I am so glad to see you." Martha said earnestly as the Doctor and Clara briefly took her hands in reassurance before letting go.

"Yeah, well, you can kiss us later." Clara quipped, and Martha restrained a snort in her throat.

"You too, Frank, if you want." The Doctor said, trading a grin with a relieved Frank before they fell into silence, continuing to walk with the group and after the Daleks until they reached the Dalek Laboratory, filing up into a silent line, where a few of the pig slaves took guard at the entrance.

**"Report."** Dalek Caan ordered, and the Doctor looked thoroughly confused at the sight of Dalek Sec, who was shifting and shaking on the spot, and smoke was emerging from within its case.

**"Dalek Sec is in the final stage of evolution."** Dalek Thay reported.

**"Scan him. Prepare for birth."** Dalek Caan ordered, and Dalek's Thay and Jast turned to Dalek Sec.

""Evolution"?" The Doctor muttered.

"What's wrong with old Charlie boy over there?" Martha asked, but the Doctor just shrugged.

"Ask them." He said, and Martha's jaw dropped.

"What, me? Don't be daft." She retorted, and Clara took her hand.

"No, he meant me." Clara said, and Martha looked at her with concern in her eyes.

"What?" She blinked, and Clara kept her gaze upon the Daleks.

"I don't exactly want to get noticed right now." The Doctor explained.

"But Clara-"

"I know." He said, and he gave Clara a silent hug in reassurance. _"You already know what to do."_ He said in her mind before they parted, and Clara stepped forward.

"Dalek Caan!" She called, and said Dalek spun right around in a fast pace.

**"What?!"** It demanded, as if it was shocked that she knew its name.

"Yes, I know your name." She retorted with gritted teeth. "Now, whatever Dalek Sec over there is doing, and yes I know his name," She spat out as Dalek Caan was about to interrupt, "but THAT is not normal Dalek behaviour." She said with fierce eyes. "Now, what does this have to do with the "Final Experiment"?"

The two Daleks that were beside Dalek Sec turned their eyestalks and fixed them upon Clara, whilst Dalek Caan demanded, **"What is your name?!"**

"Clara Oswald." Was all she said, and a small tense silence fell, where their small audience flickered their eyes between Clara and the Daleks, but it was Dalek Caan that broke the silence.

**"You will bear witness."**

Clara's gaze flittered from side to side before she tilted her head forward just a tiny bit. "To what?"

**"This is the dawn of a new age."**

"Dawn of a new species? Cloning of Daleks? New Skaro on Earth? What do you mean?!" Clara snarled.

Dalek Caan stared at her for a small silent moment before it reiterated on its words. **"We are the only four Daleks in existence, so the species must evolve. A life outside the shell. The children of Skaro must walk again."** Once it finished speaking, Dalek Caan turned around and moved out of the way so that Dalek Sec was in full view of the audience.

The shell that the Dalek occupied deactivated, the blue light of the eyestalk turning off completely and the hissing of smoke from the shell stopped. There was another "Hiss" and a "Click", and the shell cracked wide open for all to see. There was a figure, hunched down and bent over, almost looking like it was squished inside. Its breathing was ragged and raspy, and it's two hands grasped onto the shell to heave itself out, but its pace was unsure and very slow. It moved away from the shell to stand in the middle of the still active Daleks before it straightened it's back, and uncurled its fists, yet its head was still down. Then, it slowly raised its head towards the ceiling, and it let out a loud, rasping sigh, and the three Daleks, whether in fear or in wonder, backed away just a little bit, before the creature's head lowered again. The suit that it wore was a Human suit, but it was crinkled and dirty from whatever had happened inside that shell. The skin of the creature was wrinkled and bore a sickly purple pink complexion, that made the audience scrunch their faces in disgust. The head bore no hair, instead it was like an exposed brain, only kept in by a flesh cage like wire that extended down towards the creature's cheeks, and then moved out into six tentacles, yet they were shaped more like fingers. There were three on each cheek, and they moved back and forth, more like a bodily instinct than actual, controllable appendages. The creature also had a mouth, teeth and even a tongue, but it had no lips, just disgusting, wrinkled skin around it, the chin and jaw. And it had an eye. Literally, it only had one eye. A single, blue eye that looked rather Human despite…everything else. The creature took a deep breath and in a very slow pace, and in a rasping voice, it started to speak. "I…am…a Human…Dalek." It blinked for a moment, then it declared for all to hear, "I…am your future!"

**AN: To be continued. I will say that, when I was writing this, I immediately thought, "I want to tone down Diagoras a little bit". When I did, I actually started getting flashes of Petyr Baelish, so if you were at all wondering about the character change and the jab, well there you go. XD Anyway, as always, thanks for reading and leave a comment if you wish. :)**


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